Open Forum

To Whom It May Concern: 

My name is Samantha Wilkinson, I am reaching out to you today to inquire about possible interest from your institution in participating in my Managing Digital Information in Museums and Archives course assignment through Johns Hopkins University. I am an online Museum Studies Graduate student, dually enrolled in the Digital Curation Certificate program.  I would greatly appreciate the insight and the opportunity to learn from a professional in the field. I am happy to send over my resume and experience, a professor contact, or a letter of recommendation if you wish. 

The following is a description of the assignment requirements: 

 

Directions: 

Conduct an information interview with the contact you have made in a museum. Preferably, this will be a person working with collections information and objects, and producing digital information. We are trying to reach beyond the comparatively well-controlled documentation of a well-run collections management department. You should expect these interviews to be lengthy and detailed. Interviewees should be forewarned that this is a fairly significant commitment of time, anywhere from 3 to 6 hours over a few weeks. Our assignments and exercises are directed toward the creation of a mock but applicable digital curation plan. 

 

The Interview will cover these topics: 

 

1. The organizational structure and specifically the responsibilities within the organization for data management 
2. Description of the Collection.  
3. Relevant Characteristics of Digital Objects.  
4. Current Practices and Obligations. 
5. Human Resources.  
6. Organizational readiness.  
7. Financial Constraints and Technical Constraints.  

reply to swilki12@jh.edu

Best,
Samantha Wilkinson

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Samantha Wilkinson
Education Programming Assistant
Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit
Detroit MI
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