February 2018 Updates

Can you believe it? Spring is just around the corner. We have had a busy month preparing for upcoming projects and events!

CollectiveAccess

There is now 289,214 artifacts documented with 160,703 associated images, which means that 3,375 new images have been added to CollectiveAccess this month - great work!

Here's what the numbers look like at the regional level:
Southwest - 127,092 artifacts, 61,924 images
Central - 99,506 artifacts, 44,210 images
Northeast - 33,127 artifacts, 39,754 images
Cape Breton - 29,489 artifacts, 14,815 images

NovaMuse

Did you know there is a 'What's New' section on the NovaMuse homepage? See what other Advisory Service sites are up to behind the scenes and be inspired by their photos!


A great example is the pair of boots (02.3018) recently added by Colchester Historeum. They took the opportunity to photograph the boots from multiple angles, remembering to look at the linings and soles for marks and labels. This work pays off when writing an accurate description for the item in question. These photos were taken using the ANSM photo kit! Click here to view. Having trouble finding time to add content to NovaMuse? Be sure to check out our resource for managing your NovaMuse presence & the seasonal work calendar by clicking here.

Did you know that there is a button for online visitors to click on in a record to ask the curator questions? These responses are sent to me to distribute to the appropriate person - please ensure to schedule time to respond to public inquiries. These questions tend to be site specific so I typically do not have the knowledge needed to answer them. They are also expecting a response directly from the museum, not from ANSM. I will include the name and contact information for you in the email so that you can make that connection. This is a great way for you to build a relationship with your online community!

myNovaMuse - Contributor Galleries

Attention Advisory Service members: please check your inbox for important updates. I see some new additions appearing, very exciting! Click here to view. 

Unfamiliar with this new feature? We invite you to watch our YouTube tutorial - click here.

Explore connections across all our collections. See what objects appear in Galleries created by museums and other users. Make your own connections between objects by creating your own. myNovaMuse allows you to save items, add comments, and share your Galleries if you wish.

Photo Kit - did you know that ANSM's member institutions can borrow the photography kit? This includes two backdrops (white and grey), lighting, tripod, and manual (camera not included). It is available for a three week period. Spots are filling up! Please contact me as soon as possible to reserve a spot. Pick-up and drop off at the ANSM office (Halifax). For those of you who have expressed interest in March, please touch base with me as soon as possible.

Fleming College Partnership - students have been assigned artifacts for their data cleaning and enrichment projects. I had a great Skype call with the class on February 13th to walk them through NovaMuse and CollectiveAccess features. We have an enthusiast group! I am looking forward to collaborating with them during this partnership. As you can see here, students will work on records from various Advisory Service sites from across the province this year.

Museum Studies Program

Collections Management & Curatorship scheduled to take place Thursday, April 5-April 6 at the Joggins Fossil Institute is now full! Please contact Jennifer at admin@ansm.ns.ca if you'd like to be added to the waitlist.

Mark your calendars! Other upcoming courses in the Museum Studies Program include:

Interpretation I: Public Programming - May 24-25, 2018 at Cape Breton Miners Museum (Registration to open TBD) Facilitated by Virginia Stephen.

Museums 101 - October 2018, Central, Exact location TBD Facilitated by Karin Kierstead

Click here to learn more!

Resources

Please check out our free resources available on the ANSM website in preparation for your busy season. I recommend reviewing the management section this month. Why not get a head start? Click here

NEW from CCI: Products Used in Preventive Conservation – Technical Bulletin 32

This Technical Bulletin provides a critical review of products typically used for the display, storage and transportation of objects by explaining how certain products can affect objects and their preservation, and it proposes guidelines for minimizing damaging effects. It is intended to assist conservation and collection management professionals. Click here to view the online version!

Museum Flooding and Recovery - AMA Video Series

Our friends at the Alberta Museums Association (AMA) asked us to share a video series covering disaster planning and recovery. The AMA, through the support of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, has been working to support those museums affected by severe weather and floods in June 2013. Through the Museum Flood Funding Program, the AMA has provided financial support for recovery, treatment, and preventive conservation efforts at sites across Alberta. This video series highlights the aftermath of the flooding at Heritage Village, Medicine Hat Clay Industries National Historic District, National Music Centre, and the Museum of the Highwood.

To watch Museum Flood Funding Program Videos: Heritage Village, click here.

To watch Museum Flood Funding Program: Medicine Hat Clay Industries National Historic District, click here.

To watch Museum Flood Funding Program Videos: National Music Centre, click here.

To watch Museum Flood Funding Program Videos: Museum of the Highwood, click here.

Museums should always have a plan in place in case disaster strikes. Even with minimal resources, progress can be made with teamwork and a solid plan in place. Documentation is key. Assigning roles to staff and volunteers. Writing down details about the artifacts, including: description, storage location, and damage is crucial. The National Music Centre chose to bring on a videographer to document their recovery process. It's also important to monitor staff and volunteers. Ensure that your team is given the supplies and support needed to carry out the job. Some people react differently in stressful situations. If someone isn't responding well, it's okay to reassign tasks and adjust accordingly. Look at bringing in the professionals & reach out to those in your community. Prioritize tasks and delegate responsibilities to prevent chaos and burnout. And most importantly, be proactive and positive. Consider the opportunities ahead of you. At Medalta, staff brought items out of confined storage areas to clean and accession them. Such a great series, thanks again to the staff at the Alberta Museums Association for sharing!

