City Museums and City Development

by Ian Jones (Editor)

Traditionally, city museums have been keepers of city history. Many have been exercises in nostalgia, reflecting city pride. However, a new generation of museums focuses increasingly on the city's present and future as well as its past, and on the city in all of its diversity, challenges, and possibilities. Above all, these museums are gateways to understanding the city―our greatest and most complex creation and the place where half the world's population now lives. In this book, experts in the field explore this 'new' city museum and the challenge of contributing positively to city development.

198 pages, Hardcover

First published September 26, 2008

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

Ian Jones is the Secretary of CAMOC (Collections and Activities of Museums of Cities), one of the international committees forming part of the International Council of Museums.

Reviews

[Geoffreyjen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hard for me to write a review for a book to which I contributed, but I am rather pleased about the volume overall. The book highlights the particular challenges faced by so-called city museums, that is museums whose focus is the city within which they are located, in contemporary society. Issues include the need to engage with the community and break out of the building itself in numerous ways, that is, "extra muros", plus the issue of developing exhibits that deal with intangibles rather than concrete objects.