Abstract

The new form of Indian-run cultural recovery programmes commonly anticipates the creation of Band museums on the home reserve. So long as these are properly constituted on sound museological principles the major 'professional' museums - and university departments which maintain permanent collections - can hardly object. Indeed, these developments conform with recent trends for the larger central institutions to cease competing for collections but rather to encourage and assist local museums specializing in the story of their own communities. Mutual cooperation between large and small museums is a definite advantage to the research interests of the former as archaeologists, for example, have always insisted that full and accurate information is infinitely more valuable than mere objects. In this field major research museums may more and more emphasize their functions as resource and data centres at some expense to their traditional roles centred about collections of 'significant objects'.