January 2018 Update

Does anyone else feel like January flew by? Another month in the books. This blog post is packed full of important updates. We spent the majority of January preparing for another busy year!

CollectiveAccess

There is now 289, 978 artifacts documented with 157, 328 associated images, which means that 269 new records and 3,372 images have been added to CollectiveAccess this month - great work!

Here's what the numbers look like at the regional level:
Southwest - 127, 019 artifacts,  61, 837 images
Central - 100, 344 artifacts, 43, 698 images
Northeast -  33, 126 artifacts, 36, 978 images
Cape Breton - 29, 489 artifacts,  14, 815 images


Congratulations to the Northeast region for adding the most images (2,122) during the month of January & to the Central region for taking the runner up spot, adding an additional 908 images last month! Good job.

Tip of the Month

93.4.1

Items behind glass - Try to avoid overhead florescent lights and using flash. This will eliminate glare. I recommend photographing the frame overhead. A stepladder will come in handy for larger framed items (please ensure you have a spotter, safety comes first!).
< So we are on the right track here. I would recommend positioning the camera directly overhead to ensure the frame is not on an angle. I would then remove the scale and crop out the black border.

Photo Kit - did you know that ANSM's member institutions can borrow the photography kit? This includes two backdrops (white and grey), lighting, tripod, and manual (camera not included). It is available for a three week period. Spots are filling up! Please contact me as soon as possible to reserve a spot. It's the perfect time to photograph larger items in your collection. Pick-up and drop off at the ANSM office (Halifax).

Fleming College Partnership 2018

2014.23

Since 2012, ANSM has partnered with students enrolled in the Museum Management & Curatorship program at Fleming College and we are excited to work with them again! Students will work with 10 sites in the Advisory Service to complete data cleaning and research for approx. 290 records in CollectiveAccess. This year, students are starting the data cleaning phase mid-February. They will also complete a research report for 1 assigned artifact each. How exciting!


Museum Studies Program Update - exciting courses are ahead of us!

Collections Management & Curatorship - April 5-6, 2018 at Joggins Fossil Institute (Registration to open in February) Facilitated by Valerie Lenethen.

Interpretation I: Public Programming - May 24-25, 2018 at Cape Breton Miners Museum (Registration to open TBD) Facilitated by Virginia Stephen.

Museums 101 - October 2018, Central, Exact location TBD Facilitated by Karin Kierstead

Click here to learn more.

Evaluation Program Update - Evaluator Applications for 2018 now open!

ANSM is seeking dedicated and qualified heritage professionals to join us for the Museum Evaluation Program in 2018. Evaluators are an important part of the program and contribute expertise, observation and insight to the process.

We are accepting applications now. More information (including job description and application form) can be found on our website, or please call us with any questions you may have. We look forward to hearing from you. Deadline for applications is Monday February 12th, at midnight.

Beacon Newsletter - Are you subscribed to our Newsletter? Stay in the know! Click here to register.

In Other News

Musefund

For the month of December 2017, proceeds from the Nova Scotia Sport Hall of Fame sport simulator went towards MuseFund. On January 11th, The Nova Scotia Sport Hall of Fame shared their MuseFund donation with their Facebook followers:

Anita, Shane, and Katie

"Thank you to everyone who played the simulator during December! You contributed $326 to MuseFund, an endowment fund that supports the future of Nova Scotia's many excellent museums! Today we were very happy to hand the cheque over to Anita Price of the Association of Nova Scotia Museums."

Thanks to the staff at the NSSHF & those who used the simulator! Your support is greatly appreciated.

New Resource

Jasper Visser has recently shared a free exercise on his blog called Potatoes* – The Exhibition - A game of collective storytelling. Also, a perfect warm-up activity for your team!

Changes to Artefacts Canada

"Data from the current Artefacts Canada Humanities application is being migrated to an interim Artefacts Canada application which will be available in April 2018.  Until then, the current Artefacts Canada Humanities will remain available.  In the interim application, at first only a basic search will be available, and more functionalities will be added in the following months. Users will be able to do general searches, and to filter search results by province, and by Infomuse and Novamuse network. Museums will be able to contribute updates and new records to Artefacts Canada Humanities. The current Artefacts Canada Humanities will be decommissioned once the interim solution is launched.

The Natural Sciences database will be taken off line in January 2018 and will be decommissioned.  Our analysis showed a very low level of contributions and usage of this database, indicating that it was not meeting the needs of the natural sciences community. In our letter to the contributors, we have informed them of the decommissioning of the database and offered to send them a copy of their data.

In the meantime, we will continue to work on a longer-term solution using linked open data, but this will be a multi-year process. If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to get in touch."

Message from: Charlie Costain - Director, Heritage Information, Canadian Conservation Institute / Canadian Heritage Information Network, Department of Canadian Heritage, Government of Canada