Abstract

Recently, the Museum of Criminology of Athens University, Greece, has reconsidered the values and meanings deriving from its collections after improving the objects’ documentation. The Museum’s collections embody information based on four main values: (a) the teaching value, (b) the study and research value, (c) the dissemination of knowledge value, and (d) the historical value. In this article, those values are presented in detail and specific examples are given. Emphasis has been placed on the grounds that an object can embody different meanings during different periods of time, depending on its viewers’ perspectives. Moreover, in the case of the Museum of Criminology, as in many university museums, it is not the objects themselves—as physical integrities—but their associated history that makes them important for both the Museum and its visitors. Through upgrading documentation and reconsidering values and meanings, the Museum can better understand the collections, improve collection-based teaching and research, and interpret objects according to current perspectives.