Abstract
The purpose of this thesis is to describe the administration of the Otago Museum from the time of its foundation in 1868 until the present day. It does not pretend to be a complete history of the institution as such; in fact, no attempt has been made to outline the growth of buildings and collections or to evaluate the contributions made by the Association of Friends, the Royal Society (formerly the Otago Institute), the Museum Education Service and successive Directors except where these have played a significant part in the Museum’s administrative development. [extract from Preface]