UMAC: Information, Ideas and International Collegiality

Abstract

The International Committee for University Museums and Collections (UMAC) identifies and enhances the strengths of university museums and collections. To do this, UMAC must find ground common to all the museums and collections in the sector. There is a dizzying array of fields of interest, sizes, staff, resources, ages and reputations. Seeing this variety, one gets the same sort of feelings as looking at the bright night sky in the countryside—feelings of wonder, confusion, fascination, variety, timelessness, futurity, life and belonging. Universities are simultaneously places of the old and new, of the ephemeral and the permanent, of the material and immaterial. Despite such diversity, university museums and collections are places where past heritage can, for the benefit of society, interact with current thoughts and ideas. All university museums can establish meaningful links across disciplines and between communities. In this paper, I present some metaphors concerning the role of university museums and collections and explain why UMAC makes a difference to the future of both museums and individuals.