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The Burke Museum Blog
"Rocking Out" on the Fossil Freeway
If you have visited the exhibit Cruisin’ the Fossil Freeway in recent weekends, you may have encountered UW students hanging out in the gallery, showing off fossils and talking to museum visitors. These students are part of a group called Rocking Out – they focus on presenting hands-on outreach programs...
A few months ago, we posted about a first-ever cultural exchange in Seattle with the indigenous people of Japan, known as the Ainu. Just last year, the Ainu were formally recognized by Japan’s government as Japan’s “first peoples,” and in December 2009, a group of Ainu delegates visited Washington State...
Your local museum: coming to a pub near you?
It’s been six months since the first “Burke Museum Trivia Night” at the College Inn Pub and so far it has proven to be a great way to connect the museum to new audiences and inspire a sense of excitement about the natural and cultural world amongst the people who...
It's a week of milestones at the Burke Museum: Saturday is the 25th Annual Dinosaur Day and today marks the 300th post to the Burke Blog! To celebrate, we've compiled some of our favorite entries from the past 100 posts.Behind the scenes with Ray Troll gave a look at...
In recent months, the Burke Blog has been featuring a series called Green Museum, in which we explore ways the museum staff is working to reduce our environmental impact. We take many cues from the University of Washington, which has received high marks for its sustainability efforts over the past...
Jack Horner tickets going fast!
Update (2/23): Tickets to this lecture are sold out! If you missed your opportunity to reserve a seat, try coming to Kane Hall early on the night of the lecture to join a waiting list. Entry is not guaranteed, but there's a good chance of getting in if you come...
Ideum » Blog
New GestureWorks Tutorials & Educational Pricing
It’s been a busy week for the GestureWorks team. Our programmers have been developing a Flex-compatible version of GestureWorks, which we expect to release later this month. (We already provide the easiest way to author multitouch with Adobe Flash.) Be the first to know about our Flex release; follow GestureWorks...
A Toughness Test of the MT-50 Multitouch Table
So how tough is the MT-50 multitouch table? Just last week, we tried to find out. We conducted a few tests to see how the glass surface of the table in particular would hold up to some serious abuse. First, we dropped a 12-pound bowling ball onto the table from...
A Look Inside the New and Improved MT-50 Multitouch Table
When we have visitors to our studio, we always like to show off the inside our MT-50 multitouch table. We’re very proud of the care and workmanship that goes into each custom-built table and we pride ourselves on using the best quality components we can find. We’ve decided to extend...
GestureWorks Illustrations Show Up in Adobe Presentation, Unattributed
Last month, we blogged about the GestureWorks Open Source Gesture Library and released a series of illustrations showing all of our supported multitouch gestures. We released these illustrations using a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 license. We are happy to make these illustrations available to the community. We simply ask...
Multitouch Hardware – A List of Supported Devices
2010 is shaping up to be a banner year for multitouch enabled screens, all-in-one PCs, laptops, and tablets. It seems like every week there is a new device. With the release of our GestureWorks multitouch framework for Adobe Flash, we’ve had to try and keep track of this expanding list of devices,...
ExhibitFiles New “Bits” Feature
The ExhibitFiles Website is a community site for exhibit designers and developers. Almost three years ago now, Ideum worked with the Association of Science -Technology Centers and Independent Exhibitions to help design and develop the site. Created with funding from the National Science Foundation, the purpose of the site is share...
Biomedicine on Display
Do museums need big web sites to be visible?
We have a old and pretty dysfunctional website. Shall we rebuild it (using the university’s system) or not? All other great museums have fancy, big websites with lots of rich media functionalities. They cost hundreds of hours and enormous sums of money to build and maintain. Are they worth it? Or are the days of...
How are doctors’, nurses’ and medical scientists’ practices changed when artefacts are involved?
The recently published Technology and Medical Practice: Blood, Guts and Machines, edited by Ericka Johnson och Boel Berner (Ashgate), might be interesting reading for medical museum curators. Says the blurb: The advanced technologies being used in diagnosis and care within modern medicine, whilst supporting and making medical practices possible, may also...
Embed a YouTube video into your powerpoint slides
Just learned from Beth how to embed a YouTube video into a powerpoint slide — see this screencast. You need Powerpoint 2007 (and of curse a live Internet connection). Beth wants to put this trick into the Trainer’s Bag of Social Media Tricks....
We have just started a search for 1-2 positions at the level of Associate Professor (alternatively Assistant Professor). As readers of this blog probably knows, Medical Museion is an integrated research and museum unit for promoting medical science communication based on the material and visual medical heritage. The research profile is centered around...
