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Museum blogs and websites

  • 1.  Museum blogs and websites

    Posted 10-29-2014 10:56 AM
    Hello everyone! 

    There is already a great discussion going on about museum related books that everyone is reading, but I'd like to know about what websites and blogs everyone is looking at! Either funny or informative, or both! I'd love to get a better idea of the recourse that are out there, besides AAM and NPS, as great as they both are!

    Thanks everyone! 

    -------------------------------------------
    Christine Clements
    Curatorial Assistant
    Fauquier History Museum at the Old Jail
    Warrenton VA
    -------------------------------------------


  • 2.  RE: Museum blogs and websites

    Posted 10-29-2014 04:36 PM
    I like the Art Newspaper's website.  It's great for keeping abreast of global happenings in the art and museum world.  And in addition to print and online subscriptions, they offer a free weekly newsletter:
    http://www.theartnewspaper.com/Newsletters/


    -------------------------------------------
    Barron Oda
    Associate General Counsel
    Bishop Museum
    Honolulu HI
    -------------------------------------------




  • 3.  RE: Museum blogs and websites

    Posted 10-30-2014 09:15 AM
      |   view attached
    Great question, Christine! Thanks for asking it.

    I'm still a huge fan of Nina Simon's blog, Museum 2.0. I think she does a particularly good job of addressing the practical issues that daily face small to medium size museums while drawing upon theory from many disciplines to explain her choices. Always provocative.

    That said, there are many, many very interesting blogs being written. So many that I sometimes find it challenging to keep track of them all and use The Old Reader to keep a list and myriad postings that I can quickly scan when I have a moment. Happy to share that list with you off line.

    Finally, [shameless self-promotion here] each month I note 8-10 blog posts that I think might be of special interest to readers of the Museum Education Monitor (MEM). Very eclectic and tend to be taken from different blogs each month. Please see attached for a copy of the September 2014 MEM. Section 4 is Blog Posts.

    Hope this helps!

    -------------------------------------------
    M. Christine Castle PhD
    Editor, MEM
    Whitby ON
    -------------------------------------------


    Attachment(s)

    pdf
    MEM_SEPTEMBER_2014.pdf   395 KB 1 version


  • 4.  RE: Museum blogs and websites

    Posted 10-30-2014 09:33 AM
    Thank you both so much!! This is definitely helpful! 

    I love finding new online sources that I can reference and I really appreciate the help!

    -------------------------------------------
    Christine Clements
    Curatorial Assistant
    Fauquier History Museum at the Old Jail
    Warrenton VA
    -------------------------------------------




  • 5.  RE: Museum blogs and websites

    Posted 10-30-2014 04:17 PM
    Hi Christine-

    One of my favorite museum blogs is Museum Questions (museumquestions.com).  It is geared more toward the museum education sphere, but the content is very thoughtful and thought-provoking.  The site has recently featured a series of posts on the role of field trips, and their continued relevance and significance, which, as an educator, has got me thinking more...

    And there is the inimitable Nina Simon, and her blog, Museum 2.0 (museumtwo.blogspot.com).  She's simply fabulous. 

    Just a couple I follow with zeal :)

    Thanks,
    Rachel

    -------------------------------------------
    Rachel Barnes
    Education and Volunteer Coordinator
    William S. Hart Ranch & Museum
    Newhall CA
    -------------------------------------------




  • 6.  RE: Museum blogs and websites

    Posted 10-30-2014 04:21 PM
    Thank you so much, Rachel!! Museum Questions sounds really interesting! 
    Being one of two employees at my museum, I wear a lot of hats. Currently I am starting work on developing a traveling trunks program for the local schools, so reading about museum education, particularly field trips, will be particularly useful!

    Thank you so much for your suggestions!

