This thesis constitutes the first critical analysis of representation in the Colombo National Museum. It is also the first museum studies doctoral thesis to emerge from and address Sri Lanka. In addition to outlining the historical and modern day contexts of the Colombo National Museum, its displays are analysed in relation to Sri Lanka’s cultural heritage and contemporary cultural diversity. Representation of identities and histories is a complex and potentially sensitive issue in national museums in heterogeneous societies. Displays within national institutions are often subject to criticism as a result. Museums in Sri Lanka started with the colonial establishment of what is now the Colombo National Museum in 1877. Moreover, the country has a convoluted history, particularly since independence, of ethnic tensions and civil war. The thesis delineates the histories and distribution of ethno-cultural and religious groups within Sri Lanka, and indicates interactions and conflicts between them. It also summarises the history of and issues within museums in Sri Lanka. Using a case study approach, the core of the thesis describes and analyses research undertaken within the Colombo National Museum. A databank summarising the numbers of objects affiliated with different Sri Lankan groups, was compiled. Object affiliations were identified through museum ascriptions, archaeological, historical and contemporary data, and the artefacts’ inherent characters of signification. Quantitative analysis of this databank, together with the author’s development of the notion of ‘cultural quality’, was used to critically interpret the permanent displays, producing an assessment of the degree of cultural representation in the museum. The objects in the store collections are also taken into consideration when discussing the fairness of the representation. Through the findings, the author suggests a new display framework potentially applicable to the Colombo National Museum in order to facilitate a more equitable representation of Sri Lanka’s heritages and cultural identities.

Historically Black people in the Western Hemisphere have lacked power to represent their stories to themselves, from their perspective in museums. In spite of the fact that African Universities, like 14th century Djenne University in Timbuktu, with thousands of volumes of books and manuscripts, existed before the rise of Western civilizations; Black children in the Western Hemisphere learn that Africans did not have a written history justifying the burden of Europeans to write Africa’s history. African history books from the perspective of enlightened Black scholarship have been written for centuries but are not widely known in Black communities and are not routinely a part of the curricula in western educational systems. The result is wide scale historical amnesia among Black people about their ancient histories. Through extensive desk research and exploration of issues of self-identity in the course of my work as Director of Liberty Hall, I am able to pose answers to the questions of where and how do we make a start at stimulating memory, and in representation of these memories in museums? This study explores the historical bases upon which representation of Black histories have been made in the educational system and in museums in post-colonial Jamaica; and proposes that when representation draws on the work of enlightened scholarship it reveals a historical legacy of strength, innovation, and resilience that makes a powerful contribution to Black education and to that of others. More importantly, it affects and reinforces positive self-identity, one of the cornerstones of modern museology. The Marcus Mosiah Garvey Multimedia Museum is an exercise in memory, modern museology, and in involvement of the surrounding communities in charting the museums’ developmental course. Reinterpretation of Liberty Hall, a national monument, facilitates a comprehensive approach to representation of ‘our’ story, with the museum as its central educational tool.

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This study intends to evaluate Indian science centres and focuses on factors which characterise them as effective educational environments. In order to explore the science centre setting, this study follows the approach of methodological appropriateness - that is, employing both quantitative and qualitative research methods according to the purpose and necessity. Due to the phenomenal importance of the early years in our lives, this study focuses on schools students and out-of-school children. The study mainly addresses the question who - male versus female students and junior versus senior students - really benefit out of a science centre visit and what happens to their impact in the longer term. This study intends to measure the impact of a visit to the National Science Centre, Delhi on students' affective domain: three parameters - namely, attitudes to science, attitudes to science centres, and continuing motivation in science - have been chosen for their potential significance in the educational arena. Data - through pre-visit, post-visit (within three days of the visit) and later-visit (about six month after the visit) questionnaires - has been collected in the Summer of 1994. The data has been analysed using parametric statistical tests - mainly the tests known as the Analyses of Variance (ANOVA). The supporting and qualifying data has been gathered by unobtrusively observing 50 randomly selected students in the galleries and by interviewing teachers and students. The findings indicate that all students gain in their short-term attitudes to science and science centres as a result of their visitation. But, the gain is found to decay in the longer term, mainly in the case of girls and junior students. In reference to the poor and the rural students, the reach of science centres is found to be extremely miserable. To ameliorate the situation, much has to be done. To this end, this study makes recommendations for a fine synthesis of people's needs and aspirations, social and cultural knowledge, the objectives of museums, and the highly effective domains of exhibit development.

