'The Rhino Horn on Display Has Been Replaced by a Replica': Museum Security in Finland and England. Issue 1 (16th March 2016)
- Record Type:
- Journal Article
- Title:
- 'The Rhino Horn on Display Has Been Replaced by a Replica': Museum Security in Finland and England. Issue 1 (16th March 2016)
- Main Title:
- 'The Rhino Horn on Display Has Been Replaced by a Replica': Museum Security in Finland and England
- Authors:
- Grove, Louise
Thomas, Suzie - Abstract:
- Museums are an integral part of the cultural life of societies. As well as having intangible value, many collections may also have considerable financial value and present a temptation to thieves. Furthermore, threats exist from accidents, natural disasters, and vandalism, among many other risks that have to be taken into account when building up museums security measures. In recent years, high-profile art thefts from museums and even, regrettably, acts of terror have drawn attention to the vulnerability of museum institutions as sites of crime and catastrophe. In particular, balancing visitor enjoyment and accessibility of the exhibits with security can be difficult for many. Despite awareness of these concerns, museums security remains to date under-represented in museological discourses, perhaps in part because of its perceived pragmatic nature. Another reason may be the difficulty of discussing in a meaningful way information that is often confidential and sensitive. In this paper, based on research carried out in Finland and England, we aim to analyse some of the key issues for museums security, which, whilst observed in northern European settings, also have relevance for museums globally. We set this discussion against the backdrop of ethical considerations and present our methodology for gathering the data and for discussing our results in a way which is both sensitive to confidentiality issues and still of use to the wider security, museums, and cultural heritageMuseums are an integral part of the cultural life of societies. As well as having intangible value, many collections may also have considerable financial value and present a temptation to thieves. Furthermore, threats exist from accidents, natural disasters, and vandalism, among many other risks that have to be taken into account when building up museums security measures. In recent years, high-profile art thefts from museums and even, regrettably, acts of terror have drawn attention to the vulnerability of museum institutions as sites of crime and catastrophe. In particular, balancing visitor enjoyment and accessibility of the exhibits with security can be difficult for many. Despite awareness of these concerns, museums security remains to date under-represented in museological discourses, perhaps in part because of its perceived pragmatic nature. Another reason may be the difficulty of discussing in a meaningful way information that is often confidential and sensitive. In this paper, based on research carried out in Finland and England, we aim to analyse some of the key issues for museums security, which, whilst observed in northern European settings, also have relevance for museums globally. We set this discussion against the backdrop of ethical considerations and present our methodology for gathering the data and for discussing our results in a way which is both sensitive to confidentiality issues and still of use to the wider security, museums, and cultural heritage sectors. … (more)
- Is Part Of:
- Journal of conservation & museum studies. Volume 14:Issue 1(2016)
- Journal:
- Journal of conservation & museum studies
- Issue:
- Volume 14:Issue 1(2016)
- Issue Display:
- Volume 14, Issue 1 (2016)
- Year:
- 2016
- Volume:
- 14
- Issue:
- 1
- Issue Sort Value:
- 2016-0014-0001-0000
- Page Start:
- Page End:
- Publication Date:
- 2016-03-16
- Subjects:
- Museum security -- ethics -- repeat victimization -- safety -- museum practice
Antiquities -- Collection and preservation -- Periodicals
Art objects -- Collection and preservation -- Periodicals
Museum conservation methods -- Periodicals
069.53 - Journal URLs:
- http://www.jcms-journal.com/ ↗
- DOI:
- 10.5334/jcms.124 ↗
- Languages:
- English
- ISSNs:
- 2049-4572
- Deposit Type:
- Legaldeposit
- View Content:
- Available online (eLD content is only available in our Reading Rooms) ↗
- Physical Locations:
- British Library HMNTS - ELD Digital store
- Ingest File:
- 14763.xml