Readings for Thursday Week 4 done 9-26

After reading the first article, it was an outrage to read about what people are doing by taking funeral objects from Native American graves and selling them at an auction. I still believe that the equivalent to what is going on is removing objects and bodies from my ancestors' graves and selling them via auctions. This would make me mad and want to make changes so this would not continue on. It is good to read about the different materials which are being developed and used in order to preserve Native American objects so that nothing will happen to them. This effort shows that curators care about preserving the objects they do have in order to help preserve them for long periods of time. This idea fits into the new museology in that there needs to be more regulations to make sure that museums do not have objects that belong to other groups of people. It was a really neat experience visiting with Melissa Bechhoeffer at the Colorado Historical Society. It was intriguing to learn how she got involved in museums, and became the register at the museum. She keeps really busy recording information and keeping track of a lot of the pieces contained in the collection. I was impressed with the number of collections which come into the museum on a regular basis. I enjoyed learning about the amount of work being done in order to be able to de-accession collections which do not fit in the museum's mission. It would have been interesting to get a feel for what goes on within this type of work. I was really interested in the new building since, it looks like it will be a better facility for the museum. There is the need to have a straight ramp to the loading dock so collections and exhibits do not have to be dragged through the front area of the museum. Also, it was interesting to learn about all of the various collections which have been donated to the museum. The fact that one collection could fill an entire museum is really neat. Also, that there are a lot of collections which are unknown, so there needs to be more processing so all pieces can be identified.

For week 9/30, written 9/26

After reading what has been written about NAGPRA, I see this to be an important piece of legislation. As for me, I would not appreciate the fact knowing that my ancestors had been dug out and removed from their graves in order to perform"science" to show that they are seen to be less than human. I would also not appreciate having my ancestors' bones on display for the whole world to see. This would make me really angry to know that my country was doing this to me. It is good to have the ability to ask for bones, sacred artifacts, and other objects which had been buried in the graves which were being desecrated. It is also good to know that considerations are being made to make sure that the sacred objects are being seen as such and are being treated with respect. When the graves were desecrated, I would have felt desecrated, knowing that my loved ones could not stay in their graves. You would think that Egypt would have a similar policy in getting back the mummies which are spread all over the world in the different museums which house them. NAGPRA is an important part of new museology since it determines what can go into a museum's collection and makes sure that any piece that goes into a collection is taken care of properly. After listening to Karen Wilde talk all that she went through working with the different tribes and all of the projects she worked on, she had a lot to do. She spent a lot of time gaining the trust of the tribes she represented to the Lt. Governor, as well as dealing with the NAGPRA situations when Native American remains were found. A lot had to be done in order to fulfill all of her responsibilities with working with the CHS who took care of a lot of objects which belong to the Native Americans. In all, she did a good job with what she had in dealing with the different committees she had to work with.

news articles/ pictures section/ websites to places visited in class and outside of class

http://www.cbc.ca/arts/artdesign/story/2008/02/27/doffay-donation.html British art dealer donates lots of artwork. This website was chosen because it gives reasons why an art donor is willing to give part of his collection to a museum to wanting to allow people to enjoy the art which was held within the art dealer's collection
http://picasaweb.google.com/littester/2008EnglandTwoWeekHoliday# This site was selected because it gives examples of my personal experiences looking at British art.
http://www.wtopnews.com/?nid=105&sid=1468049- Duke of Sutherland selling artwork to National museum in London. This article was chosen because it gives another example of a personal art collector willing to sell pieces of his art collection to museums in order to allow the general public to enjoy the art
http://0-doi.acm.org.bianca.penlib.du.edu/10.1145/996350.996445- Article talking about creating digital copies of objects. This article was selected because it talks about the future of what museums can become through digitizing pieces of its collection and placing it online
http://www.coloradohistory.org/- Colorado Historical library website
http://www.skimuseum.net/- website to Colorado Ski Museum
http://www.stpauls.co.uk/page.aspx?theLang=001lngdef&pointerid=169345dwprEOVViTRLd8xXbHBDHGbzge- St Paul's cathedral in London This website was chosen because it is an example of a church which can be viewed as a museum because of the historical objects, statues, stain glass windows dedicated to donors
http://www2.stmartin-in-the-fields.org/page/home/home.html- St Martin in the field
http://www.stdunstaninthewest.org/homepage.htm- St Dunstan-in-the-West. This website was chosen because this building is seen to be a living history museum because it is still being used today even with what has happened in the past. Plus, much of the internal fabric pre-dates the rebuilding of the Church in the 1830s.The high altar and reredos are Flemish woodwork dating from theseventeenth century. There are also a large number of monuments from the original church. Some of the earliest are two bronze figures thought to date from 1530. These objects need to be taken care of properly so they will be around for long periods of time.
http://www.westminster-abbey.org/- Westminster Abbey- This website was chosen because of the large amount of history which has gone inside of it, plus the beautiful architecture and monuments and grave stones. Curators would have a field day with this place since it has so much going on within it and wanting to take care of what is there.
http://www.shakespeares-globe.org/ The Globe Theatre. This website was chosen because it discusses a living museum dedicated to the study of life during the time of William Shakespeare and the plays he wrote and performed in.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/palestinians-protest-at-israeli-plan-to-build-museum-on-muslim-graveyard-998227.html- this article was chosen because it shows that not all museums are wanted or needed to particular groups of people like the Palestinians.
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5goUZ-3LPMpfoPhBX6-9j4i0HsOJgD9490AUG0- This article was chosen because it shows that some museums are willing to make sure that objects that came from different locations will be returned to their proper location.

