International 

Council of   Museums

Zaid Alsughair & Kholoud Amira

Date
Table of Contents

1. INTRODUCTION 2
2. METHODOLOGY 3
3. SOURCES 4
4. RESULTS 5
5. DISCUSSION 6
6. CONCLUSION 6
7. REFERENCES 7

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Introduction:

The International Council of Museums (ICOM) is a non-governmental organisation devoted to

museums, with formal ties to UNESCO and consultative popularity with the UN Economic and

Social Council. ICOM, which become based in 1946, works with businesses just like the World

Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Interpol. And the World Customs Organization to

perform its global public carrier missions, inclusive of fighting illicit cultural items trafficking

and selling threat mitigation and emergency preparedness to defend international tradition and

historical past withinside the occasion of herbal or synthetic disasters. Members of the ICOM get

an ICOM club card, which entitles them to unfastened or sponsored admission to numerous

museums throughout the international. ICOM owes its roots to the defunct International

Museums Office (OIM), set up with the aid of using the League of Nations in 1926. The OIM,

like a number of the League's programs, become discontinued at some stage in WWII, and the

International Commission eventually absorbed its sports for Intellectual Cooperation. In 1986,

ICOM created the ICOM Code of Ethics for Museums, a reference device that outlines the

requirements of excellence to which all ICOM contributors have to adhere. The ICOM Code of

Ethics for Museums, translated into 39 languages and up to date in 2004, outlines the values and

concepts that ICOM and the worldwide museum network have agreed upon it. These self-law

requirements for museums consist of center concepts for museum governance, series acquisition

and disposal, and expert behavior norms. During ICOM's twenty fifth General Conference in

2019, it determined that the Code need to be reviewed and amended if necessary. The ICOM

Standing Committee for Ethics (ETHCOM), a selected ICOM organisation that offers with

museums' moral issues, oversees the evaluation process.(International Council of Museums, n.d.)

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ICOM's mission is to encourage the protection and preservation of physical and intangible

cultural and natural assets. Member numbers are 44,586 and are scattered throughout 138

different countries. The International Council on Museum Education and Research (ICOM) is a

non-profit organization dedicated to advancing museum education and research by establishing

and enforcing professional and ethical guidelines for museum operations and formulating

recommendations on relevant topics. Rather than focusing on regional comparisons for this third

ICOM report, we chose to display the patterns of responses over time rather than focusing on

regional comparisons to emphasize how the situation has evolved over the previous 18 months.

Therefore, the data reflects aggregated conclusions and should be interpreted with caution,

bearing in mind the vast variations across museums worldwide, particularly in terms of funding.

Methodology:

To set this research work, we will use the data from qualitative methodology; qualitative

research is the collection and analysis of non-numerical data (such as text, video, or audio) to

understand better ideas, points of view, or personal experiences. It is possible to get a more in-

depth grasp of a problem while also generating new ideas for future inquiry with this technique.

Qualitative approaches are often used in research in the humanities and social sciences, such as

anthropology and sociology, to gather information. Qualitative procedures, such as interviews,

focus groups, and observations, are used to obtain information. Qualitative techniques allow for

in-depth studies of a subject's meaning from various viewpoints, including the researcher's own

and the researcher's cultural perspective, among other things.

When we see the advantages of qualitative methodology, it is fixable because of factual data and

emotional responses. We can follow any question permitted to answers as we like; there are no

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hard and fast rules with zero percent deviation. Through that method, we can aid in establishing

quantifiable outcomes in a short period. Instead of emphasizing a particular metric, qualitative

research focuses on the complexity of the data collected.

The qualitative methodology is based on fundamental limitations, like too much time. We can

get fixed results because of the open ending. It needs significant preparation to ensure that the

results generated are accurate. There is currently no mechanism for quantitatively evaluating

qualitative data. This kind of research is more concerned with opinions and judgments than

results.

Sources:

First, we use google to together our data related to the International Council of Museums; there,

we find Wikipedia information about introduction and history. The second source we use is from

the official website of ICOM, "our top 20 stories," in which we use the current news about

museums and the current situation about covid 19. The third references belong to the museum

report representing the ides of more than a year and a half since the Covid-19 epidemic began.

Museums are presently grappling with the long-term consequences of the pandemic and the

challenges of reopening after instituting social isolation regulations in their communities.

"International Council Of Museums (ICOM)" that record posted in 2017. The key to taking into

account is that the International Council of Museums creates numerous vital publications

(ICOM). The International Council of Museums' Ethical Code for Museums and the

International Council of Museums' Internal Rules assist explain and decorating this law as

required.

Results:

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This kind of survey was gathered from Alessandro Gaballo's report "Museums, museum

professionals and Covid-19: a third survey" Alessandro Gaballo, the Communications

Coordinator in the Communications and Public Relations Department of the International

Council of Museums (ICOM), collaborated with the Secretariat to collect, analyze, and interpret

the survey data used in this study. Alessandro Gaballo is a member of the International Council

of Museums (ICOM). A little more than a year ago, we published the results of our first research,

which highlighted the dire status of museums and museum employees worldwide. As a result of

the closure of almost all of the sector's institutions to safeguard the health and safety of its

workers and visitors, the industry suffered significant economic, social, and cultural

repercussions. As a result of our second global survey, which will take place somewhere in the

early autumn of 2020, we discovered a far more variegated situation for museums than the first.

