SCOPE OF MUSEUM

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 22987, 15 March 1938, Page 10

SCOPE OF MUSEUM

The address delivered by Mr. Gilbert Archey to the Rotary Club yesterday lays a good workable basis for constructive thought upon t the development and extension of museums for educational, civic and social purposes. The director of the Auckland War Memorial Museum is fortunate in the fact that since his appointment as chief executive the Auckland Institute, through the museum, has made much closer contact with the citizen body than it had ever done before. The new building gave new, almost unexpected, scope for the development of the educational functions of the institution. During its construction there was a tendency to rush headlong toward this end, and a very emphatic check had to be imposed by those who insisted upon the predominance of the commemorative character of the effort without the influence of which it would never j have come into being. The staffing of the museum, viewed from local standards, would appear to be adequate so far as research is concerned, but as Mr. Archey, fresh from travels abroad, has indicated, there is scope for highly important work, much of which would be regarded as good value for money received by the citizens who like to think of direct benefit. A museum of public health, which could be accommodated in the Auckland building, would, have extraordinary value, especially so under the new system whereby school children visit the museum and there hear suitable lectures. State and municipal health authorities might be co-opted by the museum for the establishment of such a department. The idea of a museum of agriculture at, say, Hamilton may inspire a co-operative spirit in the Waikato. Similarly a section of the museum devoted to industrial technology might fulfil a purpose beyond that seen 'in a casual survey. Such ideas as those mentioned would take time for their satisfactory fulfilment, but it ig well that they have been implanted in the public mind.