博物館工作的活水源頭－研究

The Foundation of the Museum-Research

王啓祥

《科技博物》 2卷4期 (1998/07) Pp. 12-18

https://doi.org/10.6432/TMR.199807.0012

並列摘要

Chyn Yu-jie, one of Taiwan's leading experts in museum field, notes in his book ”Modern Museums” (1996) that he once asked for researchers' quota when planning the National Museum of Natural Science. But the higher officiers asked, ”Why do a museum needs researchers?” In addition, most museum staffs have the experiences when their friends or relatives asked why they happened to choose this particular line of work.
Obviously a lot of people, from top administrators down to the man in the street, have no idea about what museum researchers do. At present most museum researchers hail from a wide range of backgrounds and may variously be involved in exhibit planning or set-up, developing educational materials, collection maintenance or other aspects of museum work. What they know about museum operations is usually gained from their own experience or else what they have accumulated through training classes while working in the museum. This ordinarily involves rather narrow, specialized training in their own particular field and not a systematic program of instruction, meaning that most museum employees do not have a clear idea about the fields of museum research. So how would these people know what research topics might be worth pursuing, other than topics in their own specialty, and of interest to the museum and the public in general?
Topics Covered in Museum Research
Chyn Yu-jie classifies museum research in four categories: collection research, collection processing research, collection applications research and museology research. Chang Yu-terng (1987) believes the categories should include collection artifacts research, basic research of history, evolutionary theories and new principles, and research of museum visitor surveys.
Woodhead and Stansfield (1994) feel that museum research should cover theories and facts about museums, including museology and museography. The International Council of Museums (ICOM) has defined museology as study of the aims and organizations of the museum. This would also include background on the history of development of museums; the role that museums play in society; evolutionary research, collection research and education; and organizational systems, as well as museums' relations to the greater environment and the various types of museums.
Museography is defined by ICOM as anything having to do with the methods and practices involved in operating a museum. As far as classifications of museums and museum cultures goes, however, according to the National Museum of Natural Science (1995), in Taiwan popular usage does not distinguish between museology and museography, simply lumping everything regarding theories and facts about museums under the topic of museology.
Generally speaking museum research serves to clarify the definition and functions of museums, while research of the people, events and things involved in a museum helps to establish the mission of the museum. The current point of view regarding 'people' research is that it should cover surveys of museum visitors as well as development of non-visitors and studies of museum staff and volunteers. The latter should include demands made of staff and volunteers, how they are utilized and trained for their tasks, and levels of satisfaction with their work. Museums should follow the dictum of 'the customer is king' to find out what visitors like and need, but they should also pay close attention to the people who work there. After all, how can they ever 'keep the customer satisfied' if they are thrown into a busy work schedule without proper training for the job?
Research of 'events' entails study of trends and changes in society and the times, thoughts on the values and effects of museums, and determining the concepts and priorities behind a museum. It also calls for discussion of the principles, techniques, strategies and methods involved in exhibition, education, collection, research, marketing and other activities in the museum.
Research of 'things' is not simply studies of the items in the collection and how they are stored, protected and used. It also covers the structure and design of the museum, the functions of space and the quality of the surrounding environment as well as the hardware and equipment needed for exhibitions, education, collection, research and customer service.
The Development of Museum Research
The forms and functions of museum research have changed along with changes in the world around us. Woodhead and Stansfield dated the beginning of true 'museum studies' from the 1960s when a number of American universities established departments dealing exclusively with topics directly involving museums. Actually, there have been studies of museums since as early as the 18th century, but until the '60s they covered little more than classification and preservation of the items in collections and how to add to these collections.
Who WUI Do the Research for Museums?
That museum research should be done my museum researchers is pretty natural. The early research on collections mentioned above was done by specialists called curators. With the steady development and sophistication of museums, however, the term curator has come to apply to more than just people who study museum collections. These days museum researchers in Taiwan are relatively educated people who work on exhibition, educational materials and collections. Although some may be called curators, some educators and some researchers, they are all technically 'researchers' no matter what their primary duties may be. Moreover, these people have all gone through a certain amount of training and are fully capable research personnel, thus it is only natural that they be involved in research in their work.
Now then, should the aforementioned researchers be the only ones permitted to carry out research-related work in museums? Not really. With the spread of higher education in Taiwan, many specialized staffers and administrators in museums have backgrounds and experience in research, and not just the people directly involved in research. These staffs and administrators also have a real need to do research in order to carry out their own jobs. Where the museum is concerned, having line personnel who can do their own research is the best way to make good use of the museum's human resources. Of course there are some research jobs that even the most talented staff cannot carry out; these must be farmed out to outside research organizations or individuals.
In the past collection, exhibition, education and research were viewed as the four basic functions of a museum. Changing times bring changes in museums as well, but research will always be an indispensable part of the operations involved. Any museum work that is done without a solid basis in research is 'blind', while research that is not in keeping with the needs of the museum is 'misguided'-a very significant difference. Although some improvements in research have come with the development of museums in Taiwan, it is obvious that not enough has been done yet. Annual spending on research is still very limited at any museum, it is difficult to obtain funding for research from outside museums, and researchers find it difficult to devote time and energy to research in the midst of hectic expansion efforts. These factors make it hard to carry on research, to be sure, but they should not be used as an excuse for abandoning research altogether.
Meanwhile researchers must work to achieve what they can until the overall climate for research improves.