Readings for 9/25 done 9/20

After reading the articles, it has been really interesting to see the larger involvement of more different types of people within the museum community. It is good to have both males and females working together in order to come up with good ideas which will benefit the museum. It is also good to get a good rounded outlook on different cultures through showing collections about them and also having them get more involved in the museum community through volunteering and working on the different collections. This shows how far we have come from having white educated men running all the museums to having women and members of different ethnic groups working together to get museums which show all of the different exhibits which show what they are all about. Examples include the Native American Museum which is now part of the Smithsonian museums, and having different museums talking about the different groups of people which are out there. It was really intriguing to hear from Polly Norstran's view on what should be done. Hearing about some of her background gives a good addition to show that both men and women should work in museums. It was good to learn about the museum culture and some of the problems which go on being the only minority woman working at a museum at this period of time. Also, about what goes on within the museum working to self-censor itself within the collections. There seems to be a lot of interesting objects within the museum's collection which are never shown, which could be seen to be intriguing to see.

thoughts on readings for 9/23 ( done on 9/20)

After reading the ICOM code of ethics, the American Association of Museums Code of Ethics, the Besterman and Edson articles, I see how important it is to make sure and follow these guidelines in order to make sure that all legal aspects of the museum in regards to the collections are followed. By following the ethical code, it shows that you wish to do everything right in order to keep the public perception favorable towards you. Also, that you acquire objects legally, and keep all papers and documents about a particular collection on hand in order to show them to people if necessary. With these ideas, one can give back any object which was acquired illegally back to the original owner of the particular object if possible. After visiting and reading about the British Museum and seeing all of the different exhibits which I learned were stolen from the native owners, it is intriguing to see how it is trying to get around being ethical. It was interesting to learn that a law was made which allowed the museum to keep the collections and to not have to give the objects back. Making a law like this shows the lack of ethics and loyalty only to the museum which flows around in different museums. The board and curators of the different museums should work to get themselves back onto ethical standing by giving objects back, like giving the pieces of the Parthenon back to the Greeks. This sort of act shows commitment to ethical strategies and to groups of people to whom have had many objects stolen from them throughout the ages. Thus we see how important it is to have the code of ethics in order to make sure that the occupation is following the legal and moral responsibilities of keeping objects.

Posting for 9/18 posted on 9/13

After reading what has to be said, it is enlightening to know that museums are working to fulfill the needs of its patrons in order to make sure that the exhibits will fit in within the community in which they are based.
Museums should work hard to become more socially aware of their surroundings through being self-conscious of their collections and what they do in order to bring people into them. They can do what they can in order to help the community around them. In order to do this, museums are working to be more inclusive to all cultures around them. We see the examples of the Native American museum and the African American museum which are used to get more people interested in these different cultures. This also shows that there is less of a draw only towards white people and their wants and needs.
It is really good to see museums work to bring more people into their doors through offering a lot of programs in their buildings for the community, like creating indoor playgrounds and having areas for latchkey kids to come in and enjoy the facility and learn about things while waiting for their parents to come home.
It is also good to see that museums are being more multi-use facilities in order to help community members feel more a part of their community through allowing people watching, being polling places, and childcare facilities. Thus museums are doing what they can to become a larger part of their community so people will not be afraid to come and use the facility for many different things. It would seem that if museums did not do these programs, less people would come into them because the museum would not be a part of the community.
Another use I see to be really important for museums is helping people understand life around them through giving them experiences. Museums can be used to teach correct understandings of life and false understandings of life. I have learned about many different topics which help me appreciate what I have been given. I am able to see what others have experienced through their lives. If there are no museums for people to visit, they are not able to get a full understanding and gain memories of life in the place where they are located. In my opinion, there should be lots of museums so people can get a taste of where they are and so they can feel a part of their community.
Also, I believe that museums should take some action in their community in order to help protect groups of people through telling their story. We have the Holocaust Museum in Washington D.C. which tells the story of what happened to a lot of Jews who were killed. There are a lot of people who deny that the Holocaust happened. Museums should also play a role in preserving objects and documents from different events because they can be used to tell the full story of different events which have happened in the past. If they did not, they would fail in their role as keepers of history of different events. In other words, museums should choose their battles wisely in order to try and be as objective as possible, although it is not possible to be so all of the time. In other words, museums should be as fair as possible and share both sides of an event.
It was really interesting to listen to Justin Henderson talk to our class about what we want to do with our degrees in the Museum world. He gave a lot of things to think about, like it is a good idea to go for the posted positions because they give us experience and can help get our foot in the door. It is also a good idea to network and get to know people within the field because they know people and can help teach us things that we need to know in order to be good employees. As well, it is important to get to know the community and the different trends which are going on in the area where your museum is, in order to involve them and also do exhibits and other activities which will bring them into the museum. Along with this idea to look at the different immigrant and ethnic groups in your community and try to do activities which will involve them. It is also a good idea to work with the directors and the board in order to make sure that the museum will get what it needs in forms of money and possible collections since they know people who can get these things Along with these skills, it is good to have a good round understanding of all the different jobs which go into making a museum a success, like knowing how to design and print a newsletter or know how to market your museum to others. In all, it was really neat to see what one person's take of museums are and how they can do better

