Post Semester Post Sandy Post

Not sure if anyone is still reading this, but we were all wondering about museums, archives and Hurricane Sandy. Here is a story about Liberty and Ellis Islands.

http://www.npr.org/2012/12/13/167186776/lady-libertys-sea-washed-gates-closed-indefinitely?sc=17&f=1001

2012: The year that was

Google put together a compilation video of 2012 in review. Turn your speakers up!

http://www.google.com/zeitgeist/2012/#the-world

Reflections on the classes

This was my first graduate level class. I am interested in history from an early age. I didn't know what to expect from taking the introductory class. I have to say I was pleasantly impressed with the class. I was also impressed with the archives introduction class. I expected a lot of work from these two classes but the workload was lighter. However, I learned a lot from these two classes.
In public history, I learned about the different career options. I had a brief understanding before that a career in either museums or archives was possible. What I came to understand is that there is a career in preservation is also possible. My interest is in archives.
The most important element that I take away is as a public historian I have to deal with controversy. I have to present history in a totally biased away. It does not matter if I offend anyone. The Enola Gay exhibit controversy drew some lessons for me. The first objective that I am going to have is to follow the mission statement of the organization that I work in. My presentation of history has to reflect that mission statement.As far as disaster recovery of an archives, thru my research paper, I have gained knowledge of the different recovery methods with respect to mold, water, and fire.
In the archives class, I learned a lot. From the terminology like accession, appraisal, to actually processing the collections will help in my career as a archivist. The five appraisal tools that I learned. From appraisal to acquisition, functional analysis, cost benefit analysis, and preservation. I learned that usually donors donate their collections to the archives. It's very important to keep a relationship with a donor. I learned about original order, respect des fonts, and provenance. I learned about the way that archivists store their documents. I also learned about securing the collections.

Vampiric Museum side projects

I have mentioned several times the Museum that I worked at before I came here for school, the National Colonial Farm.  There were many things that I have learned about this semester that brings new light to many aspects of the museum that I did not understand while I was there.  But there was one aspect of the farm that I still do not understand.

The NCF was set up to preserve the land across the Potomac River from Mount Vernon so that it would not be developed and ruin the view with houses and a sewage treatment plant, as was originally planned.  They decided that one of the things that they would do with the land was set up a living history museum and for that purpose they moved two buildings from the 1770's to the farm site.  These buildings are unique, they are the only known examples of authentic Colonial Vernacular buildings in Maryland, they are not like the small gentrified plantations like that of Thomas Stone that contain small mansions, there was no historical value to the buildings other than they are old.  But they are unique now, all other similar buildings have been demolished in favor of newer buildings.  These two buildings form the core of the NCF, they are its main draw and around which everything is interpreted.  And yet, when it comes to where the Accokeek Foundation seems to put its money in its general funds, they go to another part of the farm, the Ecosystem Farm.  The Eco Farm is supposed to be a responsible and sustainable farming project; while a project of this type is important it does not have the importance to the Accokeek Foundation that the NCF does, the Accokeek Foundation was formed for the NCF and the Eco Farm is a side project.  I point out that the Eco Farm is a side project because it also draws funds away from the NCF, in significant enough amounts that those two buildings, the unique ones, do not get the proper care.  One of my supervisors talked many times about how buildings would have been taken care of in colonial times, and if they were taken care of properly, they would need very little of the significant repairs that they seem to always need.  Wood buildings like these would have been coated with something they called Witches Brew which waterproofed the building and protected it from the elements and should have been applied every year.  Instead, the buildings are lucky to get it every three to five years, which has led to the wood being grey and sun-worn, warping and falling off of the house and barn.  What I do not understand is why this side project is able to suck funds away from the main project in this manner.

I think for a museum such as the NCF, their main focus should be on the NCF and the governing body should prioritize funds for its main project.  NCF is what brings in the funds for the Accokeek foundation, and yet it gets far less of a focus in the budget than the Eco Farm, which gets far fewer visitors and brings in much less funding.  I simply do not understand this, it seems like the NCF could be better maintained and interpreted and advertised if funds were not going to this other project.

A Little Something for Everyone to Enjoy

My final blog post for this semester is going to pretty much be blatant promotion of a podcast that I think is excellent, and believe is a great example of well done lay-public history.  Dan Carlin is a long time journalist who went digital with his own political podcast called Common Sense.  Dan also has a history degree and is an avid consumer of history and parlayed those factors into a second podcast that covers historical topics called Hardcore History.  Dan has a history degree so he is well versed in good historical analysis and he puts it to good use to tell some great historical stories.  One of my favorite parts of the podcast is when Dan discusses the counter-factual of famous historical events.  What ifs of history, like the possibility that Harold was not killed at the Battle of Hastings, or what if Russian and European nobles took seriously the incursion of Subutai into Kievan territory and prepared for the oncoming armies of Ghengis Khan.

