Important challenges museums are facing today and how to respond to them - Term Paper Example

Museums are important places where people are able to debate upon and shape the public views, cultural views and identity. Museums have been facing several changes inside and out of the country due to the new expectations of the audience such as students, tourists, donors.Museums have been facing several changes inside and out of the country due to the new expectations of the audience such as students, tourists, donors. As a result this has caused challenges to the museum management. As a result this has caused challenges to the museum management.

These challenges are in terms of how to organize staff members, creation of exhibitions, shaping of collections and creation of effective programs. Important Challenges Facing Museums Today Financial challenge has become an obvious threat to the museums today. During recession period one of things to be cut off from financing is museum as many view it non-essential services. It is also not considered to have any significant formal role to the public and especially to education. Participation in museums is mostly considered voluntary and that amounts to why it does not receive much funding like other corporations.

Acquiring expert collection staff is another challenge that is facing museums. The lack of expertise in the museums staff makes it impossible for the museums to ensure proper interpretation of collections and how to improve museum education. Many people do not prefer studying on museum issues and in most cases such issues are not in the curriculum. The expert collection staffs are significant people in the museum since they are the ones who provide various collections according to expectation of the audience.

They are also able to choose right objects for display and ensure they are relevant for the occasion hence every museum should have these kinds of people. Any collection in a museum without an expert taking care of it, it loses any inherent value attached to it according to Flyyin (2007). Poor management of museums has also been a major challenge facing museums. Museums have often regarded as areas of less duty and this has led to the downfall of the industry. There are several activities which need to be taken care of in the museum so as to make it a place worthy visitation.

For instance the need to improve access to collection, improving attract more people, make more relevant exhibitions to those served by the museum and to generate income which important for development .Therefore it is the work of the management to ensure all these activities are taken care of. Lack of information about objects found in the museum has been a major challenge to the industry. This information is as important as the objects since without it, it is unlikely that people will recognize the importance of such objects Many museums have not been able to standardize information of their artifacts and those which have managed to do so have lacked the right data and vocabulary.

This can be attributed to the failure of the government to introduce a national standard for museums. Creation of different classification for different artifacts in the museum has also remained a major challenge in the industry. This can be attributed to the lack of unified standard framework which needs to be single framework for museums. Cultural heritage is playing a major role in the museums and without this standard framework it is unlikely that museums will achieve any significant progress in future.

The declining attendance to the museum has also been a major challenge. This is because one of the main sources of cash for the museum is through the entrance fee. On the same note, with the decline of attendance it implies that the museum is not selling out itself as not many people will be aware of what it offers. This is a challenge which needs a lot of attention as it important aspect of the museum. The issue of which works to display and which works not to display has also posed a challenge to the museums as suggested by Flyyin (2007).

For instance most museums are not sure of whether to display works with sexual content. This is case especially when the museum operates with