    Christine

    -------------------------------------------
    Christine Clements
    Curatorial Assistant
    Fauquier History Museum at the Old Jail
    Warrenton VA
    -------------------------------------------




  • 7.  RE: Museum blogs and websites

    Posted 11-03-2014 09:23 AM
    Know Your Own Bone by Colleen Dilenschneider provides data on present and predicted trends for visitor-service organizations.  She draws a great deal on work with museums; great perspective of the non-museum person; a visitor-experience perspective. 

    http://colleendilen.com/
    -------------------------------------------
    Art Montgomery
    Education Manager
    Milwaukee Public Museum
    Milwaukee WI
    -------------------------------------------




  • 8.  RE: Museum blogs and websites

    Posted 11-03-2014 04:13 PM
    Thank you, Art! I appreciate it! This looks like an interesting blog and very helpful to get the non-museum perspective.

    -------------------------------------------
    Christine Clements
    Curatorial Assistant
    Fauquier History Museum at the Old Jail
    Warrenton VA
    -------------------------------------------




  • 9.  RE: Museum blogs and websites

    Posted 11-04-2014 10:54 AM
    Christine,
     There seem to be a lot of museum related blogs out there, but not to many that post super regularly (I hate to admit, but that's myself included at www.madamuseo.com, I'm working on it!).

    I do follow quite a smattering however and these are some that I would recommend, even if they don't post often, they usually have interesting content when they do:

    http://museumminute.wordpress.com/
    http://uncatalogedmuseum.blogspot.com/
    http://themuseumofthefuture.com/
    http://exhibitdev.wordpress.com/
    http://blog.preservationnation.org/
    http://on-exhibit.blogspot.com/
    http://futureofmuseums.blogspot.com/
    http://www.exhibitfiles.org/blog

    If you find any other good ones in your search, please let us know!

    -------------------------------------------
    Pam Schwartz
    Executive Director
    Boone County Historical Society
    Boone, Iowa
    -------------------------------------------




  • 10.  RE: Museum blogs and websites

    Posted 11-04-2014 06:11 PM
    Thank you so much!! This is great! I'm building quite the Museum Blogs bookmark folder, haha

    -------------------------------------------
    Christine Clements
    Curatorial Assistant
    Fauquier History Museum at the Old Jail
    Warrenton VA
    -------------------------------------------




  • 11.  RE: Museum blogs and websites

    Posted 11-05-2014 08:17 AM
    Hi Christine,

    I hope you might check out and add my ExhibiTricks blog: < blog.orselli.net > to your list, too!

    -------------------------------------------
    Paul Orselli
    President and Chief Instigator
    POW!
    -------------------------------------------




  • 12.  RE:Museum blogs and websites

    Posted 11-06-2014 08:18 AM

    I'm a regular reader of Exhibittricks and a less regular blogger at Museum Commons. Www.museumcommons.com. I try to discuss topics that we in museums sometimes avoid.
    -------------------------------------------
    Gretchen Jennings
    Editor, Exhibitionist Journal
    Washington DC
    -------------------------------------------





  • 13.  RE: Museum blogs and websites

    Posted 11-06-2014 04:56 PM
    Paul:

    Thanks for the encouragement to recommend something you write!

    Those who work in museums & feel task saturated, time poor, & stressed might want to check out Solving Task Saturation for Museum Workers Blog http://solvetasksaturation.wordpress.com/2012/08/05/hello-world/ .


    -------------------------------------------
    Paul Thistle
    Retired
    Stratford ON
    -------------------------------------------




  • 14.  RE: Museum blogs and websites

    Posted 11-05-2014 11:10 AM
    Hi Christine,
    I use Feedly (https://feedly.com/) to aggregate a number of museum related blogs. Here's the list of what I follow (as Pam said, not all of these are very active, but with Feedly you get 5-10 posts a day):

