Museum Community Research Articles

Make It So: Harnessing Technology to Provide Professional Development to Regional Museum Workers

Make It So: Harnessing Technology to Provide Professional Development to Regional Museum Workers

Digitisation of Geocollections and the New Generation of Curators

Digital inventory of collections is one of the main priorities of curatorship work at museums. In the Science Museum of the University of Coimbra these process started in 2007 with the development of the Virtual Museum project reaching 9,000 digitised specimens of Natural History. The public access to the information via the museum webpage increased the impact of the museum collections for the public and for the scientific and museum communities in Portugal and abroad. The number of loans for exhibitions and research visitors has grown exponentially. The Portuguese Museology Association (APOM) prized the former domain http://museudaciencia.inwebonline.net/ in 2010 with the Best Implementation and Multimedia Managment. Since 2007 the Museum has been improving its facilities and human resources and a new generation of curators and assistant curators are getting involved. Nevertheless, a substantial part of this new generation has been maintained by fellowships associated to time-limited projects, resulting in an inevitable gap of continuity. An infrastructure project is currently developing at the museum, the PRISC consortium (Portuguese Research Infrastructure of Scientific Collections). It consists of an e-infrastructure providing the services to the collections with special emphasis in the human resources curatorship. In the case of the geocollections this represents the filling of an almost one decade gap of no collection digitisation activity. The geocollections are the second largest archive of specimens and associated data of the museum, reaching an estimated amount of more than 30,000 specimens. It comprises Mineralogy, Petrology and Palaeontology specimens and is one of the largest and oldest Portuguese geodiversity repositories. The online portal is fed by the information stored in a database that is steadily growing with new incoming specimens, 2D images, and data from the transcription of relevant label records and old catalogues. That process is crucial to promote the best-practice systems for collection management. Geocollections have specific requirements comparing to other Natural History collections and dedicated thesaurus are mandatory to accommodate the related data. That process has been developed in many cases by feeding the data to the database but in other cases forced to reprogramme new fields in it. The terminology associated with the specimens, such as lithostratigraphy units, chronostratigraphic terms, or regional rock and mineral names are frequently out of date and should be readjusted to the internationally accepted names. This is one of the cases that evidences how important it is to improve good practice initiatives to normalize the data. Most of the Museum´s databases are feeding global data-sharing utilities such as Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) or The Encyclopedia of Life (EOL). This global sharing of data claims important data quality and standardization implementation practices. In order to fulfill that goal, a new generation of curators is being prepared with skills in a logic of networking. The involvement and enthusiasm of these young generations of curators is at the base of a quality curatorship in today’s museums.

The Resurgence of the Heritage of Indigenous Peoples of Thailand in the Aftermath of Development

The dichotomy between nature and culture in heritage and conservation is inappropriate in the case of indigenous peoples. Many natural sites are often considered sacred and consequently of both spiritual and biodiversity conservation significance. However, this dualist definition is the one usually imposed by nation states.Until 2002, Thailand’s development strategies involving indigenous peoples were mostly connected to what was referred to as the ‘hill tribes’ problems’. These strategies were designed without respecting indigenous peoples’ world views and concepts of good life. Consequently, a fragmentary world view was created among indigenous peoples. These issues are reflected in the establishment of national parks and ‘heritage sites’ as the lack of participation and consent generated many conflicts such as land tenure disputes, resettlement of the communities, difficulties in acquiring citizenship and cultural loss.As a counteracting measure, indigenous peoples have been creating community museums and organizations at local, regional and even transnational level to sustain their cultures and territories. This article suggests that heritage can play a role in a wide range of social, political and economic endeavours in our contemporary world and is used both by nation states to legitimize their interests and by indigenous peoples to legitimize struggles for self-determination.

