| Abstract [eng] |
Actuality of the Theme. The main function of museums for a long time was to preserve the memory of humanity and to transmit it to future generations. However, today there are no doubts that museums play a much broader role in the society. Visitors in museum spend their leisure time in a meaningful way, meet their friends and communicate with them. They not only examine the exhibits, admire and enjoy them, but also acquire knowledge. Museums are starting to segment their visitors and they try to propose various differentiated services for every particular pre-defined segment. Thus, it was clarified that the family is a segment, which gets least attention in our museums. In many Lithuanian museums services for families serve as an empty niche which is like a puzzle, which fiddles around like a new mosaic from solitary projects in various museums of the country. Scientific problem is the absence of research undertakings related to the issues of family and museum, the potential and reality of their correlation in Lithuania. So the object of the research was chosen the relation between family and museum. The purpose of the project was to reveal the reciprocity of family and museum and to suggest the scientific recommendations for its development. The goals of the project were: to reveal the concepts of the contemporary family and the modern museum; to traverse the problematic of the family and museum reciprocity; to scrutinize the peculiarities and importance of families’ learning at museums. The qualitative as well as the quantitative empirical methods were used during the survey: the questionnaire offered to the families as museum visitors, the interviews with the experts who organize the educational activities in museums in Lithuania; immediate observation; surveys and disengaged conversations with the experts who work in various museums in Poland, Denmark, France, Great Britain, Greece, Sicily, Malta, Latvia, Estonia, USA, Lithuania. The theoretical methods were used as well: the comparative analysis and synthesis, summation, abstraction. According to the research data, the hypothesis that Lithuanian museums have to be focused on the needs of families and endeavor to make them one of the most numerous groups of all visitors was proved. The main conclusions of the project were: • Contemporary families and modern museums have common needs which evidence in the field of education. For family is important to spend leisure time purposeful and this unclose the opportunity for museums to attract very numerous group of visitors. The satisfaction of these needs create a new quality of both family and museum as such. • The research has proved the theoretical premises as well that the needs of the contemporary family in the museum space to be as follows: mutual social interaction, educational experiences, spending time in an active way and having fun. Hereby the recommendations for the Lithuanian museums were offered with regards to family visits. This project could be used for the museum employees upgrading of qualification and competences. This might also serve the theoretical development of the museum theory and its advancement as well. |
