Science World’s Post

Worth the wait: _Understanding Use: Objects in Museums of Science and Technology_, ed. Tim Boon et al. (Open Access). In which Alison Boyle, James Inglis, Louis Volkmer and I show in our chapter, 'The Immaterial Turn?' that despite curatorial hand-wringing, museum objects tend not to feature in high-impact peer-reviewed history of science and history of technology journals. Rather, we show, they are important for a range of other communities of practice and outputs. https://lnkd.in/e4awmvGr

An absolutely wonderful issue! Check it out below.

If you want to become a Curator, Archivist, Conservation Specialist, Museum Educator, or work in the museum sector, pursuing a course in #Museology might be the way forward! It not only exposes students to the working of museums through curatorial studies, museum management, public programming, and conservation methods, but also provides them with a holistic view of museums by engaging them with the philosophy of art, history and culture. Did we miss out on any course? Tell us in the comments!

Smithsonian Open Access: (Click on:) si.edu/openaccess "Anyone can download, share & reuse millions of the Smithsonian's images from the Smithsonian's 21 museums, 14 research & education centers, and the National Zoo. The tools you need to create, imagine and discover are right at your fingertips." (Direct quote from the Smithsonian.) (Click on photo below or on si.edu/openaccess)

Museums can be a bit coy about their own institutional histories, and not all of them are very good and documenting themselves. Here's my story of how I reconstructed a history of Museum of Cornish Life using its historic catalogues, and what this says not just about the institution, but also about the effect of professional procedures. Museums Will Forget: Critical Approaches to Catalog-Centered Historical Research https://lnkd.in/eDaASf_k

Most museum collections are in storage. But when did these objects start being considered as 'reserve collections' or the problem of 'too much stuff' rather than as actively-used study collections? In the latest volume of Artefacts I trace how ideas of collections use changed over the 20th century, and offer some thoughts as to how even ubiquitous or generic items (the sort that often sit overlooked on storeroom shelves) might spark research questions. Yes, even this boring-looking black box voltmeter has potential. In another chapter, Sam Alberti, James Inglis, Louis Volkmer and I look at who's actually publishing research on science and technology collections, and where. Artefacts Volume 13, 'Understanding Use: Objects in Museums of Science and Technology' is available open-access. https://lnkd.in/eHynQYxT Thanks to Tim Boon, Liz Haines, Arnaud Dubois, Kate Steiner and the Smithsonian Institution Scholarly Press team! #museummonday #museums #collections #storage #history #histSTM #research #openaccess

#How_We_See_Color Science behind how our eyes and brain perceive color from different light sources! 🌈👁️🧠 Watch this video to learn how light interacts with our vision to create the vibrant world we see every day. © American Museum of Natural History #ColorTheory #VisualScience #UXDesign #HumanPerception #LightAndColor

I no longer deny it: I am a nerd. Looking forward to attending TBM IRL: Examining Lifecycles of Time-Based Media Art", a day-long colloquium Friday Oct. 27, organized by LACMA at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures. Great line up of panels on the possibilities and ethics of preserving time-based art. Mostly about museum and gallery practice, the topic has important implications for media-based public art.

I've always been amused by the idea that museums preserve memories, when they are so forgetful about their own histories. 'Museums Will Forget: Critical Approaches to Catalog-Centered Historical Research' In this article, published in a special issue of the journal 'Collections', I talk about how the history of a museum might be critically examined and reconstructed through its catalogues. Using the example of the Museum of Cornish Life I take a look at topics like ancestry, nostalgia, anemoia, cataloguing styles, curatorial deference and how there is no discernible link between assiduousness in documentation and the introduction of professional procedures. https://lnkd.in/eXp2kKdj

Deep interaction with Science, Technology and American History enriched by visiting The Museum of Science and Technology, Historical Monuments in Boston-MA.This was my best practical experience. Extraordinary for my education.