Preserving Sabah’s Heritage: Challenges and Practices in Museum Collection Management and Conservation (2014-2016)
Keywords:
Artifact Management, conservation practices, cultural heritage preservation, museum collections, Sabah MuseumAbstract
This study examines the management and conservation of cultural artifacts at the Sabah Museum, Malaysia, focusing on the procedures, practices, and challenges involved. The research aims to explore how the museum acquires, categorizes, and preserves its collections, which encompass Sabah cultural and heritage. The research is guided by the following objectives: (1) to analyses the acquisition and categorization of artifacts at the Sabah Museum, (2) to examine the conservation methods employed, including environmental factors affecting preservation, (3) to highlight the cultural significance of artifacts through Ethnology Storage Unit. This qualitative study employs an ethnographic research methodology, incorporating field observations, interviews with museum staff, and document analysis. The findings reveal that while the museum has structured conservation practices, it faces significant challenges in expertise, funding, and infrastructure. The study underscores the importance of preserving cultural artifacts for future generations and contributes to a broader understanding of museum collection management within a diverse cultural setting like Sabah.
References
Annual Report of the Sabah Museum. (1995). Sabah Museum Department.
Annual Report of the Sabah State Museum. (1991). Sabah Museum and State Archives Department.
Annual Report of the Sabah State Museum. (1996). Sabah Museum and State Archives Department.
Folga-Januszewska, D. (2020). History of the museum concept and contemporary challenges. Muzealnictwo, 61, 37–59.
International Council of Museums. (2007). Article 3, Statutes. https://uis.unesco.org/ en/glossary-term/museum-reference
Kiyai, G., & Tugang, N. (2020). Sarawak Museum Department: Development before and after independence. Jurnal Arkeologi Malaysia, 33.
Patricia, R. (1990). The Sabah Museum – twenty-five years of change. Sabah Museum and Archives Journal, 1. Sabah Museum and State Archives Department.
Patricia, R. (1992). Sabah heritage: A brief introduction. Sabah Museum Department.
Sintiong, G. (2015). Challenges of collection and conservation at Sabah Museum. In Seminar on The Museum and Sabah Heritage: Past, Present, and Future (pp. 90–120). Universiti Malaysia Sabah & Sabah Museum.
Yatim, O. B. M. (1981). The use of pottery in Malaysian society. National Museum Department.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 UNIMAS Publisher
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Copyright Transfer Statement for Journal
1) In signing this statement, the author(s) grant UNIMAS Publisher an exclusive license to publish their original research papers. The author(s) also grant UNIMAS Publisher permission to reproduce, recreate, translate, extract or summarize, and to distribute and display in any forms, formats, and media. The author(s) can reuse their papers in their future printed work without first requiring permission from UNIMAS Publisher, provided that the author(s) acknowledge and reference publication in the Journal.
2) For open access articles, the author(s) agree that their articles published under UNIMAS Publisher are distributed under the terms of the CC-BY-NC-SA (Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License) which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, for non-commercial purposes, provided the original work of the author(s) is properly cited.
3) For subscription articles, the author(s) agree that UNIMAS Publisher holds copyright, or an exclusive license to publish. Readers or users may view, download, print, and copy the content, for academic purposes, subject to the following conditions of use: (a) any reuse of materials is subject to permission from UNIMAS Publisher; (b) archived materials may only be used for academic research; (c) archived materials may not be used for commercial purposes, which include but not limited to monetary compensation by means of sale, resale, license, transfer of copyright, loan, etc.; and (d) archived materials may not be re-published in any part, either in print or online.
4) The author(s) is/are responsible to ensure his or her or their submitted work is original and does not infringe any existing copyright, trademark, patent, statutory right, or propriety right of others. Corresponding author(s) has (have) obtained permission from all co-authors prior to submission to the journal. Upon submission of the manuscript, the author(s) agree that no similar work has been or will be submitted or published elsewhere in any language. If submitted manuscript includes materials from others, the authors have obtained the permission from the copyright owners.
5) In signing this statement, the author(s) declare(s) that the researches in which they have conducted are in compliance with the current laws of the respective country and UNIMAS Journal Publication Ethics Policy. Any experimentation or research involving human or the use of animal samples must obtain approval from Human or Animal Ethics Committee in their respective institutions. The author(s) agree and understand that UNIMAS Publisher is not responsible for any compensational claims or failure caused by the author(s) in fulfilling the above-mentioned requirements. The author(s) must accept the responsibility for releasing their materials upon request by Chief Editor or UNIMAS Publisher.
6) The author(s) should have participated sufficiently in the work and ensured the appropriateness of the content of the article. The author(s) should also agree that he or she has no commercial attachments (e.g. patent or license arrangement, equity interest, consultancies, etc.) that might pose any conflict of interest with the submitted manuscript. The author(s) also agree to make any relevant materials and data available upon request by the editor or UNIMAS Publisher.
