ANSM normally does a retrospective on the previous year over the holidays but this year ANSM staff did something we didn't do much over 2022... we rested. It was a much needed rest and now we are all back with a new perspective and new resolutions.
Last year was a busy year for everyone - it was almost as though everyone tried to cram in all the stuff they missed over the two lockdown years into last year. The amount of stuff that got done was amazing but the pace was not sustainable. As ANSM moves into 2023 we have lots of big announcements to make, one of the biggest being that we are reconsidering the pace we work at and how to most efficiently address museum needs. With this in mind, ANSM has three big announcements to start the new year.
This fall ANSM staff attended the four regional heritage group meetings. It was so great to be at the meetings in person again. Many of you were at these meetings and heard our announcement that we are taking another development year for TRACK. In other words - no museums is being "evaluated" in 2023.
Starting in April 2023 the TRACK program will launch another year of professional development opportunities for enrolled museums. Work will continue behind-the-scenes on the assessment document, including more rounds of piloting. We plan to have a final document to share by the fall regional heritage group meetings with full program launch for 2024.
Traditionally, museums were evaluated once every four years, with each museum completing the full document in one year and then having three years to prepare for their next evaluation. At the regional meetings, a new approach was presented. Called the thematic approach, we proposed that assessments (formerly evaluation) would switch to all museums completing part of the assessment each year. For example, everyone would do Governance and Management in one year. The program would stay on a 4 year cycle but museums would only do 25% of the work each year. In addition to a more controlled workload, this also allows museums to work together on the yearly theme.
We are pleased to say the switch to the thematic approach has been approved and will start next year. The feedback we received on this proposed change has been very positive across the province. Stay tuned for more information in the coming months, but for now, know that yes, 2024 is "your museum's year" to participate in TRACK.
2. Museum Studies Program
Last year was the conclusion of the third year, of the three year Museum Studies Program cycle, which has now been offered three times. We decided that many threes must mean something. The Museum Studies Program has undergone some changes over the last years, with one of the biggest being the switch from in-person to virtual due to the pandemic. Additionally, new opportunities such as the Unlocking Community Museum Collections sessions and the TRACK program have had us all rethinking what training ANSM can offer.
In order to give ANSM some time to reconsider the Museum Studies Program and how it can best serve our members, the program is being paused for 2023. It felt that the third end of the three year cycle was the right time. (Remember all those threes?) We have a plan to help anyone who is near completing their Museum Studies Program certificate and will be in touch with those only a few credits short by the end of January. If you feel you are one of these people, don't hesitate to reach out to us.
ANSM will still be offering many training opportunities. In addition to the previously mentioned TRACK courses, ANSM will offer several standalone opportunities this year, including:
- Introduction to Museums Course from Museum Studies Program
- ANSM Fall Conference
- Re-Org workshop to be taught by Anita Price at the end of March, 2023
More information on all these training opportunities will be announced soon, so watch the Beacon.
3. Letter to Minister of Communities, Culture, Tourism, and Heritage
At the fall regional heritage group meetings ANSM asked museums to join us in an advocacy campaign to Minister Dunn and the Department of Communities, Culture, Tourism, and Heritage. We had a great response to these letters and look forward to following up with an in-person meeting with the minister this month.
In order to build on this work, ANSM is trying to start an Advocacy Working Group. We know from the regional meetings there is a lot of passion for this work, but ANSM cannot lead this alone. We have received some interest in joining this group from the Central region, but this will not work if all four regions are not involved. If you think you can be part of this group, please email Maggie director@ansm.ns.ca. In your email, please include your resume and a short note saying why you would like to be a part of this group.
In addition to these news items, we are actively moving forward on other activities that began last year:
Unlocking Collections
During the summer and fall sessions, we acknowledged that this work was just beginning. We committed to sharing an update on progress by the end of the year. Updates went out to community partners in December, and we updated our website so that everyone can see the session recaps (one for each cultural group which includes key discussion themes and calls to action) and work that has happened since we met in person.
CollectiveAccess & NovaMuse
After 11 years with the same hosting company, we have switched to a new one which better meets our growing needs. We are very pleased to see NovaMuse and the databases running faster and smoother, and are excited to have some room to grow. We have two funding applications pending adjudication that would let us make some exciting improvements to the database and website: assessing audiovisual materials, working with CNSA on archival features, and stepping into digital storytelling. We will be sure to announce if our applications are successful, and ask everyone to keep their fingers and toes crossed!
Partnerships
We are excited to strengthen relationships and partnerships this year that will benefit our member museums and the communities they serve.
A number of these partnerships are with post-secondary institutions as we strive to support emerging professionals. We are currently in talks with MSVU to host a Child and Youth Studies student over the winter months. They would be tasked with NovaMuseEd work that directly responds to the Unlocking calls to action. We have also confirmed with SMU that Karin will continue teaching the Museum Fundamentals and Unlocking Collections course, and this year ANSM will be helping to find part-time summer placements in museums for the students. Additionally, ANSM will be a guest lecturer in two Dal public history courses.
We are on the cusp of launching our annual Fleming College class assignment. This will be the 12th year for this project, and over the years students have edited and enriched over two thousand records from almost 60 museums. Wow. We have all learned so much from the process and research work. This is such a great example of what can be done through collaboration.
Looking ahead, we have circulated a summer internship proposal to three museum studies schools in the hopes of bringing someone on board to assist with Unlocking calls to action from May through August. Opportunities feel almost endless, and we see this as a chance for an emerging professional to get some great experience that helps museums and communities move forward.
And last but not least, we are pleased to share that we have a new volunteer starting with ANSM. Naomi reached out to us after seeing our presentation on Unlocking Collections at the CNSA's annual conference. After a very fun brainstorming time we have hit upon a great big task that she's excited to start - adding cultural affiliations to the Made in Nova Scotia profiles of artists, craftspeople, manufacturers and makers. It's been a while since any work has been done on this data, so we're all keen to see what she discovers over the coming months and years. Yes that's right, she wants to work on this over the coming years. How amazing is that?!
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