“I DON’T WANT MY TOWN TURNED INTO A SPECTACLE”: Community Museums as Tactics

AbstractThe former silver mining town of Cobalt, Ontario (pop. 1,128), has four history museums. The museums, created at different times and by different constituencies, reflect citizens’ ongoing efforts to revive the town and imagine its urban future. Over the past 50 years, residents have also engaged in multiple attempts to establish the town as a mining heritage tourism destination and/or to reestablish mining. Although the museums are implicated in both aspirations, we argue that they work to situate the memory work of local history within discrete spaces. While the museums have been recruited to support tourism and heritage efforts, they sit uncomfortably within grander schemes to remake the town as a tourist destination. Indeed, we argue that the museums serve as tactics, per de Certeau, to contain and restrict tourism‐oriented development. As vernacular spaces where residents have recorded local histories, the museums serve as statements about both what the town should be and what it should not be.

The uses of Wikidata for galleries, libraries, archives and museums and its place in the digital humanities

As open source, collaborative and crowd-sourced media become increasingly popular, it is essential that the community of galleries, libraries, archives and museums (GLAMs) take a central role withi...

Модификация образования по требованиям Национальной технологической инициативы с привлечением музейной коммуникации в рамках Зеленоградского кластера

Модификация образования по требованиям Национальной технологической инициативы с привлечением музейной коммуникации в рамках Зеленоградского кластера

Peculiarities of Exhibiting Hot Manufacturing Miniatures in Museums

The article is dedicated to the creation of scientifically grounded miniatures of hot handicrafts and their role in historical and natural museum expositions. As a basis for creating miniatures, developed principles are used.While staying in museum, exposition and visitor have a kind of communication. Culturological text encoded in the revealed monument of ancient culture remains incomprehensible for a visitor and a tourist without recoding it. To cope with this situation, it is necessary to carry out a series of activities that result in the reproduction, museumization of the monument or its miniature creation. As a result, culturological text and audience engage in a dialogue.Foremost, museum communication depends on the attractiveness of the exhibit itself. Naturally, scansen has the highest attraction. However, not all monuments of ancient culture and archeology can by moved to scansens. Not all excavated sights are preserved so that they can be restored in scansens. For this purpose, miniatures are used.Creation of miniatures of archaeological sites for museum exhibitions until now largely remains a matter for the museum.Only the most significant archaeological monuments should be objects for miniature creating. For miniatures, places of outstanding battles, certain objects, associated with manufacturing processes, such as pottery kilns, bugles, blast furnaces, etc. could be used.The monuments should be either fully-investigated or majorly-investigated. Additionally, separate objects on the monuments can be also objects of miniature creation (building, kiln, metallurgic furnace, bugle).Choosing scale of miniature will depend on the capabilities of the museum itself, the area that can be allocated to the miniature.The topographic map of the miniature should serve as a landscape base.The scientific basis of the miniature is the result of archaeological research.The basis of individual objects location on the miniature is the general layout for monument excavation.Using these principles will help to create miniatures of hot handicraft production. Pottery is the oldest known hot handicraft. It has quickly spread throughout Eurasia. To illustrate the first primitive methods of burning out, improvised furnace could be used.They are the so-called ash collectors of white culture. They are round structures outwardly similar to burial mounds. Burning out was carried out on a large fire covered with the turf to maintain constant temperature. The second type of kilns is the so-called single-stage pottery kilns. The third type is multistage kilns. Anothertype of kilns is a transitional variant, recently investigated by Ukrainian archaeologists. The floor of the burning chamber is created of potter’s wheels, which, together with the dishes, are placed on the airways.Another hot handicraft was metal industry. The first metallurgical tools consisted of two crucibles and four nozzles. The crucible with a charge was covered with a second crucible and was placed on a pile of charcoal. Then the coal was burned down and four metallurgists with nozzles came to the crucible with long wooden tubes blowing. Afterwards, the lungs of metallurgists were replaced by miches.During the late bronze period, the metal melting was performed in round kilns, dipped into two thirds below ground. At the tangent line, nozzles were placed. The metal melting was performed in melting pots. The abovementioned kiln types were used in other industries as well. For example, for lime burning in glass and other industries.Similar miniatures will be a major addition to the material evidence of hot handicrafts both for designated museums (for example, metallurgy or pottery museums), as well for general, historical and local natural museums.Article received 22.03.2018

