Park Museum Research Articles

Geoscience research in U.S. national parks

Characterizing volcanic rock alteration in Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park to better understand Martian data; developing a groundwater flow model for a Grand Canyon National Park karst aquifer to enhance understanding of the area's drinking water; investigating sand waves on Fire Island National Seashore to help with the interpretation and management of dynamic coast‐lines: Each of these projects has benefited from recent U.S. National Park Service (NPS) research procedure revisions that streamline the NPS's Research Permit and Reporting System.Geology, which forms the foundation of park ecosystems as well as many spectacular views within the national parks, and frames the natural and historic heritage of the United States, is central to the national park concept. The NPS has identified more than 160 national parks with significant geologic resources, including important fossil deposits, dynamic shorelines, karst formations, geothermal systems, and volcanic features. Park museum collections contain over 270,000 geologic and paleontological specimens. Although good management decisions demand understanding the underlying science, about 90% of U.S. national parks and most regional NPS offices lack a geoscientist.

Art and Artifice: Peter Emmett's Curatorial Practice in the Hyde Park Barracks and Museum of Sydney

Emmett's approach, role and methods have neither been formally/rigorously investigated or assessed in case of the barracks in 1990 and the Museum of Sydney in 1995, and the significance of aesthetic experience within these museums has generally been devalued and under-examined. Emmett's use of art and artifice is investigated as major and defining curatorial methods in each museum to redress the under valuation.

Imagining Postcommunism: Visual Narratives of Hungary's 1956 Revolution by Beverly A. James (review)

374 SEER, 84, 2, 2oo6 James, Beverly A. Imagining Postcommunism: VisualNarratives of Hungary's I956 Revolution. Texas A&M UniversityPress,College Station, TX, 2005. xii + 20I pp. Illustrations.Notes. Bibliography.Index. C36.95. BEVERLY JAMESis Professor of Communication at the University of New Hampshire.Basedon interviewsand archivalresearch,as well as a wide range of theoreticaland secondarysources,thisis a book which will be welcomed by anyone interestedin contemporaryHungary. However, it will also be of interest to studentsof post-Communismmore generally,since it raisesissuesabout historicaljustice and reconciliationwhich are relevant throughoutthe region (asindeed in allpost-authoritariansocieties).Imagining Postcommunism containsa wealth of excellent backgroundmaterialwhich will make the book accessible to readerswho do not have a specializedknowledge of Hungary. The museums and statuesdiscussedare: the House of Terror in Budapest, honouring the victims of Communism and Fascism; the 1956 exhibition at Budapest'sMilitaryHistoryMuseum;the privately-owned1956 Museum near Kiskunmajsa;the Statue Park Museum on the outskirts of Budapest; the memorial commemorating Ilona Toth, a medical student executed for supposed murder of a secret policeman during the Revolution, and unveiled by the Minister ofJustice in 2000; the I996 statue of Imre Nagy, standingnear the Parliamentbuilding;and two statuesno longer in place: the 26-foot-high Stalin which was torn down duringthe Revolution, and the Memorial to the Martyrsof the Counter-Revolutionwhich has been removed from Republic Square in Budapestto the Statue ParkMuseum. Of course this is not a complete list of new Hungarian memorials and museums- the site of the I989 Pan-EuropeanPicnic by the Austrianborder, and the labour camp at Recsk spring to mind as other fascinatingexamples. James, however, has chosen to focus on sites linked specificallyto the revolution of I956, which, she argues, has been taken as the 'foundationalmyth' (p. 5) in post-CommunistHungary. The main focus of the book, as the title suggests, is on post-Communist narratives interpretationsof the Communistpastwith which contemporary Hungariansshape understandingsof the present. Such narrativesare created not only by sculptors,historiansand other artistsand intellectuals,but also by politicians, activists(often veterans of 1956),and the ordinarypublic.James suggeststhat the symbolismof I956 has been importantpartlyjust because of the pacted and peacefulqualityof the transitionin I989. 'The transformations that were negotiated in I989 afforded no opportunity for the courageous, heroic actions associated with 1956 and, perhaps for that reason, symbolic action became the main strategyfor stakingout political and moral positions' (p. I69). Hence, for example, the passing of a Law on the Memory of the Revolution in I990. With referenceto the role of politicalparties,for example,James opens the book with a discussionof the House of Terror, opened six weeks before the parliamentaryelections of 2002 and interpretedas an attempt by the Fidesz (Young Democrat) government to discredittheir Socialist opponents by linking them to atrocitiesof the Communistera. The Socialistsproposedchanging the name to House of Reconciliationbut droppedthe idea, aftertheir election REVIEWS 375 victory,when Fidesz threatenedto mobilize millions of demonstratorsagainst the change (p. 4). Zigzags in public assessmentsof the Communist past reflect the pattern of alternatingsocialistand centre-rightgovernmentsin Hungary since I990 but, at a deeper level, link to ambiguous attitudes towards Hungary's comparativelyliberalpost -I956 Communistregime. It is interestingthat Fideszfelt that millions could be mobilized on this issue.James illustratesthe mixed opinions of ordinaryHungarianswith referenceto an opinion poll askingBudapesters to name people they associated with I956. Although most mentioned Imre Nagy, only 56 per cent considered him a 'positive' actor. Discussing the controversyover Tam'asV'arga'sstatueof the executed PrimeMinister,James explores why it is that Nagy has not achieved the status of 'postcommunist foundationalhero' (p. I47)despite the extraordinarysymbolic significanceof his public reburialinJune I989. James also discusses many dilemmas which are not specific to Hungary. There is the issueof whether some crimesaremore heinous than others are Fascistatrocitiesunderrepresentedin the House of Terror?The desirabilityof a dispassionateapproachis also implicitlyquestioned:the even-handednessof the official I956 exhibit in the MilitaryMuseum is contrastedwith the more moving but partisan approach of Gergely Pongratz in his private I956 museum. Although its main focus in on post-Communism, the book includes many vignettes of the Communist period -the terrorof the unfortunatesculptors commissioned to design the Stalin statue, or the ironic attitude of the public towardsgrandiosememorialswhich were given irreverentnicknamesand used as meeting places and landmarks. The book is generously illustrated,with forty-two photographs...

