Includes bibliographical references (p. 395-401)

The gloom of the museum (1917) / John Cotton Dana -- What is a museum? (1942) / Theodore Low -- A twelve point program for museum renewal (1970) / Alma Wittlin -- The museum, a temple or the forum (1971) / Duncan F. Cameron -- Rethinking the museum: an emerging new paradigm (1990) / Stephen E. Weil -- Museums in the age of deconstruction (1992) / Michael M. Ames -- The real multiculturalism: a struggle for authority and power (1992) / Amalia Mesa-Bains -- "Hey! That's mine": thoughts on pluralism and American museums (1992) / Edmund Barry Gaither -- An agenda for museums in the twenty-first century (1999) / Harold Skramstad -- The contextual model of learning (2000) / John H. Falk, Lynn D. Dierking -- The museum's role in a multicultural society (1992) / Claudine K. Brown -- Staying away: why people choose not to visit museums (1983) / Marilyn G. Hood -- The visitors' bill of rights (2000) / Judy Rand -- United states: a science in the making (1993) / C.G. Screven -- Can museums be all things to all people? Missions, goals, and marketing's role (2000) / Neil Kotler, Philip Kotler -- Museum exhibitions and the dynamics of dialogue (1999) / Kathleen McLean -- Changing practices of interpretation (1997) / Lisa C. Roberts -- Making meaning together: lessons from the field of american history (1993) / Lois H. Silverman -- Is there method in our madness? Improvisation in the practice of museum education (1999) / Mary Ellen Munley -- Mining the museum: an installation confronting history (1993) / Lisa G. Corrin -- Evaluating the ethics and consciences of museums (1994) / Robert Sullivan -- What is the object of this exercise? A meandering exploration of the many meanings of objects in museums (1999) / Elaine Heumann Gurian -- Collecting then, collecting today: what's the difference? (2002) / Stephen E. Weil -- Collections planning: pinning down a strategy (2002) / James B. Gardner, Elizabeth Merritt -- Who cares? Conservation in a contemporary context (1999) / Carole Milner -- A philosophical perspective on the ethics and resolution of cultural properties issues (1999) / Karen J. Warren -- Deft deliberations (1991) / Dan L. Monroe, Walter Echo-Hawk -- Deaccessioning: the american perspective (1991) / Marie C. Malaro -- Creampuffs and hardball: are you really worth what you cost or just merely worthwhile? (1995) / Stephen E. Weil -- The well-managed museum (1989) / Stephen E. Weil, Earl F. Cheit -- Museum accountability: laws, rules, ethics, and accreditation (1991) / Willard L. Boyd -- Toward a new governance (1997) / John Carver -- Institution-wide change in museums (1993) / Will Phillips -- Persistent paradoxes (1997) / Robert Janes