In emphasising the international nature of museums, it is easy to forget that they exist in different cultural and social settings. The development of museums, their aims and their sense of priorities, are inevitably conditioned by the country in which they emerge. By an appraisal of the development of Taiwan's biological collections, this thesis attempts to demonstrate some of the problems facing developing countries in this important field of natural history museums. Due to Taiwan's unique historical and political background, early biological surveys and collecting were entirely undertaken by European, American and Japanese naturalists. As a result, an enormous number of Taiwan's biological specimens including the great majority of types and first-record voucher specimens are now deposited in overseas museums. Through an examination and analysis of a substantial volume of historical and taxonomic works, this thesis traces the history of biological activities in Taiwan between 1850 and 1945 and attempts an assessment of the quantity and quality of these collections. By means of a case of Robert Swinhoe (1836-77, FRS), the most distinguished pioneering naturalist in Taiwan's early natural history, this writer argues the significance of these collections in Taiwan's current social and scientific context. This research is intended to raise the awareness of biologists and historians in Taiwan and allow them to utilise a rich resource which is now almost completely neglected or considered to have little potential to biological and historical studies today. The thesis then proceeds to investigate the recent development and the present status of biological collections through an analysis of twenty-one major biological collections in Taiwan. The research findings have revealed an alarming picture. It has exposed a lack of staff, suitable storage facilities, adequate management and effective utilisation. In conclusion, the nature of the problems facing the development of biological collections in Taiwan is examined by reference to George Basalla's three-phase model (pioneering, dependent and independent phase) which examines the spread of Western science from its 'centre' to 'peripheral' regions. The independent phase of the development of Taiwan's biological collections is sadly identified as a stage yet to be realised. In an attempt to provide solutions to these problems, two sets of recommendations are proposed. The first focuses mainly on the formation of long-term strategies and policies. The second represents 'working priorities' which are intended to rectify the obvious deficiencies now existing in Taiwan's biological collections.

This research effort concentrates on science communication through natural history museum exhibitions, analysing the case study of the National Museum of Natural History in Portugal. Its starts by looking at the past of natural history museums in Portugal, established during the Enlightenment, and follows to the current situation of the National Museum. Scientific and cultural policies arising from a social and political context until 1975 have influenced the current condition of crisis, with closure of natural history museums to the public in an extreme circumstance, along with the identity crisis of such institutions in Europe. Museum staff has been reduced, divided and morale is low. Exhibition for non-scientific audiences has often been ignored, reflecting the peripheral situation of Portugal in relation to the industrialised centre of Europe. An approach to the changes in natural history museum exhibition in Western Europe and North America since the 1850s follows, proposing a framework in three periods based on the analysis of form, content and audience, influenced by scientific paradigm shifts. The National Museum opened its doors in 1987 with temporary exhibitions, despite its unrefurbished condition. In order to substantiate the development of a future solid exhibitions policy, this thesis proposes two approaches to studying science communication; audience surveys, identifying different public segments in an exploratory study of visitors to three exhibition cases - a temporary blockbuster exhibition, an interactive science gallery, and a guided tour of the Gardens; and an investigation of science in the media, looking at perception of television and printed media, and an analysis of science in a sample of three daily national newspapers, researching prominence of science subjects and construction of environmental news, regarding the social status of readerships.

