Changing museum functions in a post-industrial society

The article is devoted to the study of the transformation of museums as public institutions in the context of socio-cultural and economic changes taking place in a post-industrial society. There is a computerization of all aspects of life, the prevalence of visualization of information representation over other previously traditional forms, the emergence of megatrends for the commercialization of almost all aspects of life and the introduction into practice of using concepts such as “services” in relation to culture, education, enlightenment, etc. Previously, these institutions were understood by society as satisfying the vital needs of society on a fundamentally non-commercial basis. In the context of the above, the scientific problem lies in the lack of a unified methodological framework for assessing social institutions of a humanitarian orientation and contributing to enlightenment, education, spiritual development of society and raising the level of knowledge in conditions of total commercialization, consumerism, characteristic of the current stage of modern post-industrial society. This article attempts to consider the conditions for applying the methods of management sociology to the analysis of the museum’s modern role in order to achieve its status as an important component of the new post-industrial society.