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Survey Of Preservation And Conservation Of Local History Collections In Nigeria
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CHAPTER ONE
1.0 INTRODUCTION
1.1 OVERVIEW
The importance
attached to any museum object derives its value in cultural and
historical context which may span over areas such as religion, education
on, politics, economy and warfare. It is pertinent to note those
museums are categorizes according to the type of their collections,
locations and their purpose.
A: According to type of object in their collections.
1.
ART MUSEUM: It collects the elites artistic products of human society,
painting, drawings, photographs, statues, furniture, jewelry, textiles,
metals ware and craft products.
2. HISTORY MUSEUM: It is concerned
with history. All objects made or used by human beings are potentials
interest to the history museum.
3. ENCYCLOPEDIC OR GENERAL MUSEUM: It deals with several or all fields instead of just art, or history or geology etc.
4. ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM: It collects and exhibit historical and cultural remains recovered from the earth.
5. SCIENCE MUSEUM: There are two major kinds of science museum:
a. Science/industry museums
b. National history museums.
6.
ETHNOGRAPHY MUSEUM: It collects and displays cultural materials
associated with social institutions, clothing and implements of old.
7. Museum of posters, toys, textile etc.
B: According to the location and ownership: These museums are usually of general types.
1.
University Museums: It is attached to the history, science or other
departments of the universities and owned and managed by the university
authority.
2. Art council museum
3. Local government museums
4. State museum
5. Federal museum
6. Open air museum
According to their purpose
1.
Children museum: These are museums intended exclusively for young
children, with every thing in their scale down to fit their physical
size and mental capacity.
2. Museum for the blind
3. Museums of freedom-fighting.
Therefore,
following the general perception of the public about the state of
museum as highlighted above, need arises about the awareness and
development of museum and their corresponding preservation and
conservation of artifacts. At this juncture, it is relevant to explain
the key concepts of this research study which includes, museum,
artifacts, preservation, conservation, etc as it is in respect of the
case study. The National War Museum Umuahia, Abia State.
1.1 BACKGROUND OF STUDY
The
establishment of museum is significant in any developing nation like
Nigeria where historical record provides a link between the past, the
present and most certainly, the future.
The importance attached to
any museum object derives its value in cultural and historical context
which may span over areas such as Religion, Education, Politics, Economy
and warfare. It is most unfortunate, however, that most Nigerians, up
to this time, have not yet realized the importance of museums to the
society. To such people, museums are associated with artifacts and
monuments which are regarded as old and useless objects meant for
incarceration: This type of impression attached to this important agency
(museum) has so much affected us such that most of the objects which
would have been very useful in general enlighten and education of the
public suffer from deterioration.
1.1.0 DEFINITION
A survey of
preservation and conservation of local history collections in Nigeria:
(A case study of National War museum, Umuahia) which is the topic of
this work cannot be well treated if the concept of “preservation and
conservation†and “museum†elude the author.
However, The World book
Dictionary (1996) defines conservation as “the act of conserving,
protecting from loss or being used up: avoidance of wasteâ€. “Management,
protection, wise use of resourcesâ€.
Furthermore, The Encyclopedia
Britannica (1978) explains that conservation concerns the care given to
collection as a whole, to protect them against these three causes of
alteration: that is, environmental factor (temperature, humidity,
atmospheric, pollution, lighting); Internal factor (biological,
physical, chemical or mechanical action within the object itself); and
human factor (handling, transportation etc).
Alegbeleye (1985) sees conservation as the term that embraces several related ideas such as:
a.
Restoration, which is the action taken to correct deterioration of all
kinds and also maintain the items in their original form.
b. Substitution which has to do with the replacement of the original by microfilming and digitalization.
The
Webster’s Encyclopedia Dictionary (1998) defines preservation as “to
keep, maintain and preserve from ruin for the present and future usesâ€.
The
World Book Dictionary (1996) defines preservation as “the act or
process of preserving keeping safe: or those activities which are
involved in keeping an object from deteriorating furtherâ€.
Museum is
defined as a “temple, home, resort of the learned; and institution or
repository for the collection, exhibition and study of objects of
artistic, historic, scientific and educational interestâ€. It is an
institution established to encourage the preservation and to discourage
as far as possible the deterioration and loss of objects treasured by
the society.
CHAPTER ONE -- [Total Page(s) 6]
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ABSRACT - [ Total Page(s): 1 ]This research study aims at identifying the presentation and conservation of Local history collections in Nigeria, a case study of National War Museum, Umuahia, Abia State. In the process of carry out this research, the researcher identifies the problems/constrain, methods/techniques adopted, the classes of artifacts kept and also proffer solutions to the effective procedures for preservation and of local history collection in a museum under study. In the study, the researcher observed among num ... Continue reading---
