Museum Services Research Articles

Museums of Canada

THE two volumes referred to below may be regarded as a continuation, first, of the report on the public museums of the British Isles drawn up for the Carnegie United Kingdom Trust by Sir Henry Miers in 1928, secondly, of the new edition of the “Directory of Museums”, originally published by the Museums Association in 1911, of which vol. 1, covering Great Britain and Ireland, appeared in October 1930. This continuation, which will eventually deal with all the public museums of the Empire, has the aid of the Carnegie Corporation of New York. The report, by Sir Henry Miers and Mr. S. F. Markham, is confined to the museums of Canada, but the “Directory” comprises also the other museums on or adjoining the American continent and is on the same clear and practical lines as the first volume. We base our further remarks on the Canadian report. The authors include any building that houses objects of art, history, science, or industry to which the public has even limited access. Of such museums they reckon 125, and nearly all have been inspected by one or the other author. The museum service of Canada differs from that of Great Britain in the relatively smaller number of museums maintained by public funds. While 28 are administered by the Dominion Government or provincial governments and only seven by a city or county, there are 32 maintained by a society, 53 by educational establishments, and 5 owned by industrial firms. The classification is not exact as the administration is often shared between public and private bodies. Of the society museums, at least half are historical, and these are mostly in Ontario; of the educational museums 22 belong to Roman Catholic institutions in Quebec. Fifteen, of varied character, are classed as art museums and range through eleven towns from Vancouver to Halifax.

Museum Service for Schools

Museum Service for Schools

The Museums Report and National Folk Museums

IN the concluding paragraphs of Part 1 of the Final Report of the Royal Commission on National Museums and Colleetions,1 some outstanding needs in the national museum service are indicated. In the order named there are: an ethnographical museum, a folk museum, an Oriental museum, and a museum of casts. This sequence is not without its significance.