University Museums and Collections Journal 2/2009

Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://edoc.hu-berlin.de/18452/384

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2010-01-28Teil eines Periodikums
University Museums and the Community
(International Committee for University Museums and Collections (UMAC)) Gilbert, Alan D.; MacDonald, Sally; Gormann, Michael John; Pickering, Jane; Cross, Steve; Allason-Jones, Lindsay; Weber, Cornelia; Carnall, Mark; Monzavi, Damon; Ashby, Jack
2010-01-28Zeitschriftenartikel
Building creative communities: How does a university museum work with family learning in a challenging community context?
West, Celine
UCL Museums and Collections have worked with parents and children in the London Borough of Haringey for the past 4 years. The successful partnership between the Collections’ education officer and Haringey’s parental involvement coordinator has led to a sustained program of outreach in the Borough, mainly with parents at family learning workshops in schools, and with parents and primary school children in schools, children’s centers and play groups. Haringey is home to one of the most diverse populations in the UK, with a high proportion of recent immigrants as well as low levels of attainment at school, high levels of poverty and crime. Community cohesion is viewed as key to strategies for improvement; Haringey has been a leader in parental involvement in schools and in creative work with museums partnering schools for the past decade. This paper analyses the special impact a university museum can have in this context, with museum outreach used to engage parents not only in new subjects and their own creativity but also in understanding more of what and how their children learn and raising aspirations. Object handling workshops provide a forum for discussion with others in the community and often act as a starting point for people to tell their own stories for the first time.
2010-01-28Zeitschriftenartikel
Accessibility to university museums: A strategical objective
Castell, Edmon
In the National University of Colombia there are currently 25 museums and collections including art, medicine, natural science, anthropology and history. Taken together, they comprise the largest, most diverse and most important museum in Colombia, and also the least known. The collections are the product of the conservation and research work of the university in the 141 years of its existence. In recent years, the National University of Colombia has not only become more aware of the importance of its cultural and scientific heritage, but also of the marginality of the work in the university museums. For that reason, in 2006 the university began to work on a Museums and Cultural Heritage Project to develop policies for the conservation, acquisition, documentation, research and communication of its own cultural heritage. The National University of Colombia hopes, through the development of a stronger, structured, ethical, responsible, efficient and representative project about Museums and Cultural Heritage to be better prepared for current challenges. In addition, the project hopes to generate a new landscape of accessibility to the museums and collections of the National University of Colombia. In short, the Museums and Cultural Heritage System of the National University of Colombia, through a ‘Museums portal’ located in a colonial building in Bogotá known as Claustro de San Agustín (Cloister of St. Augustine) seeks to highlight the cultural heritage of the university, and become, beyond the classrooms and research centers of the campus, an important reference for the meeting of teachers, students, citizens and other cultural and academic institutions.
2010-01-28Zeitschriftenartikel
Ways of seeing: A model for community partnership working
Hart, Gill
This project was devised by staff at The Cambridge Resource Centre for individuals recovering from mental health problems and the Fitzwilliam Museum Education department. The aim was to move towards a program that was inclusive and did not involve segregated access for people recovering from mental health problems. Sessions took place at the Resource Centre and were open to mental health service users and the general public. A five-week course gradually moved away from the Resource Centre and into the museum. A quote from a participant: “I walked past a couple of paintings in the museum that we had looked at previously as a group. I felt such a shiver of delight as I looked at a painting I'd otherwise paid little mind to – thinking about what I knew about it now. The joy of recognition; the beginning of knowledge & skills.”’ Some participants signed up for a ten-week course taking place in the Fitzwilliam Museum and at Kettle’s Yard. Members of the public booked places on the course (30% of the places were allocated to those referred by the Resource Centre). Participants visited different departments within the museum and met keepers, technicians and other staff as well as taking part in group discussions and debates. This project was rigorously evaluated using questionnaires, discussion and consultation.
2010-01-28Zeitschriftenartikel
University museums in a university town: University of Tartu Museums in the service of the local community
Mägi, Reet
University museums bring academic potential to bear on community development in culture, education and tourism. Tartu as the seat of Estonia’s oldest and only classical university provides an excellent example of this. Tartu is a town with a university that has for a number of centuries played an important part in shaping the face and identity of the entire nation. This article will discuss the role that the museums of the University of Tartu – the University History Museum, the Art Museum, and the Natural History Museum – play in the cultural and educational life of Tartu. The author will also touch upon the role of the museums as tourist attractions and support to the museums by both the municipal council and the university.