Sensuous (Re)Collections: The Sight and Taste of Socialism at Grūtas Statue Park, Lithuania

ABSTRACTThe present paper is about Grūtas, a Lithuanian park—museum featuring recuperated Soviet-era artifacts. This museum is examined as a locus of public memory where the nation's socialist history is invoked through visual representations (recovered statuary) and by implicating the sense of taste (“Soviet” drinks and dishes served at the museum's café). The paper suggests that seeing the Socialist past at Grūtas activates memories of trauma and loss, while tasting that past summons up more nostalgic reminiscences. It is further argued that this museum constitutes a visual and gustatory critique of Lithuania's increasingly commodified and “modernized” present. It is also proposed that collective memory in today's Eastern Europe affords a productive ethnographic site in which to investigate the ongoing systemic transformations in the aftermath of communist rule.

Bletchley Park Text: Using mobile and semantic web technologies to support the post-visit use of online museum resources

<div class="abstract_container"> <strong>Abstract:</strong> A number of technologies have been developed to support the museum visitor, with the aim of making their visit more educationally rewarding and/or entertaining. Examples include PDA-based personalized tour guides and virtual reality representations of cultural objects or scenes. Rather than supporting the actual visit, we decided to employ technology to support the post-visitor, that is, encourage follow-up activities among recent visitors to a museum. This allowed us to use the technology in a way that would not detract from the existing curated experience and allow the museum to provide access to additional heritage resources that cannot be presented during the physical visit. Within our application, called <em>"Bletchley Park Text"</em>, visitors express their interests by sending text (SMS) messages containing suggested keywords using their own mobile phone. The semantic description of the archive of resources is then used to retrieve and organize a collection of content into a personalized web site for use when they get home. In designing the interface we aimed to support exploration across the content archive rather than just the search and retrieval of specific resources. The service was developed for the Bletchley Park museum and has since been launched for use by all visitors. </div> <p class="editors_container"> <strong>Editors:</strong> Ann Jones, Agnes Kukulska-Hulme and Daisy Mwanza. <p class="reviewers_container"> <strong>Reviewers:</strong> Kevin Walker (Institute of Education), Peter Lonsdale (Birmingham), Jenny Waycott (Australia). <div class="demo_container"> <strong>Interactive demonstrations:</strong> Figures 8, 9 and 10 in section 3.3 are available as interactive demos of Bletchley Park Text. </div>

CYPHER MACHINES MAINTENANCE AND RESTORATION SPANNING SIXTY YEARS

We describe the life and times of a servicing mechanic for cypher equipment for the Royal Air Force during World War II and an opportunity to serve again as a cypher machine restorer for Bletchley Park Museum.