    Barry's Blog http://blog.westaf.org/
    Open Objects http://openobjects.blogspot.com/
    Ideum http://ideum.com
    Createquity. http://createquity.com
    Know Your Own Bone http://colleendilen.com   
    Museum Studies Hates You Too http://museumstudieshatesyoutoo.tumblr.com/
    Thinkery https://thinkeryaustin.org
    Engaging Places http://engagingplaces.net
    museum geek http://museumgeek.wordpress.com
    Notes From The Tenement http://www.tenement.org/blog
    Field Trip Explainers http://explainers.wordpress.com
    the incluseum http://incluseum.com
    When You Work At a Museum... http://whenyouworkatamuseum.com/
    Curator http://www.curatorjournal.org
    Museum Minute http://museumminute.wordpress.com
    MuseumStudies http://museumstudies.tumblr.com/
    CultureGrrl http://www.artsjournal.com/culturegrrl/
    ExhibiTricks http://blog.orselli.net/  
    Museum 2.0 http://museumtwo.blogspot.com/
    Art Museum Teaching http://artmuseumteaching.com
    Inspiring Art Teachers to Explore Art History http://www.curatorscorner.com/
    Museum-Ed | Museum-Ed http://www.museum-ed.org
    UCL Museums & Collections Blog http://blogs.ucl.ac.uk/museums
    Museopunks http://museopunks.org
    The Uncataloged Museum http://uncatalogedmuseum.blogspot.com/
    Museum Anthropology http://museumanthropology.blogspot.com/
    Real Clear Arts http://www.artsjournal.com/realcleararts
    Center for the Future of Museums http://futureofmuseums.blogspot.com/
    The Museum of the Future http://themuseumofthefuture.com
    Material World http://www.materialworldblog.com
    Thinking about museums http://exhibitdev.wordpress.com
    The Attic http://attic-museumstudies.blogspot.com/


    -------------------------------------------
    Peter Welsh
    Professor & Director of Museum Studies
    University of Kansas, Museum Studies Program
    Lawrence KS
    -------------------------------------------




  • 15.  RE: Museum blogs and websites

    Posted 11-06-2014 08:05 AM
    For anyone interested in museum architecture, I can point you to my Museum Insights blog. I don't update it frequently, but the backlist is pretty strong.

    http://museuminsights.blogspot.com

    -------------------------------------------
    Guy Hermann
    Principal
    Museum Insights
    http://wwww.museuminsights.com
    Mystic CT
    -------------------------------------------




  • 16.  RE: Museum blogs and websites

    Posted 11-04-2014 06:25 PM
    I will say that two of my favorite funny blogs are: http://whenyouworkatamuseum.com/ which has many, many hilarious posts. And http://ladyhistory.tumblr.com/tagged/the-captioned-adventures-of-george-washington which is also hysterical. Both good for a laugh, and When You Work At a Museum is good for seeing what kinds of situations you might run into, or other museums run into. 

    -------------------------------------------
    Christine Clements
    Curatorial Assistant
    Fauquier History Museum at the Old Jail
    Warrenton VA
    -------------------------------------------




  • 17.  RE: Museum blogs and websites

    Posted 11-05-2014 07:59 AM

    Thanks for the shout out for my blog, Museum Questions. Here are a few more blogs of interest, which I don't think have been mentioned yet:

    Interactivate
    Musing on Culture
    Perogative of Harlots

    Happy reading!
    -Rebecca

    -------------------------------------------
    Rebecca Herz
    Independant Consultant
    Peoria IL
    -------------------------------------------




  • 18.  RE: Museum blogs and websites

    Posted 11-05-2014 08:27 AM
    Here is a nice list of international and US blogs posted by Museum Media.

    http://museummedia.nl/links/100-best-curator-and-museum-blogs/


    -------------------------------------------
    Mary Ann Lendenmann
    New Media Developer and Volunt
    Bruce Museum
    Greenwich CT
    -------------------------------------------




  • 19.  RE: Museum blogs and websites

    Posted 11-05-2014 08:33 AM
    Nice list, Pam. Thanks! I can riff off that and add some more museum education-related blogs that I enjoy --

    http://artmuseumteaching.com/
    http://www.edgital.org/
    http://engagingplaces.net/
    http://intentionalmuseum.com/
    http://exhibitdev.wordpress.com/ [Thinking about museums]
    http://tinctureofmuseum.wordpress.com/

    And, of course, my own blog FORUM - ongoing museum education research http://forum.mccastle.com/


    -------------------------------------------
    M. Christine Castle PhD
    Editor, MEM
    Whitby ON
    -------------------------------------------




  • 20.  RE: Museum blogs and websites

    Posted 11-05-2014 09:22 AM
    A German colleague started a multi-lingual registrar's blog a few years ago, and I have to say it is a treat. Registrar Trek is worth a read in any language. 
    I also really dig the Dallas Museum of Art's behind the scenes blog, Uncrated
    For tech nerdery, I highly, highly suggest Cooper Hewitt Labs, and SFMoMA Labs
    And, just because we all need a shameless plug, the CMoA blog covers a bit of everything we do here at CMoA, and our newly hired Associate Editor has done an incredible job of infusing life in to it and getting a variety of stories on there (full disclosure, I contribute to the blog as part of my duties). 