2010-01-28Zeitschriftenartikel
The role of the university museum in community development
Ellis, David
The development of universities as participants in the cultural life of a city is a new and welcome development that in many cases has been led by the university’s museums. This paper discusses the resulting change in the perception of university museums, both within the institution and among the broader community, and argues that university museums have a unique potential to be cultural players and leaders within their university and community. With direct call on experts across a diverse range of subject areas they have an ability to provide an extraordinary range of public programs from performances, concerts, and artist interventions to more traditional lectures and forums. The benefits can be enticing. For some museums that have gone down this path and strategically aligned themselves with their university’s goals, these developments have lead to an increased visibility (internal and external) and funding (including new buildings and increased staffing numbers). Case study: The University of Sydney’s Museums and their role in developing and defining the university as a cultural precinct.
2010-01-28Zeitschriftenartikel
The community service of the Ghent University Zoology Museum
Verschelde, Dominick
The Ghent University Zoology Museum is not only providing guided exhibitions, but is more and more organizing fun workshops and practical exercises for all members of the community: families, toddlers (kindergarten), students of the primary, secondary, and high schools as well as adults. Our approach is an informal teaching of formal learning; we offer ‘tantalizing teasers to taste Science’. We teach the public to use their senses to observe, and their mental sensibilities to create critical ideas; all this in a fun and passionate way instead of the commonly believed ‘boring scientific way’. We allow high school trainees and apprentices of unemployment offices and the Department of Social Service to work and train in our museum, thus getting a taste of the immense workload surrounding a university collection. But this is not a fairy tale, as it is not without some bitter side effects. Universities and university museums not only have a duty towards a small part of the community, in carrying out research and training students, but need to focus on the entire population in order to get the critical scientific way of thinking into the society as well as improving transparency of an academic environment for laymen. Taking this into consideration, UMAC does not only stand for ‘University Museums and Collections’, but even more so for ‘University Museums and Communities’.
2010-01-28Zeitschriftenartikel
Secondary school program at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History
Lloyd, Sarah
The Oxford University Museum of Natural History runs a series of themed science study days for up to 300 Key Stage 5 students. The day’s program includes short lectures from academics and curators and a range of smaller group activities. The program always features an activity called ‘Science Behind the Headlines’; a small group discussion framed around a theme taken from science stories in the news and focused on a topic covered in one of the lectures. Groups are facilitated by scientists from within the University. Scientists are given a framework to work with. Those with little experience can support the more experienced and everyone willing to contribute can be involved in the program. Uptake from both schools and academics is very strong; the university museum context provides an ideal opportunity for students and scientists to engage. Each discussion is unique; however ‘Science Behind the Headlines’ enables students to understand the impact that science has on their lives and provides role models to inspire students to consider a career in science.
2010-01-28Zeitschriftenartikel
Family matters: The role of university museums in intergenerational learning
Moran, Rebekah
Working within university museums in England, both museum educators and faculty staff are comfortable with pre-defined formal learning groups and subjects that ‘tie into the curriculum’. However, when engaging with ‘the wider community’ there is no curriculum and groups are self-selecting and ephemeral – so how do we design, market and map this kind of informal learning? One method of attracting informal or ‘free-choice’ learners is through the development of a family learning program. Such programs often represent a marketing coup and a boost to visitor figures but they also raise questions about style of delivery, modes of assessment and, most importantly, the validity of such learning within a university context. This paper discusses how family learning can meet university public engagement objectives and provide university students with key transferable skills through innovative ‘family learning volunteer’ programs. Finally, it illustrates that intergenerational learning is an important area of potential growth for university museums.
2010-01-28Zeitschriftenartikel
A purpose-driven university museum
Bianco, Juliette
University museums expend much energy dividing their time, staff, and resources serving the needs of both the academic institution and the surrounding community. Not only does this often duplicate efforts, but can lead to either faculty and student disenfranchisement if the museum focuses more effort outward or to jeopardizing precious town/gown relations if the focus is too much inward. Through careful consideration of mission, implementing strategic planning that involves all stakeholders, and evaluating the impact of the mission on its audiences, the university museum can transform itself into a purposeful museum and address this audience conundrum. This paper will present the Hood Museum of Art’s two-year initiative to demonstrate that through realigning its purpose and practices towards cultivating teaching and creating meaningful learning encounters, the museum, the university, and the community benefit equally.
