February 2023 Update

TRACK Updates

T is for Training! At the last TRACK working group meeting we mapped out a training plan for the coming year that we are very excited about. We are now looking at schedules and logistics for  this year's offerings, so stay tuned as details are finalized.

R is for Resources! Phillip has been very busy reviewing, culling and organizing our resource library. Over the past week we've removed a lot of books that are irrelevant or out-of-date according to current museological standards. Phillip has also been busy adding our sample forms, templates and other online resources to the database. Now he's tackling the file cabinets (insert ominous music here). Old workshop files and other paper-based files have been hanging around the office since the old FNSH days (pre-2007). This is such a great exercise for ANSM that is going to be incredibly beneficial to us and our member museums. It feels like we are finally modernizing resources and the library, and will now have a much better sense of what we have to offer and where/how we need to grow our resource library. Bonus - we now have the space to grow!

A is for Assessment! We have finally incorporated all of the feedback from the pilot process and sent the assessment document off to our graphic designer. We know that the document was difficult to work with as it was, and so can't wait to work through a proper, pretty document with our phase 2 pilot museums.

Other Training:

Reconsidering Museums Webinar

On March 8th we'll be joining our colleagues from New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island to talk about Reconsidering Museums - a national research and advocacy project. If your museum is having conversations about relevance, community engagement, and relationship building, this is the webinar for you. Bonus, it is free and there is no limit of participants, so spread the word and we look forward to seeing you there. To learn more and register online, click here.

Collections Re-Org Workshop

Our good friend Anita Price is leading a workshop on storage Re-Org. If your storage is bursting at the seams, or if you think it could be made more efficient and better organized, this is the workshop for you. It's just one day, on March 29th. To learn more, click here.

CollectiveAccess Updates

It was a fairly quiet month for database work, but another 1000 records and 1000 images were added to the databases, and we saw many, many more record edits. We have collectively documented 368,138 artefacts and items, and have 337,247 digital images and media files linked to these items. With so many competing priorities in our museums, it is a testament to the dedication of our workers that collections remain a priority. The progress is real, it is sustained, and it is so important and meaningful.

Your image lesson of the month is this adorable children's basket from the 1920s. Sometimes bright colours can be difficult to photograph. It can be hard to decide if they should have a light or a dark background. This photo is a good example of this debate because the dark blue background changes to a white background. Your eye may immediately tell you that it prefers the blue, or the white. The best way to make a decision is to try both and then decide which one makes the object 'pop'. This will slow down your digitization process, but is so worth the extra time. 

In other database news, the sync process is slowly getting sorted out so that records will again seamlessly flow to NovaMuse. This continues to be a long and arduous process, slowed down by our server change and grant project priorities and deadlines. But it is slowly coming along. The current question is whether or not we can speed up the file copying process as everything gets slowly reintegrated. 

In news that crosses over between database updates and Unlocking updates, we have just gotten a draft French version of CollectiveAccess. We heard loud and clear at the Acadian Unlocking sessions that being able to access programs and services in French was a priority. This means that Acadian museums can document their collections in a French database rather than entering French data in an English system, or feeling like they had to enter the information in English because the database was English. 

Unlocking Collections

A couple significant updates on this work. First and foremost, we have a draft ReconciliAction Plan. This is the game plan, the living document, that will help ANSM and member museums ensure this work is moving forward. It will also serve as an accountability tool for community members and partners so that they will see how things are progressing as well. Once we do a bit more review and discussion with our working group and board, we'll share the Plan on our website, so stay tuned!

In order to continue the Unlocking conversation with communities we've started circulating a brief survey with our partners. If you are of Mi'kmaq, Acadian, African Nova Scotian or Gaelic descent, we'd love to hear from you. Feedback is going to be used to ensure our ReconciliAction Plan is meeting everyone's needs. If you're interested in printing and mailing us a paper survey, contact us and we'll email you the document file.