‘Bacteria Drawing’ at the Hybrid Art & Science Exhibition in Sheffield
The Hybrid Art Science Networking Association, which is led by Leeds-based artist Paul Digby and Sheffield-based scientist and artist Lizz Tuckerman, enables artists and scientists of all disciplines to meet, and encourages cross-disciplinary interaction. It is supported by Arts Council England, Yorkshire. The Hybrid Art and Science Exhibition was held in...
In the early morning — just before Johanna began to make the usual noices to indicate she wanted to be transferred to our bed for a last cosy hour of sleep — my eyes fell on this sentence in a piece by Douglas Haddow in Adbusters (‘The coming barbarism’): Rather than Bourriaud’s altermodernism,...
Jonathan Cooper's Blogs
A blog for the Conservation Department of the Art Gallery of New South Wales...
This is an experimental blog for videos generated by the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney Australia. Most are from celebrity talks or performances from the Art Gallery's Art After Hours program....
ARTside-in is a three-stage outreach program designed by the Art Gallery of NSW for Senior Secondary Visual Arts students in New South Wales....
Random questions and musings about life, the universe and everything...
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Museums, multimedia and the web - with an emphasis on art museums...
Blog Addison
Seeing Carroll Dunham from a New Perspective
Several Addison staff members made the trip to Albany, New York, to see our traveling exhibition Carroll Dunham Prints: A Survey open at the University Art Museum at SUNY-Albany.Consisting of 119 prints, the UAM space offers a new perspective on Dunham’s graphic work. At the Addison, the exhibition was displayed...
Deaccesioning in the Museum World: A Message from the Director
Today we hear again from guest poster Brian T. Allen, the Addison Gallery's Mary Stripp & R. Crosby Kemper Director, this time regarding deaccessioning policies in museums:Recently I returned to Andover from the annual meeting of the Association of Art Museum Directors, the key organization representing the major museums in...
“Going out into the world and seeing people who live, breathe, and ARE their art was incredible.”In order to help students think outside the frame for a self-portrait assignment, the Addison Gallery arranged for three Lawrence High School photography classes to visit three art galleries in the SoWa (South of...
Today we hear from guest poster Brian T. Allen, the Addison Gallery's Mary Stripp & R. Crosby Kemper Director, regarding the current state of the art market:Although Alberto Giacometti (1901-1966) was not an American artist, I could hardly not notice the sale of one of his life-size bronzes for £65,000,000,...
Carroll Dunham Prints: A Survey opening at University Art Museum at SUNY-Albany
The Addison may be closed for renovation, but there is still an opportunity to see artwork from our collection!Our traveling exhibition Carroll Dunham Prints: A Survey, will be opening at its third and final venue on Tuesday, February 2nd at the University Art Museum at SUNY-Albany, NY. The show...
I recently watched the movie Angels and Demons. As one of my duties here is being the Addison's "archivist," I was fascinated by the way the movie (and the book) depicted the Vatican's archives. A sleek, modern, and highly-secured space deep below ground, the Vatican's archival treasures were neatly arranged...
Around The Mall
Weekend Events: Philosphy, Sacred Sand Art and Women of Jazz
Friday, March 12: Philosophical Fridays Come join in the first of a series of philosophical Fridays, a forum where you and your peers can discuss issues of ethics, personal identity and knowledge—Socratic style! In this inaugural session helmed by UVA professor Mitchell Green, you and your peers will discuss morality in...
Gaman at the Renwick: The Art and Craft of Dignity
At the Renwick Gallery last week, a number of Japanese-American families gathered for the opening of the new exhibition, “The Art of Gaman; Arts and Crafts from the Japanese American Internment Camps, 1942-1946.” They were there to see some 120 hand-crafted tools, teapots, furniture, toys,...
Harriet Tubman Artifacts Donated to the Smithsonian
The last time Harriet Tubman heard the African American spiritual, “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot,” was in the final hours of her life, as friends and family gathered around her and sang the song to “carry her home.” Tubman (1822- 1913), an African American abolitionist and humanitarian who guided dozens of slaves...
The Spiritual Power of Sand Art
Remember sand art from when you were a kid? It’s that craft where you took a clear, empty bottle and poured in layer upon layer of colored sand until the whole thing was filled to the brim. (And then you’d set it in your bedroom for a while and over...
Alexander Graham Bell Did More Than Just Invent the Telephone
One hundred and thirty-four years ago today, Alexander Graham Bell made the first phone call. “Mr. Watson,” he said into a transmitter, “Come here. I want to see you.” And Watson, in the next room, heard the words through a receiver. Later, in his life Alexander Graham Bell would become a...