2010-01-28Zeitschriftenartikel
On the road again: Reaching out to isolated school communities
Dyke, Karl van
Country New South Wales is very isolated from the urban environment of Sydney. As such, country schools find it difficult to access ancient museum material to support the teaching of the school curriculum in ancient history. With the financial burdens of distance, along with severe drought, many schools cannot make the journey to Sydney to see the archaeological material held in the Museum of Ancient Cultures at Macquarie University, one of only a handful of such museums in Australia. Consequently we have developed a ‘traveling road show’, which takes our education programs to them. In this way we also fulfill our strategic obligations to our parent university in the core area of community outreach. In return the university benefits from the on-going goodwill of teachers, students, their families and the local communities. It is through such networks and the loyalty our programs foster, that we help the university attract students to Macquarie. This paper looks at the approaches we take to support disadvantaged rural communities. It also suggests that this traveling program may serve as a model for other university museums in similar geographical circumstances to follow, as they also seek to reach out to wider audiences and increase interest in, and access to, their unique collections.
2010-01-28Zeitschriftenartikel
Courting controversy - the Lindow Man exhibition at the Manchester Museum
Sitch, Bryan
The discovery of the well-preserved body of a 2,000 year old man at Lindow Moss near Wilmslow, Manchester, UK, in 1984 provided archaeologists and forensic scientists with a veritable time capsule of evidence concerning life during the late Iron Age and early Roman period. Not only was the body of considerable antiquity, but the forensic examination established that the man had suffered a violent death. He had been hit on the head, apparently garrotted and had his throat cut (the so-called ‘Triple Death’) in what appears to have been a ritual sacrifice to the gods. Exhibitions about Lindow Man, as the body came to be known, were held at the Manchester Museum in 1987 and 1991 to widespread acclaim. This article discusses the approach taken by the museum in its most recent exhibition about Lindow Man (April 2008-April 2009) which proved to be unexpectedly controversial. Acknowledging alternative interpretations of Lindow Man’s death, and changing attitudes towards human remains in society, the Museum adopted a polyvocal approach to the exhibition. Eight specially-selected contributors shared their personal thoughts and theories about the dead man. These included a forensic scientist, peat diggers involved in the discovery, a landscape archaeologist, a member of the local community, a Pagan and museum curators from both the British Museum and the Manchester Museum. Personal items belonging to each of the contributors appeared alongside more conventional museum exhibits in order to explore the different meanings that Lindow Man has for different people. The design of the exhibition was also challenging and made innovative use of MDF. Public response to the exhibition was mixed, though still broadly favorable. Thousand of visitors’ comments cards collected during the course of the exhibition provide a rich resource for future study of the public response to the debate about human remains in museums.
2010-01-28Zeitschriftenartikel
Internal audience: A key to success
Heruc, Mirna
The University of Adelaide (founded 1874) is a third oldest university in Australia. It has 23 collections that represent the wide range of its academic research across the arts and the sciences. A central challenge in utilizing these collections is the absence of a comprehensively representative museum. We have developed awareness of the university’s collections through strategic public programs of focused exhibitions, discussion forums and partnership events in a variety of locations. From 2004, the first year of Art & Heritage Collections operations, this program has enhanced key university activities while proving to be of significant interest to the general public. Our core audience at the outset was principally staff with an interest in culture. Students have been harder to entice, but we now attract a growing number – mostly higher degree candidates. The university community has thus provided an engaged audience for events. Further, university staff have come forward as volunteers within Art & Heritage Collections programs, their knowledge of the university proving to be a particular asset. The cycle of staff / audience member / volunteer has proved to be a particularly productive if unexpected aspect of our activities, significantly complementing our wider community outreach.
2010-01-28Zeitschriftenartikel
Beyond teaching: Out of hours at the Grant Museum
Ashby, Jack
To a large extent university museums are dependent on their governing institutions for operational funding and support, space and staffing. At the Grant Museum of Zoology, we identify University College London (UCL) students and staff as our primary audience in order to advocate our work and worth. We strive to attract the UCL community to use the collection informally, in addition to academic teaching. These two formats enhance each other. UCL students and staff attend the Museum’s public events. Not only does this communicate our value to UCL, but as our most local community they can be easier to attract than people further afield. Internal communication systems allow for cheap, efficient marketing. We run free specimen-based activity days for families, which succeed in attracting UCL staff as well as the wider public, and programs of innovative, light-hearted, evaluation-driven events for adults which interest students too. These include exhibitions, hands-on activities, talks, discussions and film nights. Themes addressed are animal-related, but look beyond individual disciplines to attract students and staff with wider interests. Choosing topics that pique our colleagues’ interests, but are fun enough to encourage them to visit out of work hours and bring in the public as well are a recipe for success at the Grant Museum, with total visitor figures increasing 1,000% since the Learning Programs began.
