Abstract:
Museums have a paramount role in keeping relics of a given country. The Ethiopian postal
museum has numerous treasures that have great value. The purpose of this study is to assess
aspects of the collection and communication policy of the EPM from museological perspective.
Since the issue of museum is vast and complex, the study was thematically confined to aspects of
the collection and communication policy of the EPM and spatially it was confined to the EPM
that is found in Addis Ababa. The study employs both quantitative and qualitative research
approach that is mixed. The study also follows the descriptive survey research design. The
reason behind this is that the study describes the state of affairs that exists at present which
refers to descriptive and the study was also carried out at the field or site not in a laboratory
setting room and hence it is survey design. The study employs both primary and secondary
source of data. The primary sources of data were obtained through questionnaire, interview,
documents or archival sources, first hand photographs and personal observation at the site. In
contrast, the secondary sources of data for this study were obtained from published and
unpublished materials such as books, research papers, pamphlets, brochures and journal
articles. A non probability sampling technique was employed to select sample respondents.
Visitors who were responsible to fill the questionnaire were selected using convenience or
accidental sampling technique. Accordingly, since the EPM is opened to visitors in those
working days from Monday to Friday, the researcher selects those available visitors in the
museum for the consecutive five days from February 17-21 and hence a total of 80 sample
respondents or visitors were taken to fill the questionnaire. On the contrary, the key informants
were selected using purposive sampling. The study employed both quantitative and qualitative
methods of data analysis. The data obtained via questionnaire in the form of five point Likert
scale was analyzed quantitatively using simple descriptive statistics like percentage, frequency
and tabulation while data obtained through interview, observation and document was analyzed
qualitatively. Finally, SWOT analysis was made. The study result reveals that the EPM is
endowed with rich treasures that have great value. However, the care given to the collections in
the museum is minimal and there is little effort to promote and publicize the museum to the
public. Hence, the concerned body should give great care for both collections that are found in
the exhibition hall and store room and the museum should be promoted and well communicated
with the public using various mediums as TV, radio and internet.