A museum out of date? Changes in organizational legitimacy–the case of the National Museum of Iceland 1980–2001

The need for change has been the focus of museum policy in Europe, as well as in Iceland, since the latter part of the twentieth century. During the last two decades of the twentieth century, amendments were made accordingly to laws and regulations and the system of national heritage was restructured. The National Museum of Iceland, the principal museum in the period and the subject of the study, subsequently experienced radical changes. The article includes a narrative describing the events leading to the changes by focusing on its organizational legitimacy influenced by different groups of stakeholders, especially archaeologists, which became a growing and influential profession in the period. By debating its legitimacy, the stakeholders claimed the museum was out of date. The study shows the importance of legitimacy models to explain the dynamic interaction between professional public organizations and their relevant professions and how organizational change develops based on such interaction.