ABSTRACT
This chapter investigates the historical background of and contemporary motivations for integration of collecting institutions. Arguments in favour of convergence often reference the new capacity for collections to be integrated and jointly accessed online, eliminating the need for the now antiquated separation of the collecting domains and underscoring the timeliness of physical institutional convergence. Others point to the common ancestry of museums, libraries and archives, insisting that the different types of repositories are inherently compatible, and current moves towards convergence are merely the fulfilment of historical precedents. In parallel, significant policy developments, including the decentralisation of cultural policy and the increasing role of municipal councils in provision of cultural services, serve as precursors to the advent of hybridisation as a model for development of new kinds of cultural facilities. Providing an overview of these intersecting trends, the chapter highlights prevailing assumptions about the benefits of convergence and underscores the importance of examining the impacts of convergence ‘on the ground’ in relation to interpretative museum practice.
