Library and Academic Success: Museum & Gallery Studies: Museum Research

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Museum Research

Museums are a venue in which knowledge construction and its communication are made visible to the public. Exhibits allows for a glimpse into social attitudes toward the objects, peoples, events, and places on display, as well as how these understandings change over time

Museum research is a fascinating area which includes many aspects. There are major qualitative research methods used to study museums and some of these include:

Analyses of visual displays and reconstructions
Interviews with museum visitors, professionals, and stakeholders
Ethnographic fieldwork in museum settings

These methods can be adapted to the study of exhibits, galleries, programs, and museums as knowledge-generating institutions from case studies conducted by museum practitioners, anthropologists, historians, and other museum studies scholars.

The Oxford Handbook of Qualitative Research, chapter 18, "Museum Studies" explores some of these major approaches to research design in the field of museum studies. Also, check out the great eBooks the library offers below.

Evaluating and Measuring the Value, Use and Impact of Digital Collections by Lorna Hughes
ISBN: 9781856047203
Publication Date: 2012
A huge investment has been made in digitizing scholarly and cultural heritage materials through initiatives based in museums, libraries and archives, as well as higher education institutions. The 'Digital Economy' is an important component of institutional planning, and much attention is given to the investment in digital projects and programmes. However, few initiatives have examined the actual use, value and impact of digital collections, and the role of digital collections in the changing information environment.
Hybrid Museum Experiences by Annika Waern (Editor); Karin Ryding (Contribution by); Christian H. Mortensen (Contribution by); Anne R. Olesen (Contribution by); Jon Back (Contribution by); Steve Benford (Contribution by); Edgar Bodiaj (Contribution by); Harriet Cameron (Contribution by); Dimitri Darzentas (Contribution by); Sejul Malde (Contribution by); Sarah Martindale (Contribution by); Velvet Spors (Contribution by); Paul Tennent (Contribution by); Anders Sundnes Løvlie (Editor); Kevin Bacon (Contribution by); Nikita Mathias (Contribution by); Lina Eklund (Contribution by); Paulina Rajkowska (Contribution by); Jocelyn Spence (Contribution by)
ISBN: 9789463726443
Publication Date: 2022
Hybrid Museum Experiences use new technologies to augment, expand or alter the physical experience of visiting the museum. They are designed to be experienced in close relation to the physical space and exhibit. In this book we discuss three forms of hybridity in museum experiences: Incorporating the digital and the physical, creating social, yet personal and intimate experiences, and exploring ways to balance visitor participation and museum curation. This book reports on a 3-year cross-disciplinary research project in which artists, design researchers and museum professionals have collaborated to create technology-mediated experiences that merge with the museum environment.
The Oxford Handbook of Qualitative Research by Leavy, Patricia, editor
ISBN: 0190847409
Publication Date: 2020
The Oxford Handbook of Qualitative Research, second edition, presents a comprehensive retrospective and prospective review of the field of qualitative research. Original, accessible chapters written by interdisciplinary leaders in the field make this a critical reference work. Filled with robust examples from real-world research; ample discussion of the historical, theoretical, and methodological foundations of the field; and coverage of key issues including data collection, interpretation, representation, assessment, and teaching, this handbook aims to be a valuable text for students, professors, and researchers
Research Informing the Practice of Museum Educators by David Anderson (Volume Editor); Alex de Cosson (Volume Editor); Lisa McIntosh (Volume Editor)
ISBN: 9789463002363
Publication Date: 2015
Museums are institutions of both education and learning in service of society, that is, they are sites where educational experiences are designed and facilitated, and also places where visitors learn in broad and diverse ways. As such, the role of public education in museums today is highly important, if not at the centre of museum activity. As museums contemplate the growing significance of their educational roles and mandate within a changing society, so too they are increasingly in need of information about the audiences they serve and their own professional practice as they strive to achieve their educational missions in service to the communities in which they are embedded.
Scientific Knowledge Communication in Museums by Alberto Rovetta; Edoardo Rovida
ISBN: 9783319683294
Publication Date: 2018
This book explains the general principles of scientific and technical communication in the context of modern museums. It also examines, with the aid of informative case studies, the different means by which knowledge can be transmitted, including posters, objects, explanatory guidance, documentation, and catalogues.
Theorizing Equity in the Museum by Bronwyn Bevan (Editor); Bahia Ramos (Editor)
ISBN: 9781000427790
Publication Date: 2021
Theorizing Equity in the Museum integrates the perspectives of learning researchers and museum practitioners to shed light on the deep-seated structures that must be accounted for if the field is to move past aspirations and rhetoric and towards more inclusive practices.