Breaking new ground in its analysis of our relationship to the material world, On Collecting examines the nature of collecting both in Europe and among people living within the European tradition elsewhere.

Gathering objects together is a universal human custom, yet every society collects in different ways. Susan Pearce looks at the way we collect and what this tells us about ourselves and our society. She also explores the psychology of collecting:

• Why do we bestow value on certain objects?
• How does this add meaning to our lives?
• Do men and...

Collecting a selection of essential writings by some of the leading authors in the field, Kevin Moore examines the developments in, and effectiveness of, museum management in a world dominated by new and exciting heritage and leisure attractions.

The selected papers in Museum Management outline the development of museum management to date, the challenges museums currently face, and the key areas of future development in management and marketing practice, and addresses:

• strategic management issues: policy formulation, corporate planning and performance...

Collecting a selection of essential writings by some of the leading authors in the field, Kevin Moore examines the developments in, and effectiveness of, museum management in a world dominated by new and exciting heritage and leisure attractions.

The selected papers in Museum Management outline the development of museum management to date, the challenges museums currently face, and the key areas of future development in management and marketing practice, and addresses:

• strategic management issues: policy formulation, corporate planning and performance...

Using case studies drawn from all areas of museum studies, Museums and their Communities explores the museums as a site of representation, identity and memory, and considers how it can influence its community.

Focusing on the museum as an institution, and its social and cultural setting, Sheila Watson examines how museums use their roles as informers and educators to empower, or to ignore, communities.

Looking at the current debates about the role of the museum, she considers contested values in museum functions and examines provision, power, ownership, responsibility, and...

Focusing on the museum as an institution, and its social and cultural setting, Sheila Watson examines how museums use their roles and informers and educators to empower, or ignore, communities.

Looking at the current debates about the role of the museum, she considers contested values in museum functions and examines provision, power,...

Rethinking Evolution in the Museum explores the ways diverse natural history museum audiences imagine their evolutionary heritage. In particular, the book considers how the meanings constructed by audiences of museum exhibitions are a product of dynamic interplay between museum iconography and powerful images museum visitors bring with them to the museum. In doing so, the book illustrates how the preconceived images held by museum audiences about anthropology, Africa, and the museum itself strongly impact the human origins exhibition experience.

Although...

Rethinking Evolution in the Museum explores the ways diverse natural history museum audiences imagine their evolutionary heritage. In particular, the book considers how the meanings constructed by audiences of museum exhibitions are a product of dynamic interplay between museum iconography and powerful images museum visitors bring with them to the museum. In doing so, the book illustrates how the preconceived images held by museum audiences about anthropology, Africa, and the museum itself strongly impact the human origins exhibition experience.

Although...

Museums in the Material World seeks to both introduce classic and thought-provoking pieces and contrast them with articles which reveal grounded practice. The articles are selected from across the full breadth of museum disciplines and are linked by a logical narrative, as detailed in the section introductions.

The choice of articles reveals how the debate has opened up on disciplinary practice, how the practices of the past have been critiqued and in some cases replaced, how it has become necessary to look beyond and outside...