ABSTRACT Museums are forever. At least that is what we’ve come to believe. In this introductory essay, we ask how that idea became part of the modern museum’s founding ideology, as well as the challenges it has faced both in practice and in theory. An overview of museum history finds that collections are often more mobile than is expected today, uncovering a range of arguments for more flexibility in their use and dispersal. The articles in the volume not only consider the many ways that museums and their collections can become lost, but also how they might be saved.

中文翻译：

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失落的博物馆

摘要 博物馆是永恒的。至少这是我们开始相信的。在这篇介绍性文章中，我们会问这个想法如何成为现代博物馆创始意识形态的一部分，以及它在实践和理论上面临的挑战。纵览博物馆历史发现，藏品的流动性通常比今天预期的要高，从而揭示了一系列关于在使用和传播方面具有更大灵活性的论点。本书中的文章不仅考虑了博物馆及其藏品丢失的多种方式，还考虑了如何保存它们。