Museums in Motion - (American Association for State and Local History) 3rd Edition by Edward P Alexander & Mary Alexander & Juilee Decker

About the Book

Here is a complete introduction to the history of museums, types of museums, and the key functions museums play in the 21st century. This new edition features "Museums in Motion Today" where museum professionals provide their perspectives on where museums are and where they ar...

Book Synopsis

Here is a complete introduction to the history of museums, types of museums, and the key functions museums play in the 21st century. This new edition features "Museums in Motion Today" where museum professionals provide their perspectives on where museums are and where they are going. Each chapter is amply illustrated.

Review Quotes

I am delighted to offer my endorsement for the third edition of Museums in Motion, a text I have used in my Museum Studies courses for over twenty years. The new updates and inclusions by Juilee Decker make this version very relevant for today's students and will give them an important framework as all of us in the museum field face a challenging future. It is most accessible to both the undergraduate and graduate student as well as being informative for the working museum professional. I give this book my highest praise--it combines the history and function of museums elegantly and the special highlights from the museum professionals give it an additional connection to the real world.

I am thrilled to see a thorough update of this classic book on museums and museum functions. Museums in Motion can once again serve as the essential introductory text for any museum studies course.

Museums in Motion is a core text for museum and curatorial studies courses and a valuable resource for anyone in the museum profession. The inclusion of provocative and inspiring reports on contemporary practice provides special value.

This new, third edition of Museums in Motion tackles the challenge of updating a classic text on the history and relevance of museums with considerable elegance and aplomb. Important topics such as constantly changing information technologies, new approaches to inclusivity and accessibility, and the shifting nature of the museum profession cannot be tacked on to already existing chapters, but must be woven carefully into the substance of the text as an integrated whole. Juilee Decker faces this daunting task head-on, and the resulting book is a masterwork of research scholarship and professional practice that will prove invaluable to everyone wanting to improve their understanding of the functions, importance, and value of museums -- past, present, and future.

About the Author

Edward Porter Alexander's illustrious museum career extended from 1934-1978. In recognition of his contributions to the field, The American Alliance of Museums added him to their Centennial Honor Roll in 2006.

Mary Alexander has been a museum educator and administrator for nearly fifty years. She was associate editor for Museum Education Anthology (1984) and co-authored Museums: Places of Learning (1998) with George Hein.

Juilee Decker is an associate professor of Museum Studies at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) where she teaches courses focusing on museums and technology. She has served as editor for Innovative Approaches for Museums, a four-volume series focusing on technology and digital initiatives, engagement and access, collections care and stewardship, and fundraising and strategic planning (Rowman & Littlefield, 2015). Since 2008, she has served as editor of Collections: A Journal for Museum and Archives Professionals, a peer-reviewed journal published by Rowman & Littlefield.