Museum Experts Research Articles

The use of IST applications in Catalan museums: A comparative evaluation carried out at the Museum-Monastery of Sant Cugat del Vallès

This article presents some preliminary conclusions on the use of information society technologies (IST) as communication tools in Catalan museums, drawn from a research project that was undertaken jointly by the University of Manchester and the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona. The general aim of the project was to widen the understanding of the specific usefulness of technology for exhibitions. We evaluated an exhibition in the United Kingdom and a second exhibition in Catalonia, by interviewing staff, observing and interviewing visitors and holding a round table discussion with museum experts. The general conclusion was that the integration of technological applications might ultimately depend on the museological tradition of the country, which influences the use and perceptions of technologies. The article also describes empirical data for Catalonia and guidelines for future applications.

Le marché au coeur de l'invention muséale ?

Avant la figure tutélaire de Denon, le marchand Jean-Baptiste-Pierre Lebrun joue un rôle crucial dans la création des collections du Louvre, en dépit du discours révolutionnaire qui oppose le marché au musée. Cet article part de sa position de polémiste pour éclairer les stratégies identitaires qui rendirent possible la naissance controversée du statut de l’expert dans le milieu muséal et pour montrer comment le Louvre s’impose comme lieu public d’expertise, en important des valeurs venues du marché de l’art, telles l ‘attributionnisme, la matérialité et l’authenticité.

Museo Finca Vigía Celebrates Its 45th Birthday

Gladys Rodríguez Ferrero was the first curator of the Museo Finca Vigía, the historic house museum that preserves and interprets Hemingway's Cuban home and its extraordinary contents. Today, Rodríguez Ferrero is a distinguished member of Cuba's Consejo Nacional de Patrimonio Cultural and an honorary member of the Hemingway Society. To celebrate the Finca's 45th anniversary, we are fortunate to have this top Cuban museum expert take us on a tour of the house and grounds, as well as Hemingway's cabin cruiser Pilar . Along the way, Rodríguez Ferrero shares her reflections on the Finca's remarkable history both as Hemingway's home and as a museum, and describes for us the valuable and interesting artifacts on display, painting a picture of the material culture that surrounded Hemingway during his lifetime.

Museums for Science Education: can we make the difference? The case of the EST project

This paper addresses the role of museums in education in science and technology through the discussion of a specific project entitled EST “Educate in Science and Technology”. The Project puts together methodologies and activities through which museums can be used as resources for long-term project work. In-service training for teachers, work in class with learning kits or with materials brought in by a Science Van, and visits to the museum are planned and developed jointly by museum experts and teachers. The Project proposes a teaching and learning model which sees the museum experience as central and integral part of a teaching and learning process with more effective outcomes. The analysis of the Project activities and methodologies is based on the work carried out at the National Museum of Science and Technology Leonardo da Vinci, which perceives the learner (the visitor) at the heart of its educational methodologies and provision.

Designing Websites for Learning and Enjoyment: A study of museum experiences

This study reports on an exploratory research study that examined the design of websites that encourage both learning and enjoyment. This study examines museum websites that offer educational materials. As part of their mission, most museums provide the general public educational materials for study and enjoyment. Many museums use the Internet in support of their mission. Museum websites offer excellent opportunity to study learning environments designed for enjoyment. Computer-supported learning of various types has been studied over the years, including computer-aided learning, computer-aided instruction, computer-managed learning, and more recently, learning via the Internet. However, the concept of online learning for enjoyment – specifically when learning is not part of a formal instructional undertaking – has not been well studied and thus is not well understood. Some relevant work appears in the literature on pleasure (Telfer, 1980), happiness (Perry, 1967; Veenhoven, 1984), playfulness (Lieberman, 1977; Webster & Martocchio, 1992), and flow (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990; Pace, 2004). The study reported here seeks to redress this gap in the literature, specifically ‘learning for enjoyment,’ by reporting on a number of semi-structured in-depth interviews with museum and educational experts in Taiwan. Our study identified a number of characteristics required of online learning websites, and we conclude some suggested guidelines for developing an online learning website for enjoyment.

The Risk of Historical Artefacts in Travel: The Construction of Risk in the International Travelling Exhibition

Abstract This article interrogates the risk of historical artefacts in travel, emphasising especially on the construction of the risk of boundary‐crossing when museum exhibits travel abroad through “outbound” international travelling exhibitions. This follows the history of a controversial exhibition, the “Splendour of Imperial China”– held in 1996 that travelled from the National Palace Museum in Taipei which is renowned for its abundant and unique Chinese art collection to one of the most prominent museums on the global stage – the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Drawing upon Mary Douglas's analysis of danger/risk and classification, this paper argues that the risk within the “outbound” international travelling exhibition is less ontological than constructed. Often the controversy over the risk re‐delineates the boundary between “us” and “them”. This article, first of all, examines the power‐laden relationship, regulated by the struggle of the global museum field, when museum experts at home and abroad co‐write the risk of an exhibition's travel in the language of insurance calculation. Second, it analyses the laymen's protesting discourses against the historical artefacts' overseas travel through outbound international travelling exhibition. The protest which appropriated the “keeping‐while‐giving” logic of exchange, and backed up with both national sentiments and international symbolic sources, rendered the exhibition a hot potato. Finally, it interrogates how the settled outbound travelling exhibition actually renders the museum collection reclassified and revalorized according to their suitability for overseas travel.

