The Cultural Value of Engaging with Museums and Galleries

虽然近几十年来，围绕博物馆和画廊的使用和参与产生了相对一致和令人信服的数据-在政策制定者，资助者和从业者之间就参观的人口模式和趋势达成了一定程度的共识-但我们对这种参与的价值所知的共识要少得多。许多研究（使用一系列方法并受各种动机的影响）已经开始描述，理解，测量和证明人们对博物馆和画廊参观的价值，参与和参与带来的好处以及这种参与对个人和社会的长期影响。然而，一直没有系统的尝试，以汇集和批判性地评估这一机构的研究，以建立一个清晰的了解这些不同的研究和方法告诉我们，存在什么差距，以及未来的研究方向是必要的。拟议的审查解决了这些早就应该解决的问题，为决策者、供资者和从业人员提供了有价值的见解。

Whilst recent decades have produced a relatively consistent and compelling body of data around use and participation in museums and galleries - generating a degree of consensus amongst policymakers, funders and practitioners around demographic patterns and trends in visiting - there is much less consensus around what we know about the value of this engagement. Numerous studies (using a range of methods and shaped by a variety of motivations) have set out to describe, understand, measure and evidence what it is that people value about museum and gallery visiting, what benefits accrue from engagement and participation and what longer term impacts result from this engagement for individuals and society more broadly. However, there has been no systematic attempt to draw together and critically assess this body of research in order to build a clear understanding of what these diverse studies and approaches tell us, what gaps exist and what future research directions are needed. The proposed review addresses these long overdue questions to provide insights of value to policymakers, funders and practitioners.