РОЛЬ МУЗЕЇВ У ФОРМУВАННІ ЦІННІСНИХ ОРІЄНТАЦІЙ СУЧАСНОЇ МОЛОДІ: ФІЛОСОФСЬКО-АНТРОПОЛОГІЧНИЙ АНАЛІЗ

The article deals with the philosophical and anthropological analysis of the functioning of the museum. It is noted that the outlook changes that are observed in the modern world are connected with the implementation of the philosophical and cultural paradigm, where the central place is reserved for a person. Museum communication is a peculiar phenomenon that is reflected in human life, mechanisms of formation of individual and social consciousness, national mentality. Thanks to the real form of information transmission operations are carried out with "perfect objects" that represent the values of a particular social group, ethnic group, individual, and the formation of a personality. The role of museums in shaping the value orientations of youth is revealed, because modern museums are important centers of cultural and educational activity, education and training. It is noted that the creative interpretation of museum monuments is capable of detecting the transcendental nature of things, switching the viewer's perspective on the actual - social to the cultural - historical, thus transforming the imaginative exposition environment into the communication channel. The purpose of museums is reflected in the ability to provide young people with an ideological, interactive and material platform for a deeper understanding of their ethnic identity and to form multicultural competencies. The main directions are described: anthropologism, tolerance, compassion and respect for "Others", self-respect for own history and culture, and others like that. It is noted that now the formation of the cultural and anthropological picture of the development of humanity and society, based on universal values and meanings, is underway. Museum communication is a socio-cultural technology for the formation of a new qualitative degree of civilizational development of a society, where the strategic consideration is to take into account the mental characteristics of the people. It is concluded that museums, as a phenomenon of cultural, national, historical memory, can become an effective tool for improving the understanding of today's world and man in the world.

International communication of museums in the Yenisei province in the end of the 19th century

International communication of museums in the Yenisei province in the end of the 19th century

Web information, accessibility and museum ownership

When planning a holiday, the pre-trip phase is crucial for persons with disabilities (PWDs) and their families. The potential of the World Wide Web to disseminate information devoted to PWDs and regarding the accessibility of tourism attractions is great. However, the propensity to disseminate information online varies depending on the type of organisation. This paper assesses the impact of the ownership of museums in Tuscany (central Italy) on whether a museum has online information specifically for PWDs. Tuscany is a frequent destination for domestic and foreign tourists and the online communication of museums addresses a large and heterogeneous audience. The empirical analysis shows that public museums tend to deliver more information for PWDs, compared to private and ecclesiastical museums.

Marginal Inscriptions as Objects of Museum Studies: the Case Study of the Library of the National Museum of Ukrainian History

