Museology

Museology (also called " Science Museum " or " Museum Customer" ) "includes the description, classification and explanation of all pertinent to the phenomenon Musealverein theoretical foundations and practical procedures, methods, techniques and tools. Since the working field of museology as the other basic disciplines is comprehensive, it also uses a variety of methods. They include mainly observation, survey, survey, measurement, interpretation, derivation, comparison, conclusion, generalization and explanation. " The term derivation " museologist "refers to a member of this science, which are the ones that, in theory, and on the scientific basis employ museology with museum quality (see below) and Museum at universities or colleges, to exclude those individuals who contribute after appropriate scientific training museological approaches in the museum practice. This means that not all automatically employed on Museums ( technical) scientists are museum curators.

History of museum science of order

A first scheme for art cabinets as a precursor of modern museums already presented to Samuel Quiccheberg ( 1529-1567 ). Founder of museology as a science of order is Johann Daniel Major ( 1634-1693 ). Louis -Sébastien Mercier represents 1771 in L'An 2440, rêve s'il en fut jamais on the eve of the French Revolution, the order of concepts of centralized museums in France is (Louvre).

As an important representative of the scientific museology in Europe applies the museum director, museologist and cultural philosopher Prof. Dr. Csc. em. Zbynek Z. Stransky ( born October 26, 1926 in Kutna Hora, Czech Republic).

Museality

As very own subject of research in theoretical museology is not so much the museum, but rather the " museum quality ". Under museality is understood depending on the approach:

• " A specific cognitive and evaluative relationship of man to reality " This is tantamount to the assumption of an anthropological constant that man chooses things as evidence of certain facts, and kept the company provides. Throughout history, this constant is expressed in various forms, most recently in phenomenon "museum".
• To an object allocated by inclusion in a museum collection quality as a reminder carrier
• The property of a subject "cultural heritage", to be documented in a reality is another.

It is clear that these three approaches generally not mutually exclusive, but complementary.

Task of applied museology is to identify, elaborate and negotiate the museality against the background of an existing or future collection concept (see also Museum Education ). This can be done either in the compressed media group exhibition of several objects at the individual object or by secondary media ( publishing, film, audio, Internet, ...). Museology is not to be confused with practical museum studies, for example, is devoted to issues of conservation, preservation, documentation and inventory, the loan system and the mediation ( Museum Education ).

Collection, collection strategies, inventory

One of the priority tasks of practitioners within Museologists is to develop, in consultation with the specialist scientists, conservators and neighboring institutions strategies for the collection activities of the respective museum. It is to decide on concrete collection approach, whether and by what criteria an object should be included in the collection of the museum. This allows objects to be collected as representatives of a particular time, a particular region or a development series. More collection criteria are uniqueness, rarity, frequency, material texture and value.

After the formal- legal act of registration in the In most inventory, in which all relevant scientifically researched data recorded to the object and with administrative information (eg repository, rental information ) are offset in time are provided. At best, this amount of data collected is far greater than those printed in exhibition catalogs content.

See also: Museum Documentation

Principles of order

A museum is a space for receiving objects, a culture vessel in need of accessible internal order, the spatial arrangement does not necessarily reflect the classification of each reference science. On closer inspection, in fact, that this is possible on the one hand only a few sciences, are hardly friendly to visitors other presentations that have the system for the sole starting point.

The museum science deals since Johann Daniel Major as a science of order with the systematic or didactic spatial arrangement of museum objects in the architectural space of the museum. Basis are order concepts that embed the individual subject in the context of meaning of the temporal, spatial, material or qualitative order structure. This epochs and large-scale and global connections at reasonable presentations of exemplary items are reduced. The breakdown by eras or periodization allows a synchronistic presentation of history.

This also results in the differentiation of the permanent exhibition and exhibition on time and the separation of exhibition hall, exhibition collection and study collection and magazine. On the other hand, requires the presentation of the objects whose custody, preservation and conservation, marking and lighting as well as different techniques of illustration and mediation.

The spatial order can

• Temporal sequences play ( Ancient - Medieval - Modern Times - Modern ) and thus make visible developments, as well as natural history museums make lines of development through appropriate arrangements of collections comprehensible (see: phylogeny ).
• Summarize material classes, and so show the development of specific technologies, as happens in the glass, ceramic and porcelain departments of art museums and art museums, weapons and instrument collections. Therefore, the Numismatic Museum is also a science.
• Summarize continents and countries in their development, as do departments of European Art or Pre-Columbian culture, Italian Painting or Dutch Art in the art and cultural history museums and folklore - and open-air museums by topographic order.
• Quality systems, eg after artistic schools through an arrangement according to the main masters and their effects workshop, an assembly of the first of many paintings and graphic collections. Other qualitative orders distinguish between monumental works and cabaret, between high art and everyday object, the media from advertising material about the poster to newspapers, technologies, from handicraft to large-scale industry.
• Thematic systems try from individual objects unique historical atmosphere, compile historical events and production processes with either originals or reconstructions and models. This ordered structure are equally to be found in natural history as in technical museums.
• Finally, museology as science of order basis for the development of museum departments and specialty museums as well as the differentiation of Permanent Collection and Study Collection.

Historical Museology, Museology the types of museums and museum research

Historical Museology includes the history of collecting rem natural and cultural artifacts, the museum building and the history of science, museology; more narrowly, it processes the birth and development of the museum institution and its social contexts. A special area of ​​research is the museology Museum of individual types (eg, art museums, technology museums ). Museum research analyzed - among others statistically - Museums, their equipment and number of visitors, but also the characteristics of visitors and non- visitors.

Associations, research and teaching

The central research and documentation center for Museum Research in Germany, the Institute for Museum Research, Berlin. In German-speaking courses for Museology offered, inter alia, to the following universities:

• Interdisciplinary Master's program in museum and exhibition in Oldenburg
• Master of Art History and Museology at the University of Heidelberg
• Course of study Museology at the HTWK
• Degree Museum Studies (BA ), and Museum Management and Communication ( MA) at the HTW Berlin ( University of Applied Sciences )
• Certificate of Advanced Studies museum work at the HTW Chur ( FH)
• " Exhibit and teach " Master in Art Education with a focus at the Zurich University of the Arts
• Master program for exhibition theory and practice at the University of Applied Arts Vienna
• Course museology and material culture at the Julius Maximilian University Würzburg
• Course Profile Artistic Museum Studies degree program in Art in Context, University of the Arts Berlin

In the United Kingdom, Canada and the U.S., there are Museum Studies at about 54 universities.

The central international organization is the International Council of Museums ( ICOM). The subgrouping ICOFOM is open to museum educators and museum curators. In addition to a national committee of ICOM in Germany there is also the German Museums Association.

In Switzerland, there is the professional association of Museologinnen and museum curators, Switzerland.

In Germany there is the professional association of German registrars, registrars Germany eV

From Austria from the Museumsakademie plans annually 10-15 meetings, workshops and field trips for museum professionals in the German speaking countries. The Museum Academy is an institution of the Universal Museum Joanneum, Austria operates the largest museological library as well as an in- residence program and are in the transcript- Verlag series edition museumsakademie joanneum out.