    Blog-ish is the Museopunks podcast done by my fellow Pittsburgher and Carnegie Museums employee Jeff Inscho and Suse Cairns of Baltimore Museum of Art (I think that's correct...ratio of coffee:thought is a bit off this morning). The episodes are great brain feed, and they cover a ton of topics. 

    Cheers, 
    Tracey



    -------------------------------------------
    Tracey Berg-Fulton
    Collections Database Associate
    Carnegie Museum of Art
    Pittsburgh PA
    -------------------------------------------
















  • 21.  RE: Museum blogs and websites

    Posted 11-05-2014 02:40 PM

    There are a lot of great suggestions here! I would also add that Reach Advisors has a museum-related blog that often covers really interesting audience insights on museums and culture: http://reachadvisors.typepad.com/.

    In addition, Know Your Own Bone (mentioned above) has been really useful to me!
    -------------------------------------------
    Meghan Curran
    PRAM Board Member
    Vice President of Marketing
    John G. Shedd Aquarium
    Chicago IL
    -------------------------------------------




  • 22.  RE: Museum blogs and websites

    Posted 11-06-2014 08:12 AM
    Your question has generated a great list of museum blogs and websites and introduced me to some I didn't know about. I might also suggest your taking a look at my blog, Museum Notes: www.museumnotes.blogspot.com

    -------------------------------------------
    Jeanne Vergeront
    Minneapolis MN
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  • 23.  RE: Museum blogs and websites

    Posted 11-06-2014 09:57 AM
    Thank you all so much for your input! This is a great list and I am really looking forward to perusing all of these blogs! 

    -------------------------------------------
    Christine Clements
    Curatorial Assistant
    Fauquier History Museum at the Old Jail
    Warrenton VA
    -------------------------------------------




  • 24.  RE: Museum blogs and websites

    Posted 11-13-2014 05:59 PM
    ​Hi everyone!

    You might enjoy my bi-monthly newsletter called Pointers: Tips, ideas and inspiration from the world of exhibition and graphic design.

    You can sign up and view back issues at: http://www.jgoldfeld-design.com/newsletter/

    I just sent out a new issue which you can have a sneak peak at here: New Things, Old Things, and Favorite Things.

    Another oldie-but-goodie is the Museum-L listserv.

    Enjoy!

    Thanks,
    Johanna

    --
    Johanna Goldfeld Design, LLC
    Graphic and Exhibition Design
    Tel: 718-789-1238

    Visit my website: www.jgoldfeld-design.com



  • 25.  RE: Museum blogs and websites

    Posted 11-13-2014 06:02 PM
    PS It looks like the link to the latest issue didn't come through properly. Here it is again:

    http://us2.campaign-archive1.com/?u=649dc45aaf36f28af2042707e&id=dcf74ef755&e=1d15767d21




  • 26.  RE: Museum blogs and websites

    Posted 11-24-2014 03:44 AM
    Hearty greetings to the blog-readers here!

    Thanks to the suggestions in this discussion, my Feedly reader has been growing merrily. I would add three more blogs to the roster:

    1) Ideas on Display is my own set of short musings on interesting display concepts, intended as a sort of collage board of ideas. Each post revolves around a photo I've taken of a certain display (from botanical gardens to history museums) with a bit of commentary about why I think it works well.

    2) Musems, Politics and Power is written in part by Russian colleagues, and therefore frequently offers a very different view of museum issues (particularly news topics) than those in US or European sources.

    3) Mead Musings is a nice example of a simple yet effective blog that gives tempting glimpses into the museum collection. It whets the appetite for an in-person visit!

