Significance Assessment as Citizen Science: A Collaborative Methodology for Developing the Significance of Our Collections?

Abstract

Over the last few decades, the concepts of significance, contextuality and polysemy in museum collections have been repeatedly discussed within the international museum field. In this article, we develop and discuss a methodology for operationalizing these concepts in practical collection work. By collaborating with different communities in assigning meaning to collections, we combine the significance assessment of museum collections with citizen science. Through a number of experiments, we explore collaborations between museums and different communities and find that significance assessment as citizen science adds new perspectives to and creates co-ownership of museum collections and thereby democratizes the museums as public institutions.