从“释物”到“育人”:公共博物馆的价值——评《博物馆重要的事》

From Being about Something to Being for Somebody:The Value of Public Museums-A Review of Making Museums Matters

自20世纪末以来,服务社会和教育公众逐渐成为当代博物馆的重要使命。史蒂芬·威尔在其2002年出版的《博物馆重要的事》一书中系统梳理了这一趋势。该书是洞悉美国博物馆发展脉络和学术思潮的一部博物馆学经典著作。威尔深入讨论了三个核心议题:二战后美国博物馆从“藏品”到“公众”的两次重要转型,变革浪潮中博物馆的价值构成、意义探索和功能发挥,以及博物馆绩效评估的理论模型。威尔将其丰富的博物馆管理经验与深刻的理论思考相结合,总结分析当代博物馆变革与转型的路径和价值,为中国博物馆发展提供了国际视野与实践经验的双重借鉴。

Since the end of the 20th century,serving society and educating the public has gradually become an important mission for modern museums.Making Museums Matters,published by Stephen E.Weil in 2002,is a classic work that provides insights into the development and academic thought of the American museum industry.In this book,Weil delves into three core topics:the two significant transformations of American museums after the World War II,the composition and significance of museum value and how to play its social role,and the theoretical framework of museum performance evaluation.Weil seamlessly integrates his extensive museum management experience with profound theoretical insights,summarizing the lessons learned from museum transformations.His museum philosophy not only provides a forward-looking direction and injects robust momentum into the future development of the museum industry but also offers invaluable dual insights-international perspectives and practical experiences—to Chinese museology.