Social Media and Museums

This is waaaaaaayyyyy cool! Check out what 41 different museums are doing with social media (much of which is still free and/or inexpensive) here. I think it is empowering to see these museums using these devices in such novel and creative ways and really find a way to connect with their audiences.

Enjoy!

Quick Survey

The Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody, Wyoming is conducting research for an IMLS Connecting to Collections planning grant.  For part of their research, they are investigating the biggest collections care needs for small, local museums and libraries.  If you have a moment, please email answers to their quick survey below to Laura Fry at lauraf@bbhc.org. Thank you! 

 

 

Connecting to Collections Survey

 

With regards to collections care, which of the following does your museum or library need the most?

 

1. Collections storage funding

2. Disaster planning and networking

3. Digitization of collections

4. Cataloguing collections

5. Education for board members

6. Education for museum staff

7. Other __________________

 

Please send your response to: lauraf@bbhc.org

 

      

This survey is conducted as part of an IMLS Connecting to Collections Planning Grant at the Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody , Wyoming .  If you have any questions, please contact Laura Fry at lauraf@bbhc.org, or Beverly Perkins at beverlyp@bbhc.org.

 

The Historian's Code

On H-Net (the Public History listserv), this Historian's Code was posted courtesy of historian Glenn Williams of the National Museum of the U.S. Army, and I thought it was useful to all of us who are involved in history in any such way. The code was written by Dr. Richard Stewart. May it guide you and inspire you.

A Historian's Code (1)

1.     I will footnote (or endnote) all my sources (none of this MLA or social science parenthetical business).

2.      If I do not reference my sources accurately, I will surely perish in the fires of various real or metaphorical infernal regions and I will completely deserve it.  I have been warned.

3.      I will respect the hard-won historical gains of those historians in whose steps I walk and will share such knowledge as is mine with all other historians (as they doubtless will cheerfully share it with me).

4.      I will not be ashamed to say "I do not know" or to change my narrative of historical events when new sources point to my errors.

5.      I will never leave a fallen book behind.

6.      I will acknowledge that history is created by people and not by impersonal cosmic forces or "isms."  An "ism" by itself never harmed or helped anyone without human agency.

7.      I am not a sociologist, political scientist, international relations-ist, or any other such "ist."  I am a historian and deal in facts, not models.

8.      I know I have a special responsibility to the truth and will seek, as fully as I can, to be thorough, objective, careful, and balanced in my judgments, relying on primary source documents whenever possible.

9.      Life may be short, but history is forever.  I am a servant of forever.

(1)     Stewart, Richard, Ph.D., "Historians and a Historian's Code," ARMY HISTORY, No. 77 (Fall 2010), p. 46.

Small Museum of the Month: Virginia Center for Architecture

  

Museum Information
The Virginia Center for Architecture
2501 Monument Avenue
Richmond, VA 23220

(804) 644-3041
www.virginiaarchitecture.org
 

Hours of Operation
Tuesday–Friday 10 a.m.–5 p.m.
Saturday–Sunday 1–5 p.m.

The VCA is a great small museum:

As home to exhibitions, discussion forums, student programs, and a museum shop, the Virginia Center for Architecture provides an important cultural resource

 

The Center’s comprehensive exhibition program exposes the community to the importance and power of architecture, landscape architecture, and other aspects of design in our lives. Visitors discover how, of all the arts, architecture is the most public, most visible, and thus, the most defining — and how it shapes our communities and, in doing so, helps shape our citizens. 

   

The Center — located in the historic Branch House, a home with equal stature to Monticello, Mount Vernon, and the James River plantations — offers exhibitions and programs to engage visitors in considering the built environment that surrounds them. By presenting the best architecture of all eras, including promising designs for tomorrow, the Center for Architecture nurtures a society that distinguishes architecture from mere building and understands the value of well-designed places.

Want to be a Small Museum of the Month? Learn more here!

Photo of Museum of the Month will be added to the front page of the SMA website shortly. All photos courtesy of the Virginia Center for Architecture. 

Employment Opportunity with the El Paso Museum of Art

Site Name and Address: City of El Paso, 2 Civic Center Plaza 3rd Floor, El Paso, TX  79901
Position Title: Art Museum Senior Curator
Educational Requirements:  Candidate must have a Master’s degree in Art History or Museum Studies.  
Experience Required:  Six (6) years of museum exhibit staff supervision, exhibition development, design, and curatorial experience.
Position Description:  The City of El Paso seeks a highly motivated and experienced leader to serve as Art Museum Senior Curator at The El Paso Museum of Art.  The ideal candidate under direction, plans and directs the activities of a special curatorial department of the museum; plans, assigns and supervises the activities of subordinate personnel engaged in assisting with such work; and is responsible for the administration of the registration, art storage and general planning function of the curatorial department.
Other pertinent information:  Please visit our website at www.elpasotexas.gov to see complete job description
Application Requirements (resume, cover letter, salary requirements, writing sample?): Please visit our website at www.elpasotexas.gov to apply online.
Contact Name: Nuria Valdez       
Title:  Senior Human Resources Analyst
Where to send application packet (e-mail address, street address, fax?): n/a
Is there a closing date? When should this listing be deleted from the site?  10/25/10