1961-1962 - American Museum of Natural History

REPORT
OF THE DIRECTOR
Members of a number of museum organizations currently
are engaged in reexamining the definition of the word
"museum." At first glance this seems to be a waste of precious
time. Certainly anyone associated with a museum knows what
such an institution is, so why bother about a definition? The
fact is, however, that no simple definition covers the scope of
museums and at the same time distinguishes institutions that
actually qualify as museums from those that have just adopted
the name.
This current interest in what is a museum and what is not a
museum is a healthy one. It stems from an increasing public
awareness of the role that authentic museums play in science,
in the arts, and in education. The new awareness brings about
greater use of museums and greater potential use of museums.
This puts new pressures not only on the institutions themselves
but also on the individuals and agencies to which the museums
turn for support. Therefore, it has become mandatory that
criteria be established for defining the institutions to which
support is to be given.
What is it that museums do that makes them worthy of public
and private support? How do they complement the functions of
colleges, libraries, or other educational institutions? What do
they contribute to society that is not already covered by other
organizations? These questions are timely and deserve review
by all who are concerned with the future of museums.
First, all museums collect objects and preserve them. One
might say that the objects collected constitute the reference
materials of a museum. However, it is not the collecting and
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