This work gives an overview of Buddhist material culture in British museums. It first attempts to be a comprehensive study of the objects. It also examines Buddhists' impressions upon using their objects in displays. Displays and interpretations are rarely constant and neutral. They reflect merely a viewpoint from a specific angle. There are, however, many other valid interpretations about an object. An identical object has different significances under different contexts. Nowadays, community people play an increasing role in the whole processes of the work of a museum. Museums should reflect this fact in their approaches. The study discusses such issues: the nature, common characteristics, specific characteristics, symbolic messages, provenance, surviving threats, displays, interpretations, themes, communities, misunderstandings, misplacements, and suggestions for improving the use of these objects. In addition to analyse the merits and shortcomings of displays, the study also explores new insights into the objects. As visual expressions of a living spiritual heritage, the objects are not dead relics. Instead, emanating timeless messages of Buddhism, the objects are relevant to the human condition today. Besides, being displayed as solid objects, they signify intangible truths. They are meant to help people to know more about themselves and the world in which they are living. It is a challenge to museums to decode their in-depth significance rather than their outside features to viewers. The relevance of the objects should be re-interpreted in this social cultural context. Objects housed in museums are for men rather than vice versa. A person should look forward rather than backward. Thus, the study also explores the relevance of the objects in this multicultural society. Buddhism has become an integral part of British culture. Its objects are no longer exotic rarities. Far from being the antique specimens of many dead civilisations, the objects still articulate vividly the perennial realities of wisdom and compassion. They are more than aesthetic arts. Displays ignoring the spiritual dimensions of the objects would be expressing an injustice to them. The messages embodied in these objects can not only enrich the content of a culture but can also widen one's vision. Museums should use them to transcend the division and barriers of different beliefs. Above all, the study proposes conception-oriented themes to find a common ground for dialogue, comparison and communication among different beliefs and cultures. As 'religion' is a dangerous topic, many museums dare not take the risk of being criticised by displaying religious themes. They usually tackle the objects as aesthetic arts. Besides, many displays have not explored the connection of the objects to the general public. This kind of trite approach seems unable to kindle the curiosity and imagination of viewers. The study attempts to explore other alternative options for using them. In this interdependent world, mutual understanding and mutual respect become more important. Men should seek common ground for co-operation rather than for discrimination, division or conflict. Through sympathetic approaches, e.g. take the viewpoints of the original makers and owners of these objects, museums can contribute to peace and harmony in society.

This study explores changing approaches to curatorial practice and curatorial knowledge in UK museums from 1960 to 2001. It makes an original contribution to the history of museums, exploring an under-researched period and part of the sector, and to the museum studies literature more broadly by providing insight into how change in museums has been generated and negotiated. The study considers how changes in museum provision and practice over the previous forty years gave rise to ongoing concerns about the adequacy of curatorial provision, even while museums expanded and their resourcing improved. It demonstrates that change in museums was driven by a complex combination of factors, with changing political and economic circumstances shaping change alongside an expanding range of professional support mechanisms. It demonstrates how individual curators shaped change through influencing broader developments and through their professional relationships. The study considers the changing relationship between curators and audiences and explores how changing understandings of the nature of expertise and of the communication process began to be manifest in museums’ exhibitions and displays. The study examines staffing levels in a group of major regional museums, demonstrating the increasingly complex nature of museums as institutions, with growing numbers of other staff coming to work alongside curators, who lost their overall numerical dominance during the period under review. It identifies a very significant expansion in staff numbers between 1960 and the mid-1990s, followed by some loss of provision towards the turn of the millennium. The study concludes that attempts to address this decline must be rooted in a fuller understanding of how change has been generated in museums.

Museum curators have the potential to make diverse representations of present day everyday life through everyday things. The aim of this research is to demonstrate that everyday objects have a significant role in the recording, representation and communication of everyday life. This thesis contributes to curatorial theory, by suggesting ways and means by which everyday life and things can be 'documented', that is collected, interpreted and displayed. Different theoretical approaches and methods from three bodies of literature are explored, that have a bearing on the primary research question: How can the interpretation, collection, and display of everyday life through present day everyday objects be enhanced in museums and galleries? By synthesizing ideas from different bodies of literature, Material Culture Studies, Everyday Life Studies and Museum Studies, the research brings a new theoretical contribution to the way everyday mass-produced things are curated in museums. A diverse range of approaches documenting present day everyday life with objects is explored through three studies: contemporary art, contemporary collecting in museums, and an exhibition. Methods used include interviews with artists and curators and mounting an exhibition. The first study analyses the meanings and materiality of artworks revealing deeper understandings of the subjective experience of everyday life. The second study evaluates the ethnographic approach to collecting the home by Swedish museums. The third study demonstrates how cultural diversity can be displayed through clothes and personal possessions of twelve individuals, in an exhibition as 'contact zone'. The conclusions are that: documentation of present day everyday life in museums can incorporate the subjective experience of everyday life; concepts of proximity and materiality can contribute to a better understanding of everyday things, and a social history curator of contemporary life can become a bricoleur - an active, creative collector and maker of meanings about everyday life using things.