Abstract
The interpretation of children’s writings has often presented a particular challenge to Galleries, Libraries, Archives and Museums (GLAM), as the represented child has historically been deprived of agency, and children’s writings are neither ‘literature’ nor traditional display objects. In this article we will explore the methodologies of representation that are associated with the merging of children’s history and digital humanities. We will lay out an approach for digitally representing children’s writings held in museums. We will demonstrate the possibilities that have been put forward by librarians, archivists and curators internationally, and explore the tools and approaches that have emerged from the field of digital humanities for re-presenting the agency of the child creator and the child visitor within memory institutions. Moreover, in this article we will propose that the digital environment facilitates a critical site of experimentation in displaying children’s collections that allow creator, object, context, critique, and visitor to be equally valued.
Highlights
As GLAM institutions are couched in an ever more networked industry which melds digital and analogue experiences, they must increasingly look to digitise aspects of their collections, for visitors who expect to experience digital exhibition interactions and access objects via digital means
We suggest that the interpretation of children’s writings has often presented a particular challenge to GLAM institutions, as the child has historically been deprived of agency, and children’s writings are neither ‘literature’ in a canonical sense nor are they objects which can be understood through traditional means of display
Our critical methodology will be established by examining recent developments in the history of childhood, museums, and digital projects, before we consider The Museum of Childhood in Edinburgh as a case study for digital engagement
Summary
As GLAM institutions are couched in an ever more networked industry which melds digital and analogue experiences, they must increasingly look to digitise aspects of their collections, for visitors who expect to experience digital exhibition interactions and access objects via digital means. The nuances of children’s writing collections, and the ways in which they can be explored digitally and ethically, will be the focus of this article. The digital environment facilitates a critical site of experimentation in displaying children’s collections that allow creator, object, context, and visitor to be valued. In this article we will explore the theoretical and real-world implications of the digital humanities as a bridging ontology between publics and museums, and offer reflections on and recommendations for meaningful digital engagement with children’s collections. Our critical methodology will be established by examining recent developments in the history of childhood, museums, and digital projects, before we consider The Museum of Childhood in Edinburgh as a case study for digital engagement. To finish we gesture to two digital projects, “Girl on a Whaleship” and “The Anne Frank House Museum”, which, in our view, have successfully implemented digital mediation of children’s writings held in museum collections
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