I've been asked to speak today about the purpose of museums and I think that's something we often take for granted, that we have museums and we need museums. But with $0 much information available now online, people have access to whatever it is they want to know so I think we need to consider carefully just what it is that we expect of our museums today. What makes them relevant in the information age. Clearly, we've got to move beyond the early twentieth century concept of a warehouse full of old, remarkable, untouchable objects. This warehouse idea does very little to inspire people. What museum professionals need to do - what they should be doing, is make their collections and programs work towards the purpose of education. So whether that means having more hands-on exhibits, becoming involved with other community organisations, they should be doing whatever it takes to think about their visitors, to engage people, to educate them. And in that way, they can be instruments of social change. If they have knowledge and understanding of the people who visit, and the people want to come and visit, they can take [his as a starting point for providing exhibitions and services that are relevant to people's lives.