    Best wishes and happy reading,
    Stephanie

    -------------------------------------------
    Stephanie Pearson
    Freie Mitarbeiterin, Antikensammlung, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
    Ph.D. Candidate, History of Art, UC Berkeley
    stephpearson.com
    -------------------------------------------




  • 27.  RE: Museum blogs and websites

    Posted 11-25-2014 09:57 AM
    Thanks, Stephanie.  I really enjoyed looking through your blog posts.  Your eclectic approach to recording great exhibition design is very inspiring.

    -------------------------------------------
    Martha Sielman
    Executive Director
    Studio Art Quilt Associates (www.SAQA.com)
    Storrs CT
    -------------------------------------------




  • 28.  RE: Museum blogs and websites

    Posted 11-25-2014 10:17 AM
    Thank you kindly, Martha! I'm delighted you liked it. There must be a host of tips and tricks for displaying art quilts successfully; that must be a medium with a lot of special requirements for both conservation and exhibition.

    Warm wishes,
    Stephanie

    -------------------------------------------
    Stephanie Pearson
    Freie Mitarbeiterin, Antikensammlung, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
    Ph.D. Candidate, History of Art, UC Berkeley
    stephpearson.com
    -------------------------------------------




  • 29.  RE: Museum blogs and websites

    Posted 12-01-2014 06:31 PM
    Actually displaying art quilts is just as simple as displaying paintings and conservation is very similar as well.  Our most successful display device has been to include journals created by the artists as they created their artworks.  Reading the journals is like looking over the artist's shoulder while they work, and it has been a wonderful way to engage visitors so that they spend longer looking at the artwork. 

    You can see a brief slideshow of SAQA's "Seasonal Palette" and its Artist Journals here:
    http://www.saqa.com/memberArt.php?cat=8&ec=3&ex=5 
    with a virtual sampling of the journals here: http://www.saqa.com/memberArt.php?ID=2494

    We've also experimented with including touchable studio samples on a table in the gallery space.  Fiber art is so tactile that visitors have a hard time obeying the rules about not touching.  Studio samples let visitors gratify that desire and also learn more about the art.

    -------------------------------------------
    Martha Sielman
    Executive Director
    Studio Art Quilt Associates, Inc. (www.SAQA.com)
    Storrs CT
    -------------------------------------------




  • 30.  RE: Museum blogs and websites

    Posted 12-03-2014 11:13 AM
      |   view attached
    Because there have been so many good suggestions for reading in this thread, I figured it was time to combine them all into one document. If other suggestions emerge, I'll update the document. But here's what we've got so far. Enjoy!

    -------------------------------------------
    Guzel duChateau
    Assistant Director, Strategic Communications
    American Alliance of Museums
    Washington DC
    -------------------------------------------

    Attachment(s)



  • 31.  RE: Museum blogs and websites

    Posted 12-03-2014 11:15 AM
    Thank you soooo much! That's great! 

    And thank you everyone for the suggestions! They are all wonderful!

    -------------------------------------------
    Christine Clements
    Curatorial Assistant
    Fauquier History Museum at the Old Jail
    Warrenton VA
    -------------------------------------------




  • 32.  RE: Museum blogs and websites

    Posted 03-16-2020 09:18 AM
    Hi, Christine.
    You certainly have a list long enough to carry you through a pandemic, but I wanted to add Leadership Matters  which not surprisingly deals with museum leadership, and also GEMM, Gender Equity in Museums Movement, which is focused on women in the museum workplace. You can follow both on Facebook if that's easier.
    Happy reading.
    Joan

    ------------------------------
    Joan Baldwin
    Curator-Special Collections - The Hotchkiss School
    Lakeville CT
    ------------------------------



  • 33.  RE: Museum blogs and websites

    Posted 12-04-2014 09:59 AM
    I'd like to add:

    http://twistedpreservation.com/

    Franklin Vagnone writes about his perspective on historic house interpretation and exhibit design elements. He did a webinar with AASLH recently that was really quite good.

    -------------------------------------------
    George Buss
    Director of Experience & Education
    Minnetrista
    Muncie IN
    -------------------------------------------



  • 34.  RE: Museum blogs and websites

    Posted 03-15-2020 08:23 AM
    Adding to the list, these come to mind:



    ------------------------------
    Kyle Bowen
    Principal, SuperHelpful
    Huntington, NY
    ------------------------------