Chapter VIII: THE COSMOPOLITAN PERIOD: SINCE 1898

C<scp>hapter</scp> VIII: THE COSMOPOLITAN PERIOD: SINCE 1898

The problem of the history museum

The evolution of the history museum, since it first made its appearance in Europe in the shape of a portrait cabinet or battle gallery, has been a slow process. Many different forms have developed over the years. One of the newest—and also the most committed—conceptions of a museum of history is presented by the Curator of the Musee de Bretagne at Rennes. The arguments put forward by Jean-Yves Veil lard are daring ones and to some readers his conclusions on the ultimate purpose of a history museum will seem provocative, coming from this trained historian, a professional museum man. We felt that it was salutary for a young expert to give free expression to his convictions, stemming from an experiment in which he has taken part and reflecting his confidence in what the history museum has to offer to man today. There may be different ideas on this subject which the editors of Museum believe they should make known as widely as possible. Taking the article by Jean-Yves Veillard as the basis of their inquiry, the editors have elicited the views of a number of other history museum experts. Their replies, for various reasons, have not been up to our expectations. But the discussion can go on if reactions to this article are forthcoming from the experts already consulted or from other historians, museum curators, or educators. The editors will be glad to publish such contributions in subsequent issues, (Editors' Note.)

What are museums for? - Revisiting “Museums in a Troubled World”

Focusing on the present situation in the Nordic museum scene, entailing economic pressures and restructuring, this article introduces the thoughts and ideas of Canadian museum expert and author, Robert R. Janes, to put things in perspective. After revisiting the 2009 book “Museums in a Troubled World”, authored by Janes, a discussion between the authors is presented which focuses on the complexities of collaboration between museums and business. Finally a “hands on” section is included, in which different types of possible collaborations are examined. In this section, the topic of value creation is also addressed, as it is pointed out which measures might be necessary to rebuild a position of relevancy in society for the Nordic museums.

Um projeto para reestruturar o museu histórico da imigração japonesa no Brasil

The Historical Museum of Japanese Immigration in Brazil (MHIJ) was created in 1978. The Museum initial project was elaborated under direction of Tadao Umesao, japanese anthropologist and museum expert. For the time, it was a modern and advanced plan. But, unfortunately, it was not implanted in its fundamental points. Past 17 years (1995), the situation became worse. The permanent display made old with time, futhermore museum study advanced at the world in this period. In this paper, I discuss the necessity of MHIJ structure change. It is important to come back to Umesao principles and incorporate the museum modern know-how. Whit this aim, I applied the historical method, showing the museum evolution in the history. I concluded that the MHIJ actually need change its structure and has to widen its performance range, if it want better brazilian society insertion.

Turquoise Mosaic Plaque from Chichen Itza

A MOSAIC plaque of turquoise and jade, it is announced by Science Service, of Washington, D.C., has been discovered under the Castillo mound, in the ruined city of Chichen Itza, Yucatan. This announcement recalls the discovery, also at Chichen Itza, of a similar plaque—one of the most remarkable objects of the art of the ancient Mayas ever found—which was made in 1928 by an expedition sent out by the Carnegie Institution of Washington. This plaque was made of turquoise mosaic on a foundation of wood, which had perished. The services of a museum expert were requisitioned from New York for its removal. The operation of salvage, which necessitated the improvisation of a special technique on the spot, took three months to complete. The plaque was exhibited for the first time at the International Congress of Americanists which met in New York in September 1928. The plaque which has recently been found is described as a mosaic of turquoise and jade, and, like the preceding find, is on a foundation of wood, now decomposed. It lies in a stone box under a number of fragile articles not yet removed. The tomb under the mound appears to be a secondary burial, and turquoise spearheads may indicate that the occupant was a warrior.

The Cruises of the “Valhalla” 1

IN taking with him as collector on the Valhalla a young naturalist and presenting the specimens obtained to the British Museum, Lord Crawford has ooset an excellent example to all yacht-owners who, from considerations of health (as in his Lordship's own case) or pleasure, enjoy the opportunity of cruising leisurely among islands of which the natural history is still imperfectly known. Not only does the systematic collecting of natural history specimens add largely, if undertaken in an appreciative spirit, to the interest and pleasure of such a cruise, but it may, as in the present instance, add very appreciably to zoological knowledge. For during two of the Valhalla's cruises, described in the present volume, no fewer than eleven birds were obtained, which in the opinion of the British Museum experts are entitled to rank as new species.