Meet Mrs. Obama’s Inaugural Jewelry Designer Loree Rodkin
Loree Rodkin is a Los Angeles-based jewelry designer, who crafted First Lady Michelle Obama’s inauguration jewelry, including diamond earrings, a 10-carat diamond signet ring and a set of diamond bangle bracelets. Rodkin was on hand Tuesday morning when Mrs. Obama donated her inaugural ball gown by the young designer Jason...
Linda Norris's Blogs
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A somewhat random (hence uncataloged) collection of thoughts about the work and meaning of museums...
National Heritage Museum
Does This Building Ring a Bell?
Did you know that the Old Belfry is the only site in Lexington, Massachusetts, to ever appear on an official United States coin? In 1925, the United States Mint issued over 162,000 Lexington-Concord Sesquicentennial Half Dollars to mark the 150th......
Hancock Church Silver in “Sowing the Seeds of Liberty”
Among the many treasures on view in “Sowing the Seeds of Liberty: Lexington and the American Revolution” are some wonderful examples of communion silver. Residents of Lexington first used them to take communion as part of their worship over 240......
Radio Orphan Annie's Secret Society
Pictured here are the "New 1937 Secret Wig-Wag Signs" from the Radio Orphan Annie's Secret Society booklet issued in 1937. Pictured below is the 1935 decoder pin that came as a premium from Ovaltine, Radio Orphan Annie's commercial sponsor. Children......
For the past twenty-five years, I have been privileged to travel, trek, and climb in some of the most remote and beautiful corners of the earth. My goal has always been to bring back the wonders I’ve seen to people......
Change to Symposium Program on April 9, 2010
We recently had a change to the program for our Symposium on April 9, 2010, "New Perspectives on American Freemasonry and Fraternalism." Adam G. Kendall of the Henry W. Coil Library and Museum at the Grand Lodge of California will......
A White House Foundation Stone
At the end of World War II, President Harry S. Truman (1884-1972) became aware that the White House needed extensive repairs. Plaster was cracked, floors were sagging and repeated coats of white paint had covered the decorative carving on the......
Museum Collections Up Close : MNHS.ORG
Cases of Fun – Norton & Peel Photograph Collection
Toyland Department, Dayton’s, Minneapolis, 1940 Take a look at the new finding aid for the Norton & Peel Photograph Collection! Would you like to see an image of a chimpanzee in Longfellow Gardens, taken in 1915? Perhaps you’re renovating an historic building on University Avenue and looking for construction elements? Maybe...
The Minnesota Poe Daguerreotype: Nevermore to be found?
How did Edgar Allen Poe arrive in the far-western parts of the country, in Minnesota Territory, two years after his death? In 1851, Mary Elizabeth Bronson LeDuc brought her daguerreotype of the famed poet to St. Paul where her husband, William Gates LeDuc, had established his law practice and a...
Photographs from the Hill Family Collection
The Hill Family Collection, which includes the papers of St. Paul tycoon James J. Hill and other Hill family members, contains over 8,000 individual photographs and graphic images. In this podcast project cataloger Jillian Odland shares just a few examples of the many photos, drawings, paintings, and posters found in...
It’s time once again for the St. Paul Winter Carnival, and Reference Librarian Hamp Smith celebrates with a look at Winter Carnival materials in the Society’s collections. Highlights include photographs, personal diaries, marching uniforms, and film footage of the 1916 and 1942 parades....
Railway Post Office exam practice kit
Into the 1960s, much of the nation’s mail moved on railroads. Passenger trains carried Railway Post Office (RPO) cars equipped with sacks and slots that allowed clerks to sort mail en route. Sorted mail was delivered, and new letters were picked up, as the train passed through each town. It...
Minnesotans have long enjoyed the opportunity winter affords for outdoor recreation, especially of the ice variety. We have put together items relating to these icy entertainments, from Ice Follies to hockey to community skating. The display is on view in the Minnesota Historical Society Library when the Library is open,...
Exhibit Files Blog
Paul Orselli has started a Google Group Exhibits Exchange for those looking for new homes for “retired” exhibits. Check it out at http://groups.google.com/group/exhibits-exchange As Paul says, “Think green! Help find a ’second home’ for the many well-used (but still usable) “retired” exhibits, instead of letting them gather dust in storage...
Informal Science Education Summit 2010
ExhibitFiles contributors are among the 450 people who’ve gathered in Washington, D.C., this week for the biennial ISE Summit, organized by the Center for Advancement of Informal Science Education (CAISE) with support from the National Science Foundation. NSF’s ISE program has funded a number of projects – CAISE, InformalScience.org, and...
ExhibitFiles Bits: a new way to share
Always meant to post a case study or review but haven’t quite gotten around to it? We still hope you will – but meanwhile, there’s another way to share even a small bit of information or experience. It’s easy to upload an image, or link to our Flickr images or...