We uncovered even more helpful books and resources this month for the Made in Nova Scotia research work. Naomi continues to reconcile these resources with the existing database information and update records as required. For years we've called this our rainy day project, and lately we've been recognizing how long this haul will be. There are currently 8,458 profiles of creators and companies, so it's going to take a lot of time to review and update this information.  

In less happy news, one of our grant applications to continue this work was not successful. But as you'll read below, we've got a few people joining us over the coming months, so are looking at which pieces of this project proposal we can extract and rework. 

Educational Partnerships

The Fleming students have finished the first half of their class assignment - proofreading and editing database records. They're now working on the final piece - selecting an item for further research and enriching its database record. This is always the fun part because of the new information that gets discovered. 

Jordyn has been making a lot of progress on new NovaMuseEd resources. She's been working through files shared by museums and developing her own learning activities, and is on track to have about 10 new resources developed by the end of her placement next month. This is huge. This is a big boost to NovaMuseEd, a big boost for educators and learners, and a big boost for museums trying to get their name and offerings back into classrooms. We still have a stockpile of museum school programs to work through, but if you're reading this and wanting to get on board with this initiative, reach out! We would love to add your programs and resources to the mix. 

We mentioned last month that we were in talks with some other colleges and universities about summer internships. Well, it ended up being a very busy month and we've got some good news! We will be welcoming a Spring intern next month, and then two Summer interns starting in May. We are developing a giant task list as we begin work planning, and are excited to help these students launch their careers by giving them experience working with museums in a lot of different ways. They will be working on advocacy, communications, databases, research, and unlocking collections, to name a few things. It will be great to move all of this work forward. Win-win-win.

Recap - Effective Programming for African Nova Scotian Families

 Hi ANSM readers!

My name is Jordyn, I am ANSM's new intern this semester. On January 31st, I had the opportunity to sit in on an Elder's Circle with Reverend Dr. Joyce Ross to discuss the topic of “Effective Programming for African Nova Scotian Families”, for African Heritage Month at Mount Saint Vincent University!

Roughly 30 guests gathered in a circle in the MSVU Peace Room with food and drinks for the event, which was led by the university’s Black Student Support Office. We listened to Rev. Dr. Ross as she discussed her personal experiences growing up in her community in East Preston, and how she grew up to advocate for children in her community who were attending school without having accessed early childhood education. To address this barrier, she started East Preston Daycare in 1974, funded by seniors in the community for whom the daycare would serve by providing care to their grandchildren. They built the physical space for the daycare with family members, and started providing education to the children in their community.

Reverend Dr. Ross described programming with children to teach about Black members of the community by putting photos up on the wall of East Preston residents as they made achievements, starting with the first Black student to attend MSVU. The daycare took children on day trips to make experiences in the community accessible to them. They emphasized the importance of reading and literacy with children, using books and stories that are meaningful and suited to the learning needs of the children. She built on their interests and expanded upon what they knew, advocating for their capabilities to be taken seriously and valued by the schools that they would later enter.

In 1993, Dr. Ross opened the East Preston Family Resource Center, in order to serve the families of the children attending the daycare. To promote literacy and community connectedness, the center ran a program to have seniors read to the children in the daycare. They also provided pre- and post-natal services, parenting support, and worked with youth in the community as well. Ross emphasized in the Circle that she wanted her program to be holistic, and focus on the whole child. To do this, family wellbeing and community connection was at the center of her mission.

One of the books referenced

What I took from Dr. Ross' discussion about her life and work experiences, and the questions that ensued from all of us as participants, was the importance of holistic approaches when providing programming for young people. Ross' Family Resource Center created opportunities for intergenerational exchanges and gave family members the resources to bring the daycare's values home to their children. Children and families attending the program were encouraged and given access to visit meaningful places in their community and learn about people close to them. Dr. Ross claimed that children were considered part of the East Preston Daycare and Family Resource Center before they were born through prenatal programs, and as children while attending the program. Many stayed connected afterward (many stayed involved as youth and later pursued a career with the programs). This is some of the evidence of the highly successful and influential work of Dr. Joyce Ross.

