Course talk:ARST573/Museum Archives

Hi Taryn,

Your wiki is looks great. The layout of the sections is easier to follow now. Just a couple more small things. Firstly, there is definitely enough information under the ‘Curators and Archivist’ heading, and you have included a note saying that you will be writing more about the respective roles of the curator and the archivist. However, curators and archivists might also fit quite well into the ‘challenges’ group, considering the challenges that arise from negotiating their professional differences. The second small thing is regarding the “Characteristics of a Museum Archives” section, in which you are planning on including: “basic information on what an archives is/and a brief couple of sentences about museums in general”. Considering that you haven’t included information in this section yet, and you intend to keep it brief, it might be just as effective to include this info in the introduction and/or in the ‘Museum Context’ section. I’m just worried about redundancies, and that you will end up creating more work for yourself than you need to. Just some stuff to think about... Jessie

Hey Jessie,

Thanks for the feedback! I was originally going to have the curators and archivists section under 'challenges' and then changed my mind and decided I was going to write about their respective roles, and then only briefly mention potential challenges. So maybe what I will do is write up the section, and see how it ends up looking, and then if the tone of the section ends up focusing more on the challenges, I will definitely consider moving it! As per your second suggestion, I completely agree. I've moved around these headings so much, so I'm still trying to figure out what fits where. I will probably end up merging the museum context/characteristics sections after completing some of the information I'm planning on having in the sections. Really appreciate the feedback! Thanks so much! -T

Hi, Taryn!

I am so sorry for commenting so late, but I was 100% sure that I had already commented on your wiki post. I had read it with great interest because I am kind of obsessed with museum archives, but clearly my brain shorted out when I went to comment.

You have done a terrific job with your wiki. I wonder if you might consider moving your three case studies to the end so that we get all of the contextual and background information necessary to understand them. That would take a little bit of rewording in some places, but the flow might work slightly better. Also, I agree with Jessie that an argument could be made for moving the section "curators and archivists" under the challenges section, since the relationship between these two groups certainly seems to be a challenge at times.

Also, I thought that you could expand on this idea a little bit:

"Accession files or object files are those which detail initial contact between the museum staff and the donor or vendor, correspondence regarding negotiations about the object, provenance and background information, and various financial documents."

I was wondering if you had found anything about records of acquisitions or donations being used later in situations involving culturally sensitive objects or objects that may have been acquired in less than legal ways before the introduction of laws that regulated the acquisition of cultural heritage objects? If so, this would be an interesting and relevant thing to mention, especially seeing as you give MOA as an example. Obviously, if you haven't found anything in the literature about this, don't worry about it, but it was something that jumped out at me!

Thanks for linking to my page!

Hi Chelsea,

Thanks so much for your feedback regarding the sections. I didn't really think to move the case studies to the end of the wiki, but now that you've mentioned it, it makes a lot of sense! I've also moved (after much prompting) the archivists/curators section into challenges! I don't want to get too carried away adding unnecessary content, so sticking with their roles in relation to each other seems like the right road to take. I have found a LOT of literature regarding the repatriation of museum objects, especially objects that were stolen during world war two, however nothing I've found so far mentions the acquisition records or donation records that went along with those objects. It does sound like a very interesting thing to look in to, so perhaps I'll dig a little deeper and see what I can find!

Thanks so much for your feedback, much appreciated!

Taryn

Hi Taryn,

You've made great headway at your wiki!

I just wanted to mention the possibility of using some real-life examples of museum archives. Perhaps you could focus on a particular geographic region or theme to narrow down the wealth of museum archives that could be discussed?

Also, I would think that security could be an issue for museum archives serving the public. Perhaps this area could be explored in your 'challenges' section of your article?

Chelsea

Hi Chelsea!

I will absolutely add some real-life examples of museum archives! I'll be looking at MOA (with some great feedback from Krisztina, the Archivist who did our presentation), as well as The Smithsonian Institute, and perhaps a few others! Unfortunately there's not a lot of literature out there about specifics, but I will try my best to look at museum websites and get some information from there!

I also thought the same, and actually had "Access and Security" as a section under challenges originally, however I've found that there is very little to nothing written about it, and most museum archives get around the access/security challenges by having appointment only hours to allow them access to the archives without having to pay the museum admission fee, etc. I will do some more poking around to see if I can find any further information, but according to the museum archivists I've spoken with, I've pretty much located all 10 resources about museum archives! Thanks for the feedback! Taryn

Hi Taryn, I think what you mention here (about appointment only hours) is a pretty good start to section on access and security. You might also want to draw on our visit to MOA for this -- thinking about the layout there and about Krisztina saying that she picked the location of her desk on purpose so that she could observe researchers... I'll let you know if I think of anything else on the topic!

