Each museum has a primary type and, if applicable, a secondary type. The primary type indicates what kind of museum it is and what it mainly focuses on. If the museum also for a large part focuses on things related to another type, the secondary type is used. When which type is used is described below.
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Art & Design
- Art: The product of creative human expressions, including: painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, photography, film, contemporary media, music and singing, dance, theater, literature and poetry and engineering or architecture.
- Design: The creation of a plan or convention for the construction of an object or a system.
- Museums that focus on creative human expressions, including: painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, photography, film, contemporary media, music and singing, dance, theater, literature and poetry, engineering or architecture and design.
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History & Anthropology
- History: Everything that occurred in the past, including all phenomena that undergo change.
- Anthropology: The study of humans.
- Museums whose purpose is to illustrate cultures and peoples of the past or historic events. The museum’s subject is largely related to the life of a person, people, a people or humans in general.
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Nature & Natural History
- The contents, operation and history of the universe as perceived by humans, in particular flora and fauna.
- Museums that focus on everything on, in and around the Earth. The main themes are animals, plants and geology.
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Science & Technology
- Systematically obtained and ordered objective human knowledge and the application of this knowledge reflected in physical objects and forms of organization.
- Museums that focus on science or scientific subjects and objects or objects related to (major) technological advances.
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Specialized & Alternative
- Specialized: Expertise in a particular field.
- Alternative: Unconventional.
- Museums that exhibit a collection that consists of objects of the same type (other than conventional visual arts) or a collection of or about one small subject, specific person or specific (small) group, or to indicate that the museum is not a 'stereotypical' museum. Local history is not regarded as 'specialized'.