October 2017 Update

Touchstones Update 

Preparing for the Touchstones performance has kept us busy this month! We have been working alongside our friends at Transitus on this project. The performance was created and designed by Nick Bottomley and Alexis Milligan, sound design by Aaron Collier, and graphics by Sean Skerry. Please follow us on social media for project updates: NovaMuse - Facebook / NovaMuse - Twitter / ANSM - Facebook
Exciting news! NovaMuse is now on Instagram and SnapChat. Follow us to get a glimpse of the performance as the tour continues!

Alexis & Nick at Touchstones performance

Yesterday, the 1st performance took place at Cole Harbour Heritage Farm! We are excited to continue to bring the performance to museums and high schools across the province throughout the month of November. The high schools we will visit include: St. Mary's Bay Academy, Pugwash District High School, and Cape Breton Highlands Education Centre/Academy.


NovaMuse

Have you explored the new NovaMuse yet? Click here to view artifacts from our partnering museums across Nova Scotia. The website features more streamlined search options and exciting new features!

Did you know that we now have a 'For Teachers' Section on NovaMuse? Check out this resource and incorporate ideas into your own lesson plans!

CollectiveAccess

We have been busy enriching agricultural tool records and military insignia records in CollectiveAccess this month. All agriculture enrichment reports and military enrichment reports have been sent out to the museums - check your email! We will continue to plug away at enriching marine artifact records - reports to follow.


There is now 289,286 artifacts documented with 149,114 associated images, which means that 217 new records and 1113 images have been added to CollectiveAccess this month - great work!

Here's what the numbers look like at the regional level:
Southwest -  126620 artifacts, 61110 images
Central -  100102 artifacts, 42362 images
Northeast -  33093 artifacts, 30955 images
Cape Breton -  29471 artifacts, 14687 images

The Northeast region took the lead with the highest number of images added this month - 629. Good job!

Tip of the Month

While working with our SMEs, we uncovered a number of artifacts that only had one image in CollectiveAccess. More often than not, items have marks and labels. Remember, these marks and labels often uncover manufacturer names, model numbers, dates, and more. This information will help you enrich your records. Remind staff and volunteers to look at the artifact from every angle so that this information is not missed. Remember to photograph these details and also transcribe it in the 'Marks and Labels' field in CollectiveAccess.

178 - Antigonish Heritage Museum

This practice should be applied to every artifact in your collection. For instance, this stereoscope has specific information about the patent date and location engraved in the wood. This would have been missed if the item was not turned over during the digitization process.

Planning for the Future

The Fall/Winter months is a great time to evaluate where you stand with collections management and forming partnerships in your community. Why not partner with a SME this Fall? Have you visited our Resources section on the ANSM website? Lots of great resources available to help you along:

-Working with Subject Matter Experts
-Working with Military Museum Collections Tip Sheet
-Managing Your NovaMuse Presence
-Collections Seasonal Work Calendar

NovaMuse Pinterest

In other news:
-Orientation sessions for next year's evaluations have started this month as we prepare for next year's cycle
-the Southwest Curator Meeting took place on Friday, October 20th
-NovaMuse can also be found on Pinterest! Check out our Halloween page for costume ideas for next year.