Medical Museum Past Future Analysis

There are volumes that do specialise in discussing medical museums which include more human tissue, as opposed to other human remains that a wide variety of history and archaeological collections hold. Many of these important texts are written by Dr. Samuel Alberti, who once was the Director of Museums and Archives at the Royal College of Surgeons and currently works at the National Museums of Scotland (NMS). These texts, such as Samuel Alberti’s “Morbid Curiosities: Medical Museums in Nineteenth-Century Britain” and “Medical Museums: Past, Present, and Future” focus on the human remains and other objects that are part of medical collections, but they are not analysed from a technical care point of view. The focus is more about the history …show more content…
This layout is great for comparing the many different ways human tissue is displayed around the world. Elements of the collections including the building’s architecture, visitor numbers, and ways that visitors are engaged is discussed. While not in depth, the text still gives a general overview of the different display techniques used in museums and how this is being changed, or in some cases not changed for specific reasons. Providing visitor statistics also enables the reader to understand that medical collections can be very popular places, but many factors such as location and accessibility effect the number of visitors. “Medical Museums” also discusses briefly the different regulations used around the world such as HTA in England and Scotland, German medical guidelines, and others. Unlike the books before, in this text a way forward is proposed. An understanding that medical museums need to diversify, expand, and update themselves is present. (Alberti, …show more content…
Specific advice is given on the preparation of difficult specimens, such as foetuses, and diagrams are shown with directions on how to make Perspex pots. As seen in figure 1 below, the steps of how to make a pot is laid out in a simple manner that anyone with some knowledge as to the practice could very easily create one themselves. A multitude of techniques are detailed such as solid mounting and casting, and the text ends with recommendations for medical museums. Everything from object labelling, catalogues, environmental controls, and types of shelving is discussed. Different types of display are recounted as is the ideal management of the collections (Edwards