What is a Museum anyway?

When I talk about museums, I am talking about a whole bunch of different institutions for informal learning. You know, places where learning happens outside of school. There are the easily identifiable ones: art museums, children’s museums, natural history museums, science centers, history museums, zoos, living history centers, conservatories, nature centers, aquaria and aviaries (plus a bunch more, I’m sure). Then there are those places and experiences that are less clear: playgrounds, farms, online environments, amusement parks, etc... Through the blog, I'll be asking the question: Is this a museum? as I try to parse out what counts as an informal learning space.