ABSTRACT
Each year, in countries throughout the world, millions upon millions of people visit museums. As a result of growing interest in their collections and their work, the number of museums of all kinds increases year by year. Their popularity is assured. It is not the purpose of Museum Basics to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the phenomenal upsurge of museum developments worldwide in the last fifty years or so. However, it is this growth of interest in museums and allied cultural institutions that represents the broad context within which Museum Basics will be used. It is appropriate therefore that we comment briefly on museums in their wider setting at the beginning of the new century.