Posting for 9/16 on 9/13

After reading all of the readings for Tuesday, it is interesting to learn about how museums came about and what has to be done in order to make use that all people who have their cultures and objects presented for people to view. Reading from Museum Basics, it is interesting to learn about the different types of museums which have been developed based on their use, whether it be object based, or being used for political purposes. Also, it is rather enlightening to realize that museums can be used to revitalize an area. When I visited Glasgow, which is a really dumpy city, I visited the Museum of Art which is close to the railway station, which really made the city look a lot better. It was neat to see the different exhibits which were there, including paintings and sculptures in order to help bring a better look to the city. This museum brought money into the city through the gift shop and the coffee shop/library in the basement. As well, it is god to note that this museum of art could help with the sustainability of itself within the city through the class it brings to the surrounding area which will bring in more patrons to view the art which is contained there.
Along the same note, it is enlightening to see what is being done to try and decide among the different types of museums to have within a given area, like an object museum or to have a community museum. All of the different types of museums play their individual role and help the community. The types of museums run from the Tower of London established to hold the Crown Jewels to the Edinburgh Children's museum to the Cowdenbeath Community Center. All of these places are able to help their audiences with what they want to do, if it be educational, fun, interest, to having a place to stay and do things, like having a memorial to people who have passed on to having a bingo game for the community. All of these different types of museums play such a large role according to their uses and why they were created for their particular area.

After discussing the areas of museums, it is good to talk about how museums were developed. It is good to note that some museums were originally private collections which were donated to the city or country to run and to allow people to come in. It is also interesting to see how museums have come from being places where you need to have references from people about your character to being places where anybody can go in and use them. With the museums, people have been trained in order to run the museums who have organize the museums so they can be used, through being able to see the objects and making sure they will be protected. The only problem which comes up is that sometimes the objects do not have provenance, so people do not have a good idea where they came from.

This leads to a number of different cultures developing ways to make sure their objects are being presented in the best way possible so they can still be a part of their culture. The people whom the objects belong to know how best to take care of the objects, since they have the best curatorial skills for these objects. These ideas have led to NAGPRA which allows the Native American tribes to take back their objects and ancestors so they can be dealt with in the best sacred way possible. Also, there are groups of people, like the Greeks who have parts of the Parthenon stolen and stored in the British Museum. The Greeks want them back since they are part of their culture and they are still trying to get them back so they can take care of them. Thus we see that all native objects are not being stored in their proper location.

First posting 9/12/08

After reading the MacDonald reading, it has been interesting to learn about new museology which I never had heard of before which deals with how the museum is viewed among the different groups of people who use the library. The way that the different groups view what the museum contains in its collections determines what it will be like, successful or not. Going back to way that the museum is viewed will help determine what way that it will turn out to be. Going off what we talked about in class in how museum studies is going back to theory rather than just practical knowledge will help determine how well a museum employee will do in making sure that the museum will do well for the public who will go to the museum.
On another view, after reading a bit from Richard Kurin's book, it is interesting to see one person's view of what an anthropologist does and how they are viewed in different cultures as being a broker. This leads to the culture broker trying to make sure that the culture they are presenting is being presented as accurate as possible. This can be done through listening to the people's needs and trying to fulfill them as best as possible.
Finally, it has been interesting to see museum anthropology through Elaine Heumann Gurian's eyes, although she may not be a trained anthropologist, it is good to get a taste of what goes on through the eyes of someone who has been around a lot and seen a lot of different things.