The first attempt in the scientific practice of the National Museum Ukrainian History to conduct an individual and complex studying of marginal inscriptions has been done in this article. There is the case study of the Hand Press Books and antiquarian books from the library of the mentioned museum. The object of the study has been characterized and reasoning why the antiquarian books published in XIX century, but after 1830, have been chosen as the objects of this research, besides the classical objects of the study of marginal inscriptions (Hand Press Books and antiquarian books). Sources and historiography of the research as well as publications of the museum specialists have been systemized. The conclusion about the small attention of researchers to the library of the National Museum of Ukrainian History has been done too. The author of the article has substantiated one more conclusion about the absence of publications dedicated to the library as the source of information about the history of book printing in Ukraine or museum book collections = historical libraries beyond the museum. The generally accepted scientific criteria for the classification of marginal inscriptions have been generalized on the basis of historiography. Four additional criteria for studying marginal inscriptions have been proposed for the discussion. Challenges of the research have been analyzed in the main part of the article. There is the absence of attribution and fixation of the history of acceptance of the books in the museum library because of the specific status of all museum libraries in Ukraine; absence of a formal right to use such definitions of the Ukrainian legislation as the Rare and Valuable Books concerning the books published in XVIII – the early XIX centuries and some antiquarian books; problems of identifications of handwriting exactly as a marginal inscription, not a written bookplate (exlibris). Some samples to the mentioned challenges have been proposed. The author of the article has implemented the aim of the research and presented attribution of the marginal inscriptions in eleven Hand Press Books and three antiquarian books, including one handwritten antiquarian book – the object of this study. The content of the marginal inscriptions in Mykola Zakrevskyi‘s book “Depiction of Kyiv” (1868) – the most unique book from the point of view of the historical narrative as well as the invitation letter to Mykola Zakrevskyi (the object of the museum importance or so-called “Museum finding”) has been presented in this research. The maximum of available information about the content and classifications of the types of marginal inscriptions (handwritten, marginal glosses, and Marginal inscriptions of publishing houses) has been presented in the article too. Contribution in research and popularisation of the collection of the National Museum of Ukrainian History, studying of the history of a book as the object of the material and spiritual heritage, the personality of (less)known readers and reading cultures in different йpoques have been done based on the results of attribution, bibliographical description, and classification of the books, marginal inscriptions, and bookplates. Another essential result of the research is entering in the scientific circulation the Preliminary list of the Hand Press Books and antiquarian books with marginal inscriptions that have been chosen as the objects of this research. The stress on the urgent relevance of continuation of the complex studying of these books with the aim to give them the status of the Rare and Valuable Books through the entry in the State Register of the National Cultural Heritage has been done. The author has determined some perspectives of this research. They are a continuation of the complex studying of the marginal inscriptions, searching of new marginal inscriptions and fragments of historical libraries that nowadays are parts of the collection of the National Museum of Ukrainian History in other museums, archives, and libraries for contribution to the development of the museum communication and studying of Auxiliary Sciences of History. Keywords: bookplate, book research, in script, marginal inscription, National Museum of Ukrainian History.

Модернизация музейной коммуникации в условиях общества потребления

Модернизация музейной коммуникации в условиях общества потребления

Transformation of Museum Communication through Art Mediation: The Case of the 4th Ural Industrial Biennial of Contemporary Art

Transformation of Museum Communication through Art Mediation: The Case of the 4th Ural Industrial Biennial of Contemporary Art

Documenting and Presenting Contentious Narratives and Objects—Experiences from Museums in Uganda

Uganda is currently witnessing a new era, in as far as the safeguarding of cultural heritage is concerned. The preservation and presentation of cultural heritage objects is no longer a preserve of the state. National and community museums, totaling about 25, and spread across the country, are now preserving and presenting important aspects of Uganda’s diverse and multi-layered history as well as cultural heritage. Former leaders and political personalities are rarely documented. Even when documented by non-museum workers, their narratives are insufficiently presented in museums. Certain aspects of Uganda’s cultural heritage and history are silently being contested through museum spaces. The silent contestations are generally influenced by ethnicity, politics, and religion. Through this article, I intend to present the predicament of documenting contested histories and cultural heritage by Ugandan museums and provide examples of museum objects or aspects of Uganda’s cultural heritage, such as the narrative of “Walumbe” (death), that are subject to contestations.

Reflections on the protection of the cultural heritage from community tourism

This article analyzes the concept of community tourism as a strategy for the protection of the natural and cultural heritage of a rural urban locality through the systematization of the experience of the Cultural Organization Xiuhtecuhtli as the managing agency of the Community Museum of San Juan Xiutetelco Pue created under the principle of protection and protection of the cultural heritage of the town This experience is located as a local social movement for defense which will create social networks for heritage conservation through tourism this characteristic will make it possible to create value chains in terms of the formation of a tourism product

Revitalization of Indigenous Culture and Community Museum: A Case Study of the Indigenous Ainu in Hokkaido, Japan

Revitalization of Indigenous Culture and Community Museum: A Case Study of the Indigenous Ainu in Hokkaido, Japan

Realtà aumentata per la fruizione museale: risorse culturali o inevitabili invasioni?