In my work with ANSM, I hope that NovaMuseEd resources can be inspiring not only to educators, but also reach families and other community programs that work with children alike. It was a pleasure to learn about East Preston's legacy (of nearly 50 years) for holistic teaching and creating opportunities for the African Nova Scotian community and their children. Rev. Dr. Ross is now retired but stays closely involved and I was lucky to learn about programming from her.

Don't forget to check out other events at MSVU to celebrate African Heritage Month!

Introducing Phillip and an overhaul of ANSM's reference library

ANSM has had a reference library since the old Federation of NS Heritage days. Over a decade ago we started developing and sharing digital forms, templates, sample policies and other resources on our website. And when we stepped into CollectiveAccess we started making YouTube tutorials about the database. Then the pandemic hit, and suddenly we were delivering webinars and online courses and it felt like we had online resources all over the place. 

One of the key elements of TRACK is Resources. We know providing easy access is critical and that one-stop shopping is where it's at. So as part of our preparations for launching TRACK, we are gathering all of our of these various resources together - reviewing, culling, updating, organizing and cataloguing - into our online resource library portal. We are very excited about this. It's going to be much easier for our member museums to see what we have, request or download resources, and make suggestions for new ones to be added. 

How can we do this? Well, we can't. It's a big job and we have a lot of other things on our plates right now. But the good news is, we found someone to help. So without further ado, I'm very happy to introduce you to Phillip. 

Hello, everyone!

My name is Phillip Gnemmi, and I’ll be working with ANSM as a resource library technician for the
next few weeks. I grew up in Hantsport, Nova Scotia, so after spending a couple years in Ontario studying Museum management and Curatorship at Fleming College I was very glad to come back home. I’ve always had a passion for history, I’ve always loved museums, and I’m very excited to be working with the Association. I believe that an understanding of and appreciation for history is both crucial and critically neglected, and museums serve a vital function as direct links between the public and their history. I am glad to be working with ANSM to help provide resources to museums across the province.

In my spare time I enjoy reading, running tabletop games, 70s-80s genre movies, and hanging out with
my geriatric one-eyed cat. When my time with ANSM is over, you’ll find me at the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic.

January 2023 Update

Advocacy

2023 will be a year of advocacy for ANSM. Last fall, at the regional meetings we spoke with you about the need for ANSM and our members to help all levels of government better understand the benefits museums offer to our communities and how we are struggling to continue to offer these benefits in our current economic climate. A letter was written by the ANSM board to Minister Dunn, Department of Communities, Culture, Tourism, and Heritage asking for a meeting to discuss these issues.  Many of you signed this letter and shared copies with your MLAs. 

In follow-up to this meeting, on January 31, Maggie along with members of the ANSM board and museum representatives from each region of the province met with the Minister and senior staff from the Department.  It was a positive meeting.  ANSM left the meeting feeling that the Department is hearing and understanding our concerns.  They are working hard to support the museum sector. No financial commitments were made although senior staff from CCTH have already reached out to Maggie to set follow-up meetings on how the Department can better communicate with museums. These are positive steps.

In follow-up to this meeting, ANSM also submitted a letter to the Department of Finance and Treasury Board as part of the pre-budget public consultations.  This letter was sent to all 55 MLAs along with a personal note about the museums in their ridings.  We hope you, our member museums, were also able to do submissions to the pre-budget consultations.  

We know this is only the beginning of our advocacy work this year. ANSM is submitting a similar letter to the federal pre-budget public consultation and will follow-up with MPs. This letter will address important programs such as Young Canada Works and Museum Assistance Program grants. Expect to hear more about advocacy and how you can be involved in this work in the spring and summer.  In order for this to be effective, member museums will need to be involved. 

TRACK Updates

T is for Training! Save the date - April 26th we'll be in Membertou to learn more about Mi'kmaq culture and heritage. 

