Museum during a crisis

Abstract

These are strange times. As I write this (16th March 2020), the number of coronavirus or rather Covid-19 infections is rapidly increasing and I am uncertain whether our Museum, the National Museum of Scotland (NMoS), will even be open to the public this time next week. This 160 year old museum has endured two crises before – the first and second world wars. The Zeitgeist and decisions made during these episodes are described in the Director’s Reports and provide interesting food for thought.