Museums in Jamaica: They house and exhibit artefacts (natural and manmade) that present links to a nation’s historical, scientific and socio-cultural past

THE INTERNATIONAL Commission on Museums (ICOM) defines a museum as a socially responsible institution dedicated to serving the public. Museums are generally recognised as cultural institutions that record and publicly express a sense of national identity.

They house and exhibit artefacts (natural and manmade) that present links to a nation’s historical, scientific and socio-cultural past.

Printing in Jamaica: jamaican history to the early 1700s. Printing began in 1718

THE PRINTED word can be traced back in Jamaican history to the early 1700s. Printing began in 1718 with the publication of the Weekly Jamaica Courant, which holds the distinction of being the second regular newspaper in the Americas. Unlike in the Spanish and Portugese colonies where printing was used as a means of spreading colonisation, in the British colonies where sugar was the primary focus printing arrived slowly, more as an administrative tool ­ a commercial vehicle.