This thesis details a study that I conducted in order to better understand family groups who visit the Blanton Museum of Art. This data is presented using a case study methodology. I interviewed and observed eight families in an attempt to better understand what brought them to the Blanton, and what they wanted to accomplish during their time at the museum. The data collected revealed six themes. Four of these themes were goals the families brought with them to the Blanton Museum of Art. One of the themes pertained to individual motivations for coming to the museum. The final theme related to the participating families use of museum resources other than the art on display. The data was meaningful in that it demonstrated that these families did have specific goals for their time at the Blanton, and the families demonstrated behaviors which served as a means to accomplishing these goals. A goal of this research was to provide me, as an educator, with a more full and rich understanding of family groups that visit museums. / text

The thesis explores ways in which public presentations of history and archaeology might be enjoyed by a wider audience than they are at present. Particular emphasis is placed on understanding cultural barriers that deter certain groups who are otherwise interested in the past. In order to do this it is necessary to understand the role of the past and of institutions such as museums in contemporary culture. A survey representative of all adults shows that, rather than being a commodity as some claim, the past is used in many different ways as a discourse about the present. In addition, claims that presentations of the past act as agents of the dominant ideology are unfounded because 'the dominated' tend not to go to them. As they have not been socialized into the 'code' of museum-visiting, they find the museum's image intimidating and exclude themselves. Archaeology itself suffers from an outdated and unclear image. Archaeological societies, like museums, are participated in predominantly by the better-educated and the affluent. Fieldwork is carried out by a wider range of people, but is perceived by the public to be in the same category as treasure-hunting. This is partly due to archaeology's image, and partly to the exclusion of amateurs from excavations. A study is then made of ways in which people who tend not to go to museums or participate in archaeology do gain their sense of the past, in order to discover ways in which these deterrents might be removed. It is found that most past-related activities are done by active heritage visitors. Those who tend not to participate in them gain their sense of the past in less tangible ways, through memories, family history and attachment to place. In conclusion, two different ways of experiencing the past are isolated, personal, and non-personal or 'heritage'. Participation in the latter is dominated by the better-educated and the affluent, who adopt it as part of a cultured lifestyle appropriate to their social position. Museum-visiting and membership of archaeological societies is emblematic of affiliation to this group. It will therefore not be possible for museums or societies to attract a totally representative audience. Museums are relatively 'open' institutions, however, so it will be possible to widen participation even further, and ways of achieving this are suggested.

Natural history collections house immense amounts of data, but the majority of data is only accessible by locating the collection label, which is usually attached to the physical specimen. This method of data retrieval is time consuming and can be very damaging to fragile specimens. Digitizing the collections is the one way to reduce the time and potential damage related to finding the collection objects. The Elm Fork Natural Heritage Museum is a natural history museum located at the University of North Texas and contains collections of both vertebrate and invertebrate taxa, as well as plants. This project designed a collection digitization workflow for Elm Fork by working through digitizing the Benjamin B. Harris Herbarium. The collection was cataloged in Specify 6, a database program designed for natural history collection management. By working through one of the museum’s collections, the project was able to identify and address challenges related to digitizing the museum’s holdings in order to create robust workflows. The project also produced a series of documents explaining common processes in Specify and a data management plan.

M.Tech. (Fine Art) / The research investigates the similarities and differences between the display of selected, mass-produced objects in museums, with special reference to the Victoria & Albert Museum and Melrose House Museum, and in three domestic spaces. A brief historical background to the activity of collecting mass-produced objects is explored in order to reveal the archival function of museum displays and domestic displays, each of which conserve and preserve objects. The public and private meanings attached to objects in different spaces is suggested, and the ability of the selected objects to reflect social issues beyond their function is addressed. Both museum displays and domestic displays provide the source for the altered objects and drawings which form the exhibition. In manipulating the ready-made, mass-produced objects possible new meanings and narratives are suggested.

The main objective is a theoretical introduction to the rare-studied and published issue of the importance of museum brands for the marketing of thereof. The research problem is incorporated into the context of global penetration of the strongest brands of museums. The marketing approaches are applied to the National Agricultural Museum in Prague.

Thesis advisor: Joseph Breines / During my five-month stay with in Rennes, France in the fall of my junior year, my French host parents took me to Normandy to visit the memorial museum in Caen and the D-Day beaches. Véronique and Gildas considered this trip “obligatoire” for any American in France, a sentiment that has been matched by virtually everyone I have spoken with since, both French and American. My visit was, however, disrupted by an experience of linguistic confusion that could have significantly limited my ability to appropriate the information presented in the museum. The guiding texts found on the walls of the museum, translated from French to English, lacked so acutely the idiomatic feel of native English that they would have obscured my understanding of the text, had I not also been fluent in French and able to read the originals. What began as a tourist’s frustration is today the subject of a project that has carried me back to France for another two months as well as into both translation and museum theory. I have created here a critical study as well as a retranslation of a selection of these texts, proposed with no other aim than to explