Collecting the Contemporary: A Handbook for Social History Museums

Collecting the Contemporary: A Handbook for Social History Museums is a major new publication which addresses one of the most fundamental issues facing today’s history museums: why and how to engage with contemporary collecting? In a format which is approachable, attractive - and above all actionable, this new book is packed with stimulating thinking and international case studies from some of the leading practitioners and thinkers in the field.

Many museums collect contemporary objects, stories, images and sounds. But reasoned policies and procedures are very often lacking. And – given the uniquely detailed record of contemporary life recorded by today's ubiquitous media – how best are museums to record and present contemporary life in their collections?

This overview of contemporary collecting in a social historical context is well overdue. Original source material, ideas, developments and research have never before been brought together in a single volume. This book brings together practitioners from around the world to provide a contemporary and convenient reader which aims to lay the foundations for future initiatives.