2010-01-28Zeitschriftenartikel
The effect of digitalized museum information on learning
Monzavi, Damon
Five years ago, the Gemstones Museum began introducing Iranians to the art, science and industry of gemstones and minerals. One of the ways that the Gemstones Museum tries to communicate is through making its digital documentation accessible through Bluetooth technology. When visitors turn on their Bluetooth in the Museum entrance, they are asked to subscribe to the SMS newsletter. By subscribing, the member receives an SMS newsletter every two days. When a child or student subscribes, he or she receives a quiz question or a puzzle and can win points in a competition, leading to a prize. Inside the Museum, visitors are encouraged to enter into their phone the numbers next to exhibits. On doing this, they receive information about the exhibit, together with images and music. Most of the Museum’s visitors (especially from the younger generation) enjoy this kind of learning, and in the course of less than one year more than 5,000 people have subscribed to our SMS newsletters.
2010-01-28Zeitschriftenartikel
Chasing the online audience
Carnall, Mark
Museums have engaged with web audiences and web technologies with mixed success. Some careful consideration and analysis of general web browsing trends suggests that in order to enable museums websites to reach a wider audience, online museums should make sure that they are tied into relevant Wikipedia entries on the key themes and figures that a particular museum represents. In addition, translating websites into Asian languages significantly increases the potential global audience by several billion online users. These simple steps dramatically increase the availability of existing content. However, currently, few museums have done either.
2010-01-28Zeitschriftenartikel
Web communication. A content analysis of German university collections and museums websites
Weber, Cornelia
The internet opens up new horizons for (science) communication: through classical websites, weblogs, wikis, podcasts, or videos. Specific research on the potential these communication media offer for university museums and collections is still missing. Therefore, the paper presents and surveys the current use of internet communication in order to provide fundamental material for critical discussion. The study is based on collections registered in the online database "University Museums and Collections in Germany".
2010-01-28Zeitschriftenartikel
University museums and outreach: the Newcastle upon Tyne case study
Allason-Jones, Lindsay
This paper describes developments in attitudes to public access and outreach at the University of Newcastle over the past thirty years, and the impact of those developments on the University’s Museum of Antiquities. The author describes some of the ground-breaking educational initiatives undertaken by the museum, and the plans for its future as part of the Great North Museum.
2010-01-28Zeitschriftenartikel
What opportunities can university museums offer for academic-public interaction? Some lessons from London’s Beacon for Public Engagement
Cross, Steve
UCL has recently been named one of the UK’s Beacons for Public Engagement, a group of higher education institutions tasked with finding ways to change the culture of Higher Education to include the public better. UCL’s new Public Engagement Unit has identified a number of barriers to university staff working with the public, and, alongside UCL Museums & Collections, is working to break these barriers down.
2010-01-28Zeitschriftenartikel
Ivory tower or welcoming neighbor? Engaging our local communities
Pickering, Jane
The Yale Peabody Museum is situated in the economically and ethnically diverse urban environment of New Haven. For over ten years the museum has run extremely popular cultural festivals that attract a diverse audience of thousands, but we discovered that attendees rarely came from the city itself. Clearly, having high-quality programming was not enough to attract our local community. To investigate this issue the museum launched a year-long research study to address the following questions: What is the perception that residents have of the museum and what are the barriers to their engagement with the museum? How can we serve visitors from our neighborhood? How does being part of Yale University affect people’s relationship with the museum? Our results were comparable to other studies by urban institutions but there were some differences that are of particular interest to university museums. For example, we discovered that negative opinions about the university were a significant barrier. There was also confusion as to our target audience, and a perception that our programs would not be of interest to “regular” people. University museums need to make considerable efforts if they hope to attract and serve non traditional museum goers – particularly changes in how they communicate and partner with the community. New initiatives at the Peabody include programming for local teenagers, diversity training for frontline staff, new outreach programs, and targeted marketing plans.

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