The augmented reality's use in museum contexts can be attributed to their communicative dimension and to the possibility of contamination of analogue and digital aspetcts. In the use of those specific applications, the role of the insitution and the role of the collection seems to be almost liabilities and not to actually promote, almost like not seizing fully the opportunities offered.This essay intends to examine the augmented reality and set out the strategic features in contexts of museum communication: the use of visual language as vehicle for learning, the opportunity of communication for the collection, the possibility of reconstructing exhibit space and incomplete artworks, the dissemination of scientific researches, an incittive approach and the possibility of creating a personalised knowledge.

Contação de histórias

Este artigo explora a contação de histórias como uma ferramenta que pode potencializar o processo expositivo do museu. O estudo de caso é o museu comunitário Ponto de Memória Museu do Taquaril, o qual é responsável por desenvolver uma exposição numa abordagem participativa e proporcionar uma experiência de memória viva: as histórias são a essência da primeira mostra Fios da memória: tecendo os primeiros passos. Evidencia-se, assim, que o museu e seu produto, a exposição, podem ser um objeto de estudo para o design por ser um espaço transversal com foco nas pessoas, na comunicação e nas experiências com o conteúdo e o acervo.

The Lifelong Educational Significance of Community Museum Activitie

The Lifelong Educational Significance of Community Museum Activitie

How museums, teacher educators, and schools, innovate and collaborate to learn and teach geosciences to everyone

Natural History museums are well known and even famous for the multiple educational opportunities they offer to the public, which includes international visitors, and students and schools. This paper introduces a new role for museums, as sites for the education and certification of new science teachers. In 2017, the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) completed evaluation of its initial six years as the first museum-based Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) Earth science program in the USA. The program was conceptualized in response to multiple levels of local and national education policies, and the still cur-rent need to improve Earth science education for all students, especially those designated ‘at-risk.’ Race to the Top (RTTT) in New York State and the National Commission on Teaching for America’s Future had been call-ing for the reconceptualization of teacher education for several years. MAT began as a pilot program authorized by NYS, the result of a competition for inno-vation in the design of programs outside the traditional university structures that corre-sponded to areas of need (at the inter-section of the sciences and quality education for New English Learners and students with learning disabilities). In developing the museum-specific part of the program, theoretical perspectives from research on Strands of Learning Science in Informal In-stitutions, Spatial thinking, and Place-based Learning. Also the selection of candidates required background in one of the Earth Science fields. In addition, scientists and curators became part of the faculty and directed the field and laboratory residencies at the end of the school year and before beginning to teach in schools. After three years, the pilot was fully authorized to grant its own degrees. The institution operates on multiple levels: it is a teaching residency program that awards degrees, maintains strong partnerships with schools, is a member of the network of Independent Colleges and Universities in New York State, and provides on-site graduate courses for other col-leges and universities on the educational role of, and research on, informal learning in science institutions. The museum is at the heart of the program’s design. Courses include research on learning in museums, pedagogical content knowledge re-garding science, and experiential residencies geared toward preparing candidates to teach in both museums and public schools, as well as conduct independent and team science research. Courses are co-taught by scientists and educators, and are designed to use museum exhibitions and resources, including current and past scientific research, technology, and online teaching tools in order to facilitate instruction, demonstrate the nature of science, and com-plement science with cultural histories that highlight the role of science in society. Evaluation evidence indicates the program has been successful in pre-paring teachers to teach in high-needs urban schools in New York State. An external-impact quanti-tative study by NYU, focused on student performance on the standardized New York State Earth Science Regents Examination, indicated that (1) students of MAT graduates are doing as well as students taught by other Earth science teachers with similar years of experience in New York City; and (2) demographically, MAT teachers instruct a higher percentage of students with lower economic and academic profiles. This paper focuses on how the program design utilizes all aspects of a natural history museum to offer the science museum community, teacher educators, and policy-makers new approaches for the preparation of teachers and the education of their students.