April 2022 Update

TRACK Updates

Thanks to everyone who joined us for the TRACK info session and for all of the encouragement and feedback we've been receiving since the program's announcement. It is all so helpful. We've been adding updates to our lovely new website, so if anyone needs to play catch up, visit our website for info. If you haven't yet registered for TRACK, remember that this is a new requirement of CMAP funding and will give you access to a wide variety of free and heavily subsidized training and support. Now is the time to do it. 

Our first TRACK Speaker Series session took place last week and was a very inspiring way to start the series. Mike Murawski discussed the work we need to do as museum professionals to tap into the energies within all of us to make change happen and proactively shape a new future. In case you missed it, we've added it to our YouTube channel.

The next step for this new program is to finalize the assessment document. This week it is being circulated to a variety of SMEs (our favourite way to say subject matter experts), and then we'll start planning for the summer pilot process.

Learning Opportunities 

The next course in our Museum Studies Program is right around the corner. Registration for Marketing & Revenue Generation is open. Presented by Carrie Lunde, this course will help you develop effective marketing and communication plans, and review some basic fundraising methods that you can put into practice in your museum. This course will take place Fridays from May 13 to June 10 from 2-4pm. There are only five spaces left, and since the course is being offered online it is cheaper than the usual two-day, in-person course that we offer. Don't miss out!

MAP grant & summer news

We are so excited about this year's MAP-funded project to develop a digitization strategy for cultural collections. Last week the Advisory Service Working Group (formerly known as IMAC) met and will be meeting again in early June to prepare for summer consultations. In order to start preparing for this work, we encourage you to think about your collections and stories that relate to Acadian, African Nova Scotian, Gaelic and Mi'kmaq history. Our new, soon-to-be-announced Member Services Coordinator is very excited to be leading this project and will be in touch with more info in the coming weeks.

Educational Partnerships

Speaking of new staff members, our internship program continues to thrive and we will be welcoming two interns next week - one from Fleming College and one from the University of Western Ontario. They will be working on a wide variety of tasks, including TRACK, MAP's digitization strategy, data cleaning and NovaMuseEd, and much more. 

Our annual Fleming College assignment wrapped up recently, and reports have been sent to the participating museums. This year students were partnered with eight museums and they did a phenomenal job of reviewing and updating records, as well as digging up new info on an artifact of their choosing. 210 collection records were improved as a result. I spoke with the students and Fleming instructors about the high quality of this year's work and expressed our appreciation for this long-standing partnership. It is still one of my favourite projects of the year. And the good news is that Fleming agrees. This is so mutually beneficial that we all want it to continue for years to come. So keep up the data entry and digitization work and let's see what we can have ready for next year's students!

The other fun partnership news is that next week I begin teaching a course on museum fundamentals and decolonizing collections at Saint Mary's University. We had a meeting about this yesterday and were musing on how this all came to be, and that when SMU first reached out to see about partnership opportunities (after hearing about the aforementioned Fleming partnership during a webinar) none of us thought the end result would be a 4th year university course taught by ANSM. In both of these cases, we went into the conversations with open minds and a desire to better serve our member museums, and it's so exciting to see how that goal are being accomplished in very different ways. 

CollectiveAccess Updates

Little by little we have been seeing new artifact records and images being added to the database each month. While the past few months have been slow, some progress is better than no progress at all! In total the database has 340,993 artifact records and 319,036 images! 

Let's break down the numbers and look at how each of our regions performed this past month: 

Southwest: 139,771 artifacts & 105,963 images

Central: 108,424 artifacts & 106,125 images

Northeast: 59,747 artifacts & 81,319 images

Cape Breton: 33,051 artifacts & 25,629 images

Artifact Lesson of the Month 

As we head into a brand new season we start thinking about that backlog of recent (and sometimes not so recent) acquisitions that have been waiting to start their new life as part of the museum's permanent collection. After cataloging and assigning an accession number to an artifact it's time to label; an important part of proper collections management practices. 

Here are some general rules when it comes to labelling artifacts:

1. Ensure that the label is REVERSIBLE! Use conservation-approved materials ONLY!

4. Practice makes perfect! Practice each labelling method until you are confident enough to apply the label. 

3. Label the strongest or most stable material of the artifact. If the materials are fragile or you aren't sure what method you should be using, use a paper label. 

4. To avoid handling the artifact unnecessarily find an accessible and consistent location to put the accession number (i.e. the bottom right hand corner, on the inside hem of the left jacket sleeve, etc.). While you should try to prevent the number from being visible, protect it from areas of friction or rubbing to avoid the number from wearing off.

5. When you're labelling an artifact ensure that the accession number is readable. One tip on how to do this is to break up the number into components (i.e. writing an 8 as two circles). To help with visibility labels can be put on using contrasting colors to the artifact. 

6. Accession labels should be attached or applied to all detachable components of an artifact to avoid pieces from being lost (i.e a teapot and its lid).

Now let's move on and look at the four most common labelling methods:

1. A cloth label is suitable for artifacts including textiles, costumes, fans, hats, felt, lace, rugs, tapestries, upholstery and basketry. The accession number can be written onto an unbleached, cotton twill tape (sometimes Tvek or Reemay can be used in place of cotton tape). The accession numbers can be written using a waterproof, fade-proof, and "bleed proof" pen. The cloth label is stitched to the artifact using loose stiches. Choose a soft cotton thread that is similar in color to the artifact.

2. A pencil label is suitable for paper and paper products such as albums, books, posters, and prints. Clean the surface of the artifact with a clean, soft brush. Use a 2B graphite pencil and use as little pressure as possible when applying the number - you don't want to leave an indent! If an error is made a soft, white, vinyl eraser can be used to erase the accession number. A wax pencil can be used for coated papers, board, photographs, and waxed boxes. 

3. A paper label is suitable for most artifacts and is the best application method for fur, leather, corroded metals, wax, plastic, basketry, and fragile artifacts. The label should be acid free. The accession number can be applied to the label using a graphite pencil and then the tag securely attached to the artifact (i.e. to a button or handle). Remember if an artifact has multiple components attach a paper label to each part.

4. A varnish label is most suitable for hard surfaced artifacts including ceramics, metals, and glass. Use Paraloid/Acryloid B-72 (DO NOT use nail polish). This label is applied in three steps. First apply a base layer, secondly write the accession number in white or black acrylic fluid, and finally apply a top layer (no need to let the layers cure before application). An accession number can be removed using acetone and a cotton swap. A note that this isn't to be used on porous or corroded artifacts, plastics, waxed and laquered/painted artifacts. 

A Note from Emma Lang at Heritage Trust of Nova Scotia

"Hi Everyone, 

As I mentioned in my good-bye note in the Beacon I've taken a new job in the heritage sector, I'm not the Executive Director of the Heritage Trust of Nova Scotia. The Trust is charged with promoting, fostering, and encouraging interest in the preservation of built heritage and cemeteries across the province, through education and advocacy and grant giving. While the Trust's mission goes beyond museums, museums (regardless of if they are in historic structures or not) are a key ally in the work that we do and given my museum background I'm committed to strengthening those ties. I also hope you will continue to use me as a resource when it comes to questions around built heritage, be it how to make your historic structure more accessible, research questions around buildings in your community, help advocating for structures at risk or anything else. I can be reached via email at emmalang@htns.ca or phone: (902) 423-4870. I look forward to hearing from you. I hope you all have a wonderful spring and summer. 

Emma

P.S. You can check out the Trust's website here and on Facebook here.