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Shri Mahavir Jain Aradhana Kendra
www.kobatirth.org
Acharya Shri Kailassagarsuri Gyanmandir
University Museum - Problems and Prospects
Miss Sayed Rafiqa Sultana* Miss Sayed Afroz Sultana+
Muscums in modern times are expected to serve various needs. They are also centres of education and academic, cultural institutes. Museums owe their origin and growth to the love of knowledge i.c. future growth, reputation, research and educational activities. Growth of reason is a fundamental part of museum activities. Research on muscum collection is a very important activity.
University muscum has a strong bias for interpretative and research oriented work and will have such a central focus on work study, like discussions, seminars and assignments, interpreting the objects for research, education and for education and appreciation by the people. Teaching in the museum is a very strong media: there is a regular link between the class room and the museum galleries and students learn quickly, steadily and accurately.
University museum is normally attached to the department dealing with a specific discipline such as history and culture, geology, zoology, botany and Anthropology. It is a small museum with restricted functions acts as an aid in research, in teaching of advanced students of a particular subject and functioning well as effective teaching of the subjects at scholar level.
As we are reaching the 21st century, it is clear that muscum's concept and museum developments are fast changing so that muscum faces complex problems and puzzles.
Collection
The Heart of Museum
The main problem of university muscum is collection. Collection is the heart of the muscum. I mean to say museums are nothing without their collections, and collection are nothing without research. In university museums collections are very weak, though they are teaching aid, research and educational centres. They have no collections according to subjects and syllabus. By giving practical training, subject concepts are clear. Many times scholar has to be satisfied with charts, photographs, slides and replicas.
* Curator cum Lecturer, Gujarat Vidyapith, Ahmedabad.
+ Asstt. Curator S.P. University Museum, Vallabh Vidyanagar.
Many agencies or departments have original duplicate objects lying in their stores though they are not useful in any purpose, for example, department of archaeology, zoology, botany etc. If we maintain the policy to gift and long term loans, the objects to the teaching aid muscum, by this way university museum will be rich and fulfil the teaching purpose and national culture will be saved. On March 1995, I met
પથિક♦ દીપોત્સવાંક - ઓક્ટો.-નવે.-ડિસે., ૨૦૦૧ - ૬૨
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