Historical perspectives on health. The Parkes Museum of Hygiene and the Sanitary Institute.

The Parkes Museum was founded in 1876 to commemorate the life and work of Edmund Alexander Parkes (1819-1876), who was the first Professor of Military Hygiene at the Army Medical School and one of the pioneers of the public health reforms of the nineteenth century. The Museum was a multi-disciplinary institution which aimed to teach an awareness of public health matters to the general public and members of the building trade, thereby encouraging healthy design of living accommodation. The Sanitary Institute had been founded in the same year and sought to improve public health practice by setting standards for health professionals. The aims of the two organisations were therefore complementary. From 1883 they occupied the same premises in Margaret Street, London, and in 1888 they amalgamated to form a joint organisation known as The Sanitary Institute. Despite a move of location in 1909, the Parkes Museum continued to exist until the mid-1950s when an extensive refurbishment, together with a change of focus from museum to exhibition, led to its reopening in 1961 as the Health Exhibition Centre. It closed in 1971 when The Royal Society for the Promotion of Health, the successor to The Sanitary Institute, moved to new accommodation in Grosvenor Place, London.

Fencing in the past: Budapest's Statue Park Museum

This article focuses on an open-air museum established in Budapest in 1993 as a repository for the city's communist monuments. Following Raymond Williams's emphasis on the importance of studying the material processes through which culture is constructed, the Statue Park Museum is analyzed as an arena for the formation of collective memories about Hungarians' 40 years of experiences with communism. The article explores the political climate within which the decision was reached to transfer the monuments from their original sites to a museum, offers a discursive reading of the museum as a space that contributes to an emerging post-communist discourse of history and society, and argues that despite some public skepticism about its value, the museum provides a symbolic space for the common recollection of diverse narratives.

Shifting the boundaries of interpretation: old environments, new visions

Based on themes rather than collections, heritage centres provide a new and different approach to exhibiting the past, placing it, in Patricia Sterry’s words, ‘on display, but not out of reach’. Neither museum nor theme park, they challenge a number of sacrosanct notions attached to the very word ‘heritage’. The author is a senior lecturer in design history at the University of Salford, United Kingdom, and course leader of a post‐graduate Master’s degree in heritage studies: interpretation, presentation and design.

The state of quality management in six leisure related research sites

This paper will investigate whether or not accredited and non‐accredited quality management systems have effected service quality delivery to external customers. The six research sites were selected for their diversity; theatre, art gallery, museum, leisure centre, golf course and amusement park. The diversity was not only in terms of the leisure service offered but in the sector the organisations operated in; public, commercial and voluntary. An evaluation of the management processes was undertaken and several themes emerged which have relevance to other service industries (e.g. number of core services offered). Conclusions are drawn as to the way forward if the service sector wishes to work towards a customer‐orientated culture.

Is the SERVQUAL model an appropriate management tool for measuring service delivery quality in the UK leisure industry?

The SERVQUAL model was applied to six research sites; theatre, art gallery, museum, leisure centre, golf course and amusement park. The model gave numerical values over five dimensions for service delivery quality, from the perspective of both customers and staff. The administration of the instrument and the resulting data, lead the author to question the model's reliability especially when utilized in the non-profit sectors of the leisure industry. The author's critique of the SERVQUAL model rests on a number of issues, including sampling frames, questionnaire design, the notion of excellence, partial non-participation in a service and dimensions of service. The literature from previous critical writers is reviewed in the paper, as are the subsequent replies from the authors of the SERVQUAL model. Suggestions for future developments conclude this work.