We are almost ready to introduce you to a new member of the ANSM team, who is joining us to tackle a project that's pretty exciting (in a geeky way). Most people know we have a wide variety of resources available on our website - sample forms, templates, policies etc. There's also a backlog of paper-based resources sitting in our office. We also have YouTube tutorials and of course of reference library of museological literature. Next week we begin the process of merging all of these resources into our reference library database for easy, online access by our members. All of these resources will be organized and aligned with TRACK, so will be a great way for us to provide support via R - Resources. Stay tuned for updates!

Last week we met with the final museum of our first round of piloting. We learned so much through discussions with these six museums. Over the next two weeks we will be taking all the notes from these pilot meetings and updating the assessment document. Then we'll be sending it off to our graphic designer for beautification. After that we'll embark on the second round of piloting. A - Assessment is moving along slowly but surely.

More Training - Collections Storage (RE-ORG)

Do you need help with your collections storage? Do you have more artifacts than space? Do you need a budget-friendly solution to these problems? The RE-ORG Method  is a step-by-step approach for small to medium-sized heritage institutions. It aims to help them reorganize their collection storage rooms and regain access to their collections for enhanced community involvement.  

Anita Price will be leading a one-day workshop for ANSM members on March 29th on the RE-ORG Method.  To register ($125) or for more information check out ANSM's webpage. 

Unlocking Collections

Naomi is picking away at Made in NS work, and we want to send a big shout out of thanks to the Dartmouth Heritage Museum for offering some books about Nova Scotian artists for us to peruse and reconcile with this database.

Our original plan was to write a digitization strategy associated with this work, but we are now calling this our ReconciliAction Plan. It is a bit broader than collections and digitization because of the scope of conversations. It is in the final draft stages now and we look forward to sharing it with everyone. It's going to be a living document that not only guides our and museums' work, but will be a living document that tracks progress and activities. 

Website Updates

We're excited to unveil a brand new feature to our website: the ANSM Job Board! We encourage members to send employment opportunities directly to Brittany at services@ansm.ns.ca. The Job Board will be able to link viewers directly to your website as well as download additional information such as a full job description. 

We look forward to receiving the influx of summer jobs to share!

CollectiveAccess Updates

We didn't share numbers last month, but here's where things sit now with all the databases:

Southwest: 159,705 records and 107,457 images

Central: 110,415 records and 116,625 images

Northeast: 64,221 records and 84,074 images

Cape Breton: 33,461 records and 26,771 images

It's exciting to see 367,000+ records and 335,000+ records in the databases. Every region has added new records and images, or edited existing records this month. This is how we eat the backlog elephant - one bite at a time, and celebrating our collective progress.

Your image lesson of the month is a repeat, but worth revisiting for two reasons. First, we want to make sure that photos like this are scanned rather than photographed with the scale. The scale and off-centre dead space around the picture frame ends up distracting the eye from the actual photograph. We want to focus on these women and the story they are telling. The other reason this photo is worth revisiting is that it is a great example of something that needs to be Unlocked. Not all of the women of the Volunteer Corps are identified, and in the back row we see Minnie Grey, a member of the African Nova Scotian community. As we heard last summer, all too often community stories are lost or hiding in collections. We want to make sure that these are Unlocked and shared. We want to explore Minnie's story and make sure that her family and friends and community can easily find her and her life experiences in collections.

Educational Partnerships

Jordyn has been very busy working with museum program files and finishing up some existing draft resources for sharing on NovaMuseEd. If you missed Jordyn's intro message, you can read it here.

We are in active talks with universities and colleges about summer internships, keeping our fingers crossed that we'll have some company for summer travels and help with Unlocking work. Wish us luck!

The Fleming project is moving fast and the students have wrapped up the first part - proofreading records. Next up, the research phase. Each student gets to pick an item to research and enrich. This is always interesting because something new is dug up. One year we learned about a shipwreck, another year we learned about clothing dyes...we always learn something.

That's all for now. Stay tuned for more news soon!