Welcome to the fifth issue of 2018. Now in its 33rd year, Museum Management and Curatorship (MMC) remains one of the world’s leading journals for museum professionals. It is authoritative; its articles are double-blind peer-reviewed and represent a consistently high standard in academic publishing. It welcomes articles from across the full spectrum of museum activity, from conservation to curation, from art law to digital technology. It considers every aspect of museum management, from the theoretical models used to understand best practice, to the practical issues of conservation and exhibition installation. It is also international and continues to be the museum journal of choice for scholars and professionals for whom English is not a first language, and for young professionals for whom the MMC provides the platform for their first major paper. MMC is also one of the few truly international museum journals, and it continues to be a platform for contributions from around the world. When the Journal was originally founded by Peter Cannon-Brookes – himself a visionary art historian, curator and museum director – it was intended as a platform for practitioners. The field certainly needs high-quality academic research on which to base new projects, and critically analyse their success or failure. Nevertheless, the MMC remains and will continue to remain grounded in museum practice in all its diversity. In this issue, the first paper looks at the issues surrounding the collection and display of objects in a contemporary museum of science and technology from a curator’s standpoint. The following papers deal with different aspects of language in the museum, and in one case, an archive, and ends with a series of perspectives on ways in which the visitor’s voice can be heard and listened to. As of this year, we will publish six issues. The sixth and final issue of 2018 will look at the sweeping changes in Italian museum governance brought about by the reforms of late 2014 and evaluate the impact they have had on the management of Italy’s most important state museums, especially timely as in March this year the elections meant the departure of reforms’ author, Dario Franceschini, and as of June, a new Minister, Alberto Bonisoli, has taken his place, making the future of the reforms uncertain. As always, we invite readers to suggest themes they would like explored, and of course, to submit papers they believe relevant to contemporary museum management and curatorial practice. I look forward to hearing from you and working together to ensure the MMC continues to meet the needs of the entire museum field.