In Memoriam: John Warren Aldrich, 1906-1995

was strengthened by Harold L. Madison, Director of the Park Museum in Providence, an Associate (= member) of the AOU. As a high school student, John taught nature study at the Rhode Island Boy Scout Camp in summers. John was President of his class at Classical High School, and manager of the school's football team in his senior year Also in that year, 1923, John published his first paper, a note in Bird-Lore on the occurrence of the Mockingbird in Rhode Island. That paper is a literary gem, showing that his skill in writing developed as early as his knowledge of birds. His early interest in football continued as well; he was a devoted fan of the Washington Redskins in his later years. Remaining in Providence, John attended Brown University where, among other accomplishments, he was a member of the swimming team and set a school record for the 200-yard breaststroke. He majored in biology and graduated with a Ph.B. in 1928. One of his instructors

Herpetofauna of Glacier National Park

The current distribution of amphibians and reptiles in Glacier National Park, Montana was documented from museum records and field surveys conducted in 1990 to 1992. Eight species were recorded at 141 sites at elevations from 1000 m to 2300 m. Rana luteiventris was the most common amphibian, occurring parkwide to elevations of 1800 m. Ambystoma macrodacEylum occurred in woodlands and wet meadows west of the Continental Divide at elevations between 1050 and 1500 m. This salamander was uncommon on the east side of the park with most sightings recorded in the lower Waterton Valley; none were found in the upper Missouri River drainage. Buto boreas was widely distributed to elevations up to 2250 m, but was not abundant at most locations. Ascaphus truei was found in small, cold, high gradient streams throughout the Middle Fork drainage, but occurred intermittently in the North Fork and upper Missouri ltiver drainages. A single population of A. truei was located in the South Saskatchewan River drainage. The range of Hyla regilla was restricted. Most sightings were made near the community of West Glacier, Montana, or at breeding ponds along the Middle Fork, Flathead River, a few km upstream. Chrysemys picta occurred mostly in the lower Lake McDonald valley at elevations between 1000 and 1120 m. A few turtles were seen in the North Fork drainage south of Polebridge, Montana. Thamnophis elegans was more abundant than the similarly distributed T. sirtalis. The widespread introduction of sport fish in park waters may have reduced amphibian populations in some drainages, notably in some of the high elevation valleys east of the Continental Divide. This content downloaded from 207.46.13.52 on Sat, 22 Oct 2016 04:48:40 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms 18 NORTHWESTERN NATURALIST 78(1) an, and terrestrial habitats. Intensive area searches were employed instead of more rigorous sampling methods (i.e., time-constrained searches, trapping, etc.) to ensure maximum coverage within the budget constraints and time available for the survey. Searches were conducted along major stream courses and their principal tributaries from the valley terminus to tree line. Some sites were revisited during successive years, however, most were searched only once. Sighting data were sorted by drainage within the 4 watersheds in the park (Appendix). Site locations were resolved to the nearest 50 m by UTM coordinates determined from standard 7.5', 1:24,000 USGS quad maps. UTM and elevation data were processed via a Unix-based Sun SPARC IPX Geographic Information System (GIS) running GRASS, Version 4.1. Survey data were used to generate range maps for each species. Adjustments were made during GIS processing of location data to minimize errors in the generation of species range maps arising from habitat variability across similar elevations, and to accommodate special circumstances such as disjunct or geographically restricted species distributions. To deal with variable weather influences, exposures, and radically different microhabitats at the same elevation within a watershed, range maps generated by the GIS excluded the highest 5% of recorded elevations for most species. This adjustment was not made for painted turtles, Chrysemys picta, or Pacific treefrogs, Hyla regilla, because both species occupy restricted geographic and altitudinal ranges in the park. The range map for tailed frogs, Ascaphus truei, includes only streams with documented sightings, because this species occupies a highly disjunct range in Glacier National Park. Frogs and toads were collected with a telescoping capture net fitted with a 25 cm diameter bag of 5 mm mesh size. A small handheld dip net was used for capturing tadpoles and salamander larvae. Captured specimens were identified in the field (Stebbins 1985) and in some cases measured and released. Garter snakes were hand-captured for positive identification and released. Field data included location, weather, water temperatures, habitat types, proximity of fish, and developmental stage of specimens. Field work was limited to daylight hours from late May through September 1990 to 1992. Night searches were not made due to the presence of dangerous predators in the study area; occasional night observations were made opportunistically in the vicinity of back country cabins and field camps. Field investigations were supplemented by examination of specimens and collection records from the Glacier Park Museum. Thirteen other museums issued collection permits for herpetofaunal studies in Glacier National Park also provided data. Because the present survey was undertaken to assess current conditions, museum data were not incorporated into the GIS range maps. However, past sighting and collection records are discussed in the accompanying species accounts.

