Summary: | The foundation for a museum is the collection. To collect, preserve and display is what constitutes a museum. But the process of deciding which object´s should be saved, and which objects should not, are based on values. It is also values that make people inclined to donate objects to museums. How and why we value a museum determine if and why we donate. Objects themselves could be said to have a biography just like people. Depending on the objects biography and the context, the value of the object differs. My aim is to try and give an explanation to how we value the material heritage we collect, and to explain why people want to donate to museums; despite the fact they don’t get paid. I will also try and explain how value theory is used in economics and in philosophy, and how those value theories might differ from a museological theory of value.
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