When talking about Covid-19 and the industry as a whole, it's natural to focus on the massive

shift from paper-based operations to digital-based operations. This trend doubted these practices'

maturity and long-term durability. This research examines responses from five continents from

840 museum and museum professional respondents. We've witnessed a significant decrease in

the number of persons willing to participate in our research initiatives over the past year.

According to the researchers, the third ICOM study focuses on how the situation has altered over

the last 18 months instead of regional comparisons. Since museum collections and practices vary

widely worldwide, these findings should treat with caution, and their significance should

evaluate cautiously.

Discussion:

In general, museums' standing in the Spring of 2021 worsened somewhat compared to

September and October 2020. Even though most museums in Africa and the Pacific were open,

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Europe and North America were only starting to reopen their doors. Asia, Latin America and the

Caribbean, and the Arab countries were all irregular at the local level. The move to digital

content is place on a massive scale. As previously stated in the second survey, museums that rely

primarily on private or earned money have seen more significant growth in this area. It's no

surprise that prominent museums are more prepared to reach out to their audiences remotely than

small and medium-sized ones since they need sufficient aid in their digital transformation by

developing human and financial resources, as well as specific competencies. Compared to the

second survey, the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic and accompanying lockdowns

resulted in a smaller presence of workers on-site, but more importantly, an increase in economic

measures that will substantially impact museum professionals' financial stability.

For example, the percentage of individuals who said they had been laid off increased

progressively from 5,8% in May 2020 to 9,6% a year later. As a result of the crisis, around one

out of every ten participating museums lay off personnel. The situation for independent workers

remains dire: 15% of those polled indicated they had been laid off due to the Covid-19 outbreak,

down 5% from Spring 2020 but still a concerning level. Following the progression of the three

reports, we can see a significant decrease in the percentage of museum-related jobs in

freelancers' total income. The proportion of workers that earn at least 50% of their income from

museum consultations dropped from 56,9% to 32,5%. If the industry is not adequately supported,

there is a considerable risk of losing highly qualified and specialized personnel to other sectors.

We can see a good trend in all of the categories covered when we compare the data from the

three surveys. The proportion of museums at danger of permanent closure, for example, has

decreased from 12.9 percent to 4.1 percent. Without enough financial assistance, the pandemic

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will have significant consequences on operational capacity, affecting opening hours, exhibitions,

and public programs.

Additionally, since these institutions' capacity to serve their local communities would impair,

there would be a decline in access to and degradation of cultural possibilities. Museums find it

challenging to change their business models as the recession intensifies, and many desperately

need help. In a poll of museums of all sizes, 59 percent of respondents indicated they hadn't

looked into new revenue sources. More than 80% of respondents in all three surveys expressed

trust in museum security methods and historic artifact conservation during the lockdown, a

constant finding across all three studies. Environmental control and crime prevention measures

seem to be the most severe problems, with scores falling just short of 80%.

Conclusion:

International Council of Museums (ICOM) released a worldwide survey to collect statistics on

how the existing COVID-19 epidemic is affecting and could have an effect on the cultural

quarter withinside the quick and lengthy run. All of the subsequent subjects cowl withinside the

poll: museums and their employees, the expected monetary impact, virtual communication,

museum safety and conservation, and freelance museum specialists. When we look at the results

of the three surveys over some time, we can see a clear pattern. Since the publication of the

inaugural study, there has been a dramatic decline in the percentage of museums that are in

danger of being permanently closed, with the figure dropping from 12.9 percent to 4.1 percent.

The long-term implications of the crisis, on the other hand, remain a mystery. It is necessary to

have emergency resources available to adapt museums' business models and ensure they

continue to play an essential role in society. The right resources must be made available to assist

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museum personnel, especially those who are self-employed or in precarious situations, and boost

the economy. The primary source of authority for ICOM is its membership. Individual members,

representatives designated by Institutional Members, students, supporters, and honorary

members make up the General Assembly, the highest decision-making and legislative body of

the Institute of Contemporary Music (ICOM). Administrative aspects of ICOM are under the

supervision of the Executive Board, which is made up of members of the Bureau and Ordinary

Members elected by the General Assembly; for data collection and analysis. We use the

qualitative methodology, and the research is based on internal structure, components, governance

structure, and leadership budgeting. As part of its ongoing efforts to aid museums and the people

who work in them during this challenging time, the International Council of Museums (ICOM),

which represents the worldwide museum community, encourages politicians and decision-

makers to provide emergency assistance funds. Following the COVID-19 accident, our economy

and societies will take some time to recover and heal. For the recovery of the local economy and

the social fabric of impacted communities, museums are critical actors in regional development

and unrivaled gathering places for people to learn and gather. Museums are vital actors in local

development and unrivaled gathering places to learn and reason.

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References:

Gaballo, A. (2020) 'Museums, museum professionals and Covid-19: third survey'.

International Council of Museums, [Online], Available:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Council_of_Museums [5 January 2022,].

INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL OF MUSEUMS (ICOM) (9th June 2017), [Online], Available:

https://icom.museum/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/2017_ICOM_Statutes_EN.pdf.

Jocelyn Dodd, C.J.A.S.&.M.-A.T. (2012 ) Voices from the Museum: Qualitative Research Conducted in
Europe’s National Museums, [Online], Available: : http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-
85228.

Williams, C. (August 6th, 2011) 'Qualitative Research into a Museum and the local community'.

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