Abstract: The purpose of the work is to identify, classify and analyze existing historiographical publications on the history of museum business. The study used general historical principles: objectivity, scientific and historicism, as well as methods of systematization and chronological. One of the significant features marking the latest trends in the Russian museum business can be characterized by the appearance of a significant number of publications devoted to the activities of museums, the history of their funds, collections, individual exhibits. At the same time, Russian museum literature has not received a broad historiographical assessment. Russian museologists drew attention to the incompleteness of the Russian historiography of museum business. This study was carried out for the first time, the result of it is the grouping of the entire set of submitted works according to the problem-thematic principle and conclusions on historical periods are given. According to the pre-revolutionary period, it should be noted that at that time the museum business was a fairly new type of professional activity, not fully formed and institutionalized. The Soviet period is characterized by increased research interest and attention to the problem of museums and the historiography of museum business. But the scientific and theoretical groundwork was still being formed at a slow pace. The democratization of society as a whole and the social sphere, education and culture has led to more extensive research of museum business. It is in the modern period that publishing and research activity is significantly increasing.
In conclusion, promising directions for further research within the framework of the topic under consideration are presented.

Abstract: This article examines the little-studied problem of periodization of the history of museology. The author describes the existing approaches of various scholars towards periodization, conducts their critical analysis, and offers original concept. The recommended model of the development of museology is based on the criterion of evolution of state power in the country. The subject of this research is to determine the peculiarities of museum construction in Saint Petersburg (the emergence of new profile groups, changes of social functions, impact of government policy upon museology) during the imperial, Soviet and presidential periods. The proposed methodology does not repeat any of the previously proposed periodization, which defines the novelty of this work. The recommended periodization, first and foremost, would allow conducting comparative analysis of the history of museum construction in different regions, both horizontally – each period, and vertically – between the periods; secondly, it is universal tool for all researchers in solution of research tasks and problems of museology; thirdly, it provides broader regional coverage – for identification of specific, common to certain areas, processes of the development of museology, as well as for introduction of regional material into the overall trend of museum development in Russia.