[myoo-zee-uh
m] 
| a building or place where works of art, scientific specimens, or other objects of permanent value are kept and displayed. |
| mu·se·um (myōō-zē'əm) n. A building, place, or institution devoted to the acquisition, conservation, study, exhibition, and educational interpretation of objects having scientific, historical, or artistic value. [Latin Mūsēum, from Greek Mouseion, shrine of the Muses, from Mouseios, of the Muses, from Mousa, Muse; see men-1 in Indo-European roots.] |
museum
Museums on the Web. (http://galaxy.einet.net/GJ/museums.html).
(1995-03-16)
museum
institution dedicated to preserving and interpreting the primary tangible evidence of humankind and the environment. In its preserving of this primary evidence, the museum differs markedly from the library, with which it has often been compared, for the items housed in a museum are mainly unique and constitute the raw material of study and research. In the museum the object, in many cases removed in time, place, and circumstance from its original context, communicates itself directly to the viewer in a way not possible through other media. Museums have been founded for a variety of purposes: to serve as recreational facilities, scholarly venues, or educational resources; to contribute to the quality of life of the areas where they are situated; to attract tourism to a region; to promote civic pride or nationalistic endeavour; or even to transmit overtly ideological concepts. Given such a variety of purposes, museums reveal remarkable diversity in form, content, and even function. Yet, despite such diversity, they are bound by a common goal: the preservation and interpretation of some material aspect of society's cultural consciousness.
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