Thanks Alexandra,

It will be a small section, but it'll be there nonetheless! I'll use some information I found via the case studies and will bring in some information from our visit to MOA!

Hey Taryn, out of curiosity -- where are you going to move the SAA museum archives guidelines section? Are you thinking of incorporating it into another section? And I think the last section on archival records vs museum objects is a great place to throw in some archival theory...

Hey Alexandra- I was thinking that I would make it its own section, and after Mariko's suggestion that I have a museum archives standards section, maybe I will combine the standards and guidelines into one section. I'll have to do some more research and see if I can find standards, as suggested by Mariko, but I think this might be a better plan than to have it nested under 'museum context'-- Thoughts on that? Also, you're absolutely right about talking about archival theory in the records vs. objects section. I'm sure there is also some theory re: museum objects, so I will read up on that and see if the two are at odds or not!

Yes, standards and guidelines makes perfect sense as its own section. Your wiki looks amazing! Is there a reason for linking to wikipedia sources for the Smithsonian Institution Archives, rather than SIA website itself? The wikipedia page doesn't talk about the archives specifically, while the SIA website is more related to your topic. Just a thought :)

No reason whatsoever, which makes me think I should probably link to the museums themselves rather than the wiki! You make a great point about the wiki pages not having information relating specifically to the archives! Thanks for the tip, I've changed the links :)

Hi Taryn,

Great job so far! The entry is very well structured and interesting to read. And I like the title of your section "Archives in Action" - nice change from Case Studies.

A few thoughts I has while reading this:

-In the Museum Context section, in the sentence “There are two main functions a museum performs, those relating to its curatorial duties, and those relating to their administrative duties” you switch from "its" to "their." Should probably be "its" in both places.

-Also in the Museum Context section, you reference a Wythe for the first time in the article. It seems like you should give his/her first name as well and perhaps a title of some kind (archivist?)

-The statistics "nearly 55,000 museums in the world, in 202 different countries” should probably be cited.

-The V&A Museum section could benefit from being broken up a bit (it looks like there should be a few paragraphs?)

Katie

Thanks for the feedback Katie, I've fixed up the first three areas you've suggested. I'll look into breaking up the V&A Museum section, it did take on a bit of a life of its own once I started reading about all the different components, just curious do mean I could maybe add sub-headings? Or just page breaks to make the paragraphs more well-defined? -Taryn

I just meant page breaks between the paragraphs.

Perfect, thanks Katie!

Hi Taryn,

Your wiki on Museum Archives is coming along really nicely. The introduction gives a nice overview. In particular, I like the quote from Claudia Hommel, the pictures you've included (they could be a little bit bigger!), and the 3 examples of museum archives.

I have a couple of comments about the section "Curators and Archivists." I think that the first sentence in the second paragraph,

"Differences between the curator’s job within the museum, and the archivist’s job within the museum archives, as well as other differences with regards to how archivists and curators view the archival records and collections objects within the museum contributes to a language discrepancy that sees curators and archivists speaking two different languages, and that searching out a common ground in order for both to see eye-to-eye would be ideal."

is a bit long and redundant since you already make a similar point in the first paragraph: "Fundamental differences between the professions of curator and archivist can sometimes cause strain on the relationship between the two. It is vital for the curator and archivist to find common ground, built upon the foundation of a strong museum administration, and focusing on similarities while arbitrating differences."

In order to add a little bit if you decide to remove the redundant sentence would maybe be to elaborate a bit on the point you make about the differences between archivists and curators in how they handle records and artifacts:

"Curators, for example, catalogue and collect in a manner that does not reflect the way that archivists process, arrange and describe.[36]"

This is an interesting point, but it would be nice to hear a little bit more about it!

Two small suggestions: "The success in the 1980s can be attributed several factors" - "to several factors"

"Museums are not static entities whose missions and functions remain static throughout their existence." - replace the 2nd "static" with another word?

Cristen

Hi Cristen,

Thanks for the feedback! Fixed the minor issues you pointed out, appreciate it very much! I'm slowly but surely figuring out how exactly I want to approach the curator/archivist section, I do see the redundancy in those two sentences, so I will restructure or probably just eliminate the second paragraph's opening sentence. Resources are quite low, and seem to be very opposing when it comes to whats written vs. the reality re: relationships between archivists and curators, so I'll have to work that in somehow as well. Thanks very much for the feedback again!

-Taryn

Hi Taryn! I think expanding the section on the differences between records and objects would be really great. Naturally, I am sure you are planning on this already, but I reckon it will be a very valuable section.

-Robert

Hey Rob! Working on expanding that section right now, thanks for the interest in it, it's definitely valuable to the overall understanding of museum archives! -Taryn

Hi Taryn, Just a small thing, but is the last word of the following sentence from your wiki supposed to be "program" rather than "problem?": "The late 1970s also saw the creation of a Museum Archives Task Force, which worked with museums to educate administrators and other staff about the advantages of an archival problem." Sorry if I'm just missing something obvious :)

Jessie

Fixed! It was definitely supposed to say program. Thanks!

