ABSTRACT
The aim of carrying out ethnographic research in the Science Museum was to study the construction of science in museum exhibitions, exploring the agendas and assumptions involved in creating science for the public. On 3 October 1988, admission charges were introduced at the Science Museum. The Museum’s other main division, ‘Collections Management’, dealt, as its name implies, with the Museum’s collections of artefacts. It was focused on work which for the public was mostly ‘back-stage’: the acquisition, conservation, restoration, storage, researching and cataloguing of artefacts. Many Museum staff were reflexive, and often ironic, droll and self-critical, about their work and about museums more generally. The Science Museum is important for being Britain’s National Museum of Science and Industry. Its national status is a key aspect of its particular public and institutional dynamic. Neither could identities of some of those working in it easily be disguised. The chapter also presents an overview on the key concepts discussed in this book.
