The aim of this two years master’s thesis in Archive, Library and Museum Studies is to analyse how Swedish cultural history museums work to include LGBTQ-heritage (LGBT is the acronym for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer) in their collections. This work is articulated around three research questions. These interrogate museum practice about collecting and collection management, what it looks like in the already gathered collections as well as the implications such work implies on a broader level. The theoretical framework throughout the paper is gender and LGBT studies as well as queer theory. The analytical tools that have been used are bias-theory (Carruthers 1987), stereotyping (Pickering 2003) and classification theory (Bowker & Leigh Star 2000). Seven interviews form the main empirical material that is analysed in order to grasp museums collecting practice and collection management. Today’s museums practice is influenced by the new trends in democratic representation and seeks therefore to include new narratives that include the LGBTQ community. Museums are either collecting new material with connection to the LGBTQ community or look inwards in order to reinterpret older collections and maybe find a link to it. Both strategies rouse questions that are discussed in this paper. How to classify and document that material as well as selection processes and the traditional museums relation to the alternative collecting practice as the grassroots organizations stand for are discussed in the thesis.

"The purpose of this paper is to form an organizational pattern representative of art museum libraries. The writer's choice of this subject has grown out of an extended period of interest in art history and in museums as depositories of great paintings and works of art. In pursuing this interest, the writer has made pilgrimages to art museums in many parts of the country, often for the purpose of seeing a special exhibit. This interest has also resulted in the forming of a personal collection of some fifty volumes in the art reference field, the accumulation of many unbound copies of art magazines, and the preparation of a vertical file clipping and picture collection, particularly representative of modern painting. The ever increasing background information acquired through the pursuance of these projects finally led to a desire for closer contact with museum activities. The writer's comparatively recent interest in library service seemed to offer an opportunity for this fulfillment. The choice of art museum libraries, as the subject for a paper furnished an opportunity for investigation into this specialized field of library service"--Introduction. / "June, 1953." / At head of title: Florida State University. / Typescript. / "Submitted to the Graduate Council of Florida State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts." / Advisor: Agnes Gregory, Professor Directing Paper. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 50-51).

This study examines a project carried out by Stockholms stadsmuseum in the area of Östberga in Stockholm called Stadsmuseet på plats – Östberga. Interviews with museum personnel and analysis of documents related to the project make up the material for this study. The theory used is The Contextual Model of Learning, which in this study is adjusted to apply a museum-centered perspective rather than a visitor-centered one. The aim is to examine the intentions behind this type of outreach work and how it relates to the concept of the socially responsible museum. This concept is an expression of the development of the museum towards a visitor-centered, democratic and inclusive institution. It also includes a political idea, primarily in a British context, of the museum as a vehicle for positive social change. This study shows that Stadsmuseet på plats – Östberga is connected to larger political goals within the municipality regarding a sustainable social development. The museum’s intentions behind the project combines a regard for the local development of Östberga, with the fulfillment of internal institutional goals relating to audience development, development of museum collections, and creating an inclusive cultural heritage that represents every part of Stockholm. This is a two years master’s thesis in Museum and Cultural Heritage Studies.