Hi Taryn,

As per our lengthy discussion today, I hope you may be able to find more resources from professionals within the field. Some professionals in the field might be more inclined to stay on top of recent literature and they might be able to put you in touch with some more recent references. One institution that I know well might be able to help you out is the Nikkei National Museum in Burnaby. They are a non-profit organization for the Japanese and Japanese Canadian community that have constructed a wonderful little national museum. As such, they have acquired quite a bit and although they are not an archives per say, they do strive to function as one. Beth Carter is the director curator and Alexis Jansen is the collections manager. Both would be great to get in contact with. I can introduce you via email if you are interested.

I also have a colleague from back home at the Royal Ontario Museum (by the way, that is my dream job!). He works in the public education programming side but he might also have a few colleagues who can point you in the right direction. Let me know if you are interested.

Good luck!

L

Hey Lisa,

Thanks very much for advice on speaking with professionals in the field in order to find some more resources, as they're apparently quite scarce! I'll formulate a bit more of my wiki and think of some specific areas to ask about, and then chat with you again about getting into contact with at least Beth from the Nikkei Museum for sure!

Thanks!

Hey Taryn, Great idea from Lisa! If, in addition to taking to Beth, you are interested in talking to Alexis (the collections manager) she happens to be a good friend of mine. Alexis is a huge bookworm, and I'd be more than happy to ask her for some input if you'd like. She is probably chalk full of both trivia and leads to really good sources. I know she'd also be happy to take you on a tour of the archives and/or meet you for tea. Maybe I'll tag along :)

Hi Taryn,

I was reading through your wiki and found a sentence in your "Curators and Archivists" section that may be reworded. The original sentence is:

"In order to avoid the loss of critical museum-related information, museum professionals must ensure that the curator and archivist work hand in hand to administer the museum archives, as although both may interpret information as something different, they both can recognize its long-term value."

Perhaps this could be reworded to: "Museum professionals must ensure that curators and archivists work hand-in-hand to administer the museum archives in order to avoid the loss of critical museum-related information. Curators and archivists may both recognize the long-term value of resources though they may interpret the information differently."

Just a suggestion!

Chelsea

Hey Chelsea, Thanks for the suggestion! Re-reading that sentence, it's definitely structured in a strange way, I think it was because I was trying to paraphrase instead of quote directly and didn't quite make it sound so great. I'll have a look at the original to make sure that your suggested edit isn't too close to their quote, and then make the changes! Thanks again!

Taryn

Hi Taryn,

I was just wondering if you are planning to give examples of museum archives and their holdings. It would be interesting to see what different types of museums have in their archives.

Hey Kathryn!

I do have a small section under museum context with a list of types of records museums hold:

A complex variety of records are produced by museums and their functions. Among the records produced, Wythe describes collections-based records as having a “special place” among the institutional records, as the museum objects, and records containing information about those objects, are the most important of all records collected, for both museum staff and researchers. [15] Records pertaining to conservation efforts, special projects and programs, and development and outreach are also produced.[16] The inclusion of a museum archives to house all the records which are deemed to have long-term value does a significant amount to support the museum’s mission to collect and interpret objects, and having an archival system which understands the special situation of a museum archives, is vital to the success of an archival program within a museum.

I will also add some real examples, I have some great notes from a conversation with Krisztina, the Archivist at MOA that did our presentation, so I will add that in as well!

What are your thoughts about maybe making this a subsection of the museum context heading? Let me know your feedback! I think I might make it a subsection so that I can expand even more.

Hello pod-pal Taryn, Looks great so far! I'm wondering, for the sake of staying concise, if it might be worthwhile to include a very brief definition of an archives in the introductory section, rather than making it a section unto itself following the history section. I also agree with Mariko's suggestion to combine the standards and guidelines into one section, rather that putting it under 'museum context'. The context section is quite full as it is, and might begin to sound convoluted if information regarding standards is added. See you in the AM :)

Hey Jessie, I'm thinking at this point because I've found some new sources, I will definitely take your advice and include the 'what is an archives' section in the introduction! Thanks for keeping my "please help me be concise!"-plea in mind ;)!

Hi Taryn, Just wondering if you thought about different standards for museums and archives as a possible challenge? And just a little grammar thing: just the "an" in your first line.

Fixed the grammar issue, thanks! I'm also thinking (I mentioned this in Alexandra's reply too) that it might be a good idea to move the Museum Archives Guidelines into its own section, and maybe I can add the standards section as well. I'll need to do some research to see if there are any standards that exist, so far I've only found the guidelines. Thanks for the suggestion!