Abstract:
Museum is a non-profit, permanent institution in the service of the society and its development. It opens to the public, which acquires, conserves, researches, communicates, and exhibit the tangible and intangible heritage of humanity and its environment for the purpose of education, study, and enjoyment. This study presents a Historical Survey of Jimma Museum and its Heritage Collection. The main objective of this research is to assess the history, collections, overall challenges and the future prospects of the museum. The researcher used different data gathering techniques to get genuine information. The relevant primary data was collected through interview and field observation. There are prominent informants, who have good knowledge and experience regarding the topics of this research. The information from elders, official and workers of the Museum are valuable to understand the history of the society and the Museum foundation. Photographing and field observation have also strongly helped the researcher to understand the current situation of the Museum. Besides the above mentioned primary source of information, various secondary sources particularly from Jimma University, Ethiopian National Archives and Library Agency (ENALA), Institutes of Ethiopian Studies (IES), Authority of Research for Conservation of Cultural Heritage (ARCCH) and Ministry of Culture and Tourism were also consulted. Different written materials on the Jimma area are extremely important for comparative analysis in this research. In relation to demographic aspect of the area, data were gathered from the Central Statistical Agency of Ethiopia. The researcher identified that; Jimma Regional Museum has problems in case of its collections, exhibition, representation, structural organization and preserving the cultural heritages of the society. Finally, the research tried to recommend possible solutions for the above mentioned problems.
