Article Rankings - last post!

Okay, so here are my rankings for the articles in the Museum Studies book.

I'll be honest like I have been in our meetings, this book is not my favorite. But it's mostly because of the rather random arrangement of articles. Some of them were very insightful, it was just hard for me to wrap my brain around how they fit into the big picture. I put them in chronological order rather than putting them in my own personal order, because I couldn't choose "favorites"... they all served a different purpose.

Top 15

#3: The Universal Survey Museum by Carol Duncan and Alan Wallach

• Great comparisons of museums to historical architecture and how they flow naturally out of human experience.

#9: At the Holocaust Museum by Alice Friman

• Poignant poem about the experience of a gut-wrenching history exhibition.

#10: To the Citizens of the United States of America by Charles Willson Peale 

• Example of curator asking for objects from "friends of the museum."

#17: Ambiguous Messages and Ironic Twists by Enid Schildkrout 

• Good example of what NOT to do as a curator.

#18: Thinking and Doing Otherwise by Mary Boquet

• The anthropology behind designing exhibitions.

#21: The Pitt-Rivers Museum, Oxford by James Fenton 

• Nice imagery, a poetic interpretation of a museum. Nice change of pace. 

#26 -- Melodrama, Pantomime or Portrayal? by Gaynor Kavanagh

• Discusses the history museum and being careful with its accuracy, scope, and limits. 

#29 Museums, National, Postnational and Transcultural Identities by Sharon J. Macdonald 

• Concerning museum identity in general, and how they might be changing.

#30 - Architecture and the Scene of Evidence by Catharine Ingraham 

• Slightly unclear but makes interesting claims about the architecture design representing the museum.

#31 - Some Thoughts about National Museums at the End of the Century by Roger G. Kennedy

• Insightful points about the nature of museums here and now, in our postmodern society. 

#34: Reality as Illusion, the Historic Houses that Become Museums by Mónica Risnicoff de Gorgas 

• Great examples of house museums, and the authenticity that is necessary within them. 

#38: Indigenous Models of Museums in Oceania by Sidney Moko Mead 

• Great example of a "specialized" museum, and the respect that is due the original culture of the objects. 

#39 - Museums and the Native Voice by Gerald McMaster

• Honoring the voice of the native people in your museum because it's easy to mix cultural assumptions with the truth. 

#42 - Aims and Principles of the Construction and Management of Museums of Fine Art by Benjamen Ives Gilman 

• This is probably the best introductory article, deals with how to handle and display objects, and the visitor's understanding of the art. 

#55: Museums, Corporatism and the Civil Society by Robert R. Janes

• Great article on the public purpose and function of the museum.

Bottom 10.... or 3?

So I actually don't have any more than 3 to put on the "bottom" list... but it's because all the rest of the articles in the book I either skimmed or didn't read because it looked boring or too long for the concept that it was dealing with. So I don't have a huge opinion on those. The three below are really the only ones where I would say " please don't make them read these." Hopefully all of this helps, and you can use the book in a way that truly aids the study of museums. 

#2: The Museum: It's Classical Etymology and Renaissance Genealogy by Paula Findlen

• Far too involved for this class.. all about the meaning of the word museum. Only good if you are interested in etymology or have way too much time on your hands. 

#23: Presidential Address to the Museums Association, Maidstone Meeting, 1909 by Henry Balfour

• I'm sorry, this was just plain boring. Super long speech in which he talks in a roundabout manner, only hitting a few significant points. 

#27 -- Artifacts as Expressions of Society and Culture by Leone and Little 

• This was my absolute least favorite. They made a variety of clams that didn't seem to tie together at the end, and I was confused almost the entire time. 

Thanks for a good semester, and for the grace you showed us while we figured out how to do this "studying independently" thing.  I hope you have a wonderful time with the students in the spring semester! 

p.s. I don't know whats up with the funky formatting in the bullets... I can't fix it for some reason! Oh well....



FIN