Museums at the crossroad: Contributing to dialogue, curiosity and wonder in natural history museums

The first natural history collections opened to the public were inspired by a sense of curiosity and wonder about the products of nature. They were ‘cabinets of curiosities’ that offered a first-hand interaction between owner and visitors. Nowadays, these two facets of the museum experience—dialogue and wonder—have been lost, in part, due to the information overload coming via the media and the impersonal nature of the museum visit. This paper offers some reflections on the evolution of the museum visit, suggests some ways to rediscover this ‘sense of wonder’ and provides ideas on how to promote two-way communication with museum visitors. Two examples of exhibitions are offered as illustrations of the points discussed.     

The terrible gift: Museums and the possibility of hope without consolation

Public history is turned toward the future no less than the past. Little discussion exists as to how practices of public history might foster new ways to live with the presence of history. Museum exhibitions are one site where such discussions may take place. Particularly generative in this regard are exhibitions that present artifacts and documentation that reference state-sponsored violence. One such exhibition in development is discussed. While this exhibition presents evidence of past events, it also assembles traces of the past and bequeaths them as a testament, “a terrible gift” that places difficult demands on those to whom it has been given. In discussing the practices of inheritance initiated by such a gift implications are drawn for how museums might initiate a reconsideration of the force of history in social life.     

日本《图书馆员伦理纲领》的核心理念与实施现状

详述20世纪60年代-80年代初日本《图书馆员伦理纲领》的制订经过、历史背景;从专门职业制度与伦理纲领之间 的关系、获知自由与伦理纲领之间的关系、现代专门职业理论与伦理纲领之间的关系等3个方面,论述日本《图书馆员伦理纲 领》的核心理念、性质、局限和实施现状。     

《海国图志》的作者及版本研究

魏源(1794一1857年)是近代初期的思想家、史学家、经学家.其编著的<海国图志>是极负盛名的介绍世界历史、地理的巨著,对近代中国社会的近代化产生过很大的影响.     

古代苏州藏书家以抄书保存流传典籍功绩评述

论文从苏州藏书家刻苦自抄、精校精抄等方面评述了藏书家保存流传中华文化典籍的功绩。     

近代图书馆活动中心的形成和转移之分析

对近代图书馆活动中心的形成和转移进行了分析研究,其形成与转移过程为意大利———英国———法国———德国———美国,并对形成与转移的原因作了阐述。     

Excluding archival silences: Oral history and historical absence

Despite our society's increasing reliance on electronic documentation, to-date archives remain, largely, material repositories of cultural memory. It is an accepted historical problematic, however, that culture is often resistant to material preservation. There exists an undeniable and profound tension between scholarly efforts to reconstruct history and interpret cultural traditions and the fragmentary, and often limited, material record. That is to say, scholarship is shaped by a sinuous negotiation around the historical silences that encompass all of material culture. Historical silences, however, can at times be marginalized (or at best excluded) by a sensitive configuration of material evidence with oral history.Excluding Archival Silences: Oral History and Historical Absence uses a historically and geographically specific example of oral history to engage in a more generalist discussion of how oral reflection, especially when shaped by material evidences, can be an especially effective tool for preserving the dynamics of culture that often remain undocumented.     

美国高校教育专业图书馆的发展研究

美国教育专业图书馆专门为教师培养提供与课程、教学、政策、技术相关的参考资料和场地,其发展历史是与美国教育史和教育思想发展史紧密地联系在一起的。文章考察了美国教育专业图书馆与美国教育史和教育思想史的互动发展历程,深入分析了教育专业图书馆的阶段性发展特点,为我国深化教育专业图书馆领域的教育配套改革,助力师资队伍建设,提供了有益借鉴。     

于细微处见真章——学者口述史采访中的细节问题

口述史学与以文字书写的传统史学在技术路线上固然有所不同,然而有一点却是相同的,这就是历史细节的发掘与描写。历史事件都是由细节构成的,没有细节,就没有可信的历史。文章认为,学者是人类文明的创造者、记录者、传承者,对学者进行口述史采访,尤其应当注重细节发掘。《史记》之所以成为中国历史上一部具有划时代意义的史学巨著,与司马迁特别注重历史细节的记录与描写有关。通过学者口述史采访,我们一方面可以记录历史事件的具体发展过程,还原历史真相,补充第一手珍贵的历史资料;另一方面,还能感受到他们的道德情怀与人文精神,有助于传承与弘扬中华优秀传统文化。文章还结合中国记忆项目实践,介绍了对冯其庸、顾方舟、黄能馥、黄明信等学者进行口述史采访的具体细节。