Out of the very stone: Korean hibakusha

This article is concerned with the politics of memory in post‐war Japan as reflected in the treatment of Korean hibakusha. It is also an attempt to map a particular terrain in which conflicting representations of the past and present struggle to be heard. The Hiroshima and Nagasaki narratives have contributed greatly to the formation of Japan's post‐war national consciousness. For many Japanese the atomic bombings are the defining moments in their nation's modern history. The annual Hiroshima Peace Memorial Ceremony attracts thousands of visitors from around the world. Wreaths are laid to honour those who perished, visitors are solemnly escorted through the Park's Museum, and political leaders take the opportunity to reaffirm their commitment to peace and national prosperity. At a discursive level, however, the atomic bombings have been situated within a ‘master’ historical narrative. It is a narrative which not only enhances Japan's image as a victim of the Pacific War, but has relegated other, contradic...

Acoustics of Gonzago Theatre in the palace and Park Museum of Archangelskoje

The acoustic characteristics of a small theatre, situated in a wooden building built at the beginning of the XIX-th century, are investigated for the first time. The theatre is a part of the unique Russian architectural complex of Archangelskoje (the palace and park museum) near Moscow. Reverberation time, structure of sound reflections and energy criteria are measured. The analysis of the received results leads to the conclusion of a good sound quality.

The Industrial Landscape of Rio Tinto, Huelva, Spain

AbstractRio Tinto has the largest deposits of pyrite and copper pyrite and associated minerals in Europe. It was exploited by the pre-Roman Iberians for silver and copper, and later by the Romans. The greatest change to the landscape came with open-pit mining or quarrying by the British Rio Tinto Company in the late nineteenth century and the first half of the twentieth century for pyrite for sulphur and copper. Even this will be obliterated by current mining projects — the Cerro Colorado project of 1973 was started by the Spanish successor company, Rio Tinto Minera (though still associated with the RTZ multi-national company), and more recently there has been an intensification of gold and silver extraction from the gossan which overlies the pyritic deposits. Damage to the industrial archaeology is also resulting from a large scale reclamation programme, and an attempt to develop a Museum Park on the site largely failed. This report briefly considers the remains at Rio Tinto, and includes photographs rec...

Midland’s Museum

The Permian Basin Petroleum Museum, Library and Hall of Fame in Midland, Texas, is a combination of everything listed in its elongated name and a technologically advanced museum park. It all adds up to the best introductory course to the oil and gas business around. Short of a degree in petroleum engineering or extended duty in the Oil Patch, there is probably no better way to become familiar with all aspects of the industry — from hydrocarbon formation to advanced production techniques — than to roam the 42,000 square feet of indoor exhibits and the adjacent outdoor collection of antique oil‐field paraphernalia.

The Southey Collection in the Fitz Park Museum, Keswick, Cumbria

Previous article No AccessThe Southey Collection in the Fitz Park Museum, Keswick, CumbriaMARY ELLEN PRIESTLEYMARY ELLEN PRIESTLEY Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by The Wordsworth Circle Volume 11, Number 1Winter 1980 Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/TWC24041034 Views: 2Total views on this site © 1980 by The University of Chicago. All rights reserved.PDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.

NOTES ON A RARE WOODWASP, XIPHYDRIA CANADENSIS (HYMENOPTERA: XIPHYDRIIDAE)

The woodwasp, Xiphydria canadensis Provancher, is a rare insect restricted to northeastern North America. Provancher (1875) based his original description on a single female collected at St. Hyacinthe, Quebec. In his recent revision, Smith (1976) saw only five females. On 7 August 1977, I collected a specimen of this large and distinctive species on the north side of Hwy. 60, at Mile 12.7, just west of the Park Museum in Algonquin Provincial Park, Ontario. This collection constitutes the first record for this species in Ontario.

Specimens of Black-Throated Blue Warbler and Yellow-Green Vireo from West Texas

On 22 June 1971 at 11:30, my wife and I found a dead, adult, female (ova, 1 mm and below) Blackthroated Blue Warbler (Dendroica caerulescens) at our home in Panther Junction (elevation, 3850 ft), Big Bend National Park, Brewster County, Texas. The bird was still fresh and apparently was a windowkill as both of its mandibles were broken, and it was discovered beneath a picture window. Factors influencing the presence of this species in late June in the Chihuahuan desert in Big Bend are unknown. Probably the bird was a late, stray migrant, as it was very fat (9.6 g) and appeared to be in good health. The previous night had been very stormy. This is the first specimen for West Texas. It was preserved as a study skin (DAE 2571) and is deposited at Big Bend National Park Museum.