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Reinventing the Museum: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives on the Paradigm Shift. Gail Anderson, ed. Marburg an der Lahn: Basilisken Press, 2004. 401 pp.
The paradigm shift indicated in the volume's title is the dramatic transformation of museums from collections-based, object-displaying, elite institutions to a wide range of visitor-centered museums that are "more socially responsive cultural institution[s] in service to the public" (p. 1). To illustrate this paradigm shift, Gail Anderson has compiled 34 essays, 30 of which were published between 1990-2002. The reinvention of the museum, as the editor terms it, is predicated on change in five key areas, which constitute the organizing framework for the volume: (1) the role of the museum as it struggles to remain relevant; (2) the role of the public as central to the survival of the museum; (3) the evolution of exhibitions and programs as the primary vehicles serving the public; (4) the role of the object in the sense of collections cared for by museums and implicating issues of stewardship and cultural responsibility; and (5) the role of leadership for enabling museums to reach their greatest potential. As explicitly stated by its editor (p. xi), Reinventing the Museum...