Dan truly does the job of the public historian, telling stories from the past in ways that are truly approachable by most listeners, and provide thoughtful analysis of the topics.  Some of my favorite episodes, just to get you in the mood, are a trilogy of episodes on the Punic Wars, The Macedonia Soap Opera, on the aftermath of Alexander’s death, Suffer the Children, on the treatment of children through history and Logical Insanity, a discussion of the factors that led up to the use of nuclear weapons to end WWII.  Some of these are older and not available for free download, but they are well worth the $.99 Dan charges for them.  The most recent have been a five part series on the Mongols called Wrath of the Khans, it's a great listen.

Anyway, Dan is an independent podcaster, receiving none of the traditional sources of public history funding, putting almost his entire revenue stream at the hands of his users.  Give him a listen, toss him a buck or two for each show you love, and you are almost guaranteed to love at least one of them.

A Look Back at the First Semester of Public History Grad School

I saw Raj’s reflections draft and thought it was a good idea so I figured I would try to create a trend.  First of all I want to say that I had a great time and learned a great deal, not only due to Dawne’s teaching but also to our group dynamics, which I think were superb, it was fun.  Even the times when there was contention or intense debate, like the mock board meeting, which I thought was fabulous by the way, it was enjoyable and something was learned.  One of the first things I felt about the class, a feeling that stuck with me the whole semester, was how it really felt like we were learning a profession, not in a vocational school way, it was something different. 

I felt a more tangible connection to the things I was learning, as tools in my field, than I have felt my entire college career.  I know I may have mentioned this before, but I think this has a great deal to do with the speakers that Dawne arranges.  I think that the way this makes us all feel like peers, and Dawne’s treatment of us plays into this, makes the class feel like a professional conference spread out over fifteen weeks.  We got to see all the pertinent speakers and each of us even had to present at the end of it all.

Dawne asked us about how our perceptions of public history have changed over since we put our list together at the beginning of the term, so I dug up the list my group put together.

   * Taking the concepts of historical study and making them more approachable to non-historians.

o   And then using the objects of history to present them to the public in a palatable and entertaining fashion.

   * Bringing broad historical topics to the attention to general public.

o   In a manner that appeals to non-technical audiences.

   * Putting local history into the local public eye.

o   With a focus on connecting people to local histories and providing a basis for local identity.

o   Explaining local identity to outsiders.

Looking at this list again, I don’t really think that my overall thoughts have changed much, I think much if what we listed really is public history.  There are however other aspects that I never thought about, such as the balancing of the public interest, factuality, funder interests and the presentation of some of the more controversial topics that we treat.

Anyway, I still very much want to do this, and as of now, I think I still want to focus on the path I came into the program interested in, digital archives and curation, but hey, who knows, this is only my first term.

Museums and Technology

In the article “The Spirit of Sharing” by Carol Vogel of the New York Times, technology within the museum is discussed. The article views how various museums have used technology to gain audience and better connect with them. The article primarily focuses on the Brooklyn Museum, which uses social media websites like Facebook, Flickr, YouTube, Four Square and Twitter to connect with over 180,000 followers online. It is with these social media sites that museums receive feedback regarding the museum and comments about how effective exhibits were. It is the main objective of technology officers like Shelley Bernstein of the Brooklyn Museum, to engage the museum audience with interactive projects, announcements, posts, blogs and many other elements that makes social media an effective communication tool.

Specifically, many institutions have used technology to increase audiences and promote learning. The Indianapolis Museum of Art allows web users to track the museums endowment, membership, number of visitors and how much energy the museum is using. The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art took pictures of various behind the scenes activities in the museum and posted them on Facebook, so viewers could see what was happening. At the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s website, users can interact with a connections tab to talk to a museum educator and a media producer and discuss works in the collection. Similarly, the Met created an online date night to showcase various pieces of romantic art on Valentine’s Day.

Overall, many social media websites help to greatly increase the population of a museums audience. At the Indianapolis Museum of Art in 2010, the population which came through the doors was 430,000 visitors however; the website attracted over a million users. Another successful institution, the Guggenheim, started a YouTube Play project which took user submitted videos about art in their life. Then the Guggenheim took these videos and created a video-art Biennal, which was overly successful with more than 24 million views. Also, many museums are coming out with free apps that allow users to interact with museums quickly and very easily via a cellphone. These are overly successful as well, specifically the app for the Met, which has over 40,000 downloads at the iPhone app store.

As the article describes, there are numerous problems associated with implementing new technology. One example of this is how museums install wireless internet and computer systems in old buildings, so visitors can use their own personal devices such as a phone or Ipad. Another issue would be institutions getting caught up in fads. Getting too extreme in technology could cause an audience not to focus on what the museum contains, which could cause people to leave without being instructed. Secondly, getting too involved into social media could cause an audience to be less attracted to an institution as result of feeling overwhelmed by technology.