Museum, Museology and New Museology

A systematic and comprehensive study, covering a wide spectrum of knowledge relating to entire evolutive process of museums and museology, right from their inception till the close of the present century, has been a long desideratum. Whereas museums and museology have undergone fantastic conceptual and functional transformation in the developed world, leading to the birth of new museuology alongwith its multiple paradigms such as the integral museum, community museum and eco-museum etc, museology in most of the developing countries is still restricted to the training of personnel on museum-methods and techniques. Their museums still continue the conventional approach to conserve and interpret the objects of material culture with a view to eulogise the past which creates nostalgia in the minds of the people. The present treatise "Museum, Museology and New Museology" is a first ever sincere attempt to place all divergent researchers, views and opinions published through the international journals, reports and proceedings of various conferences, workshops and seminars for the benefit of young museum personnel, researchers and students of museology. It is a pity that the journals and other museological publications of ICOM and ICOFOM, which are the main organs of UNESCO to develop museology as an independent science, are falling beyond the reach of even an average museum-worker, not to speak of researchers and students of museology.