The Norwegian Museum of Science and Technology in Oslo received ASTC’s Leading Edge Award for Visitor Experience last week for Klima X, an exhibition about human-induced climate change. Among the exhibition’s striking features: large blocks of melting ice that represent the melting Arctic icecap, and the yellow boots...
ExhibitFiles members gathered in Forth Worth October 30 to celebrate the growth of the community and its collective resources over the last year. Tom Nielsen of Tucson and Jason Jay Stevens of San Antonio received this year’s “golden” awards in recognition of their recent contributions. Tom wrote in July about his recollections...
If you’ll be in Fort Worth for the ASTC Annual Conference, please come to the ExhibitFiles Happy Hour on Friday, October 30, 5:00-6:30 pm, at Shula’s Bar, in the lobby of the Sheraton Fort Worth Hotel (cash bar). We’ll be recognizing some of the outstanding contributors to the site over...
Egypt at the Manchester Museum
Curator’s Diary, Wednesday 10th March 2010
We have been preparing material for the designers working on the new Ancient Worlds galleries (replacing the current Egypt and Archaeology galleries), who are a firm called Opera based in Amsterdam. They are creating sections of each of the three new galleries in detail, to submit to the Heritage Lottery...
Job Vacancy: ACCES Project Assistant
Reference: ACS/10163 ACCES, the Subject Specialist Network for curators of collections from Egypt and the Sudan, is seeking to appoint a part-time Project Assistant, for one year fixed-term working 2 days / week. The post-holder will support the day to day administration of ACCES and develop its activities. Interviews will be held at...
KNH-Centre for Biomedical and Forensic Egyptology, University of Manchester, wins research grant
The University of Manchester and the Natural History Museum in London are to revisit the work of anthropologist Grafton Elliot Smith and set up a publicly available website on his excellent but as yet overlooked work. The team, which includes researchers at Manchester’s KNH Centre for Biomedical Egyptology, has won...
Bloomsbury Summer School: Crime and Punishment in Ancient Egypt
July 26-30 2010 UCL, London Guest lecturers: Dylan Bickerstaffe, Joyce Tyldesley I will be teaching a course on Crime and Punishment in ancient Egypt this summer, at the Bloomsbury Summer School: Ancient Egypt is often viewed as a utopian society where people lived in harmony with each other. However, literary texts, formal representations and...
Day School: Ritual and Magic in Ancient Egypt
Saturday 6th March 2010, 10 a.m.-4.30 p.m. School of Archaeology, Classics and Ancient History University of Liverpool Speakers: Dr Mark Collier, Dr Steven Snape, Dr Kasia Szpakowska £60 (£50 early booking) Download the brochure and booking form PDFs here: Magic Day School Brochure Ritual and Magic Booking Form ...
Experiment and Experience: Ancient Egypt in the Present
May 10-12 2010 Faraday A , Swansea University Are you interested in ancient Egypt ? Are you interested in ancient technology or crafts? This is a conference where academics, craftspeople and the general public, in fact all those interested in ancient Egypt or in technology can meet and...
bloggers@brooklynmuseum
Collection Online: Opening the Floodgates
Today, we are going from 12,598 records to more than 94,000 in our collection online and this increase represents a substantial change in the way we are releasing information on the web. With the launch of the collection online in July 2008, we began with a policy to release only records...
As part of a monthly program, a couple weeks ago the Development staff of the Brooklyn Museum came together to hear a presentation by Radiah Harper, the Museum’s Vice Director for Education & Program Development. These presentations, from various curatorial and non-administrative departments, serve to inform the Development office of...
In this last dig diary for 2010 I want to acknowledge the hard work, skill and patience of some of the most important members of our team: the Egyptian technicians without whom the work would not be possible. This year we were fortunate to have Abdel Aziz Farouk Sharid, Mahmoud...
1stfans Twitter Art Feed Artist for March 2010: Jennifer Bantz
We’re going to try something different for the March edition of the 1stfans Twitter Art Feed. Instead of featuring an artist, we’re going to feature Jennifer Bantz, who is the Interpretive Materials Manager here at the Museum. We have two primary reasons for doing this. The first is that Jenny...
The base of this sphinx east of the precinct entrance is made up mainly of re-used blocks dating to Dynasties 25-26. The one under the sphinx’s paws, for instance, is half of a lintel from a chapel of Montuemhat. Of more interest to us, however, is the rear block, which...
Egyptian Objects Before Egyptology: Discoveries in the Wilbour Library
My work in the Wilbour Library involves keeping an eye out for books the Library needs, and carrying out archival research into the history of the Egyptian collections in support of the Library’s educational mission. In the Library’s Special Collections I’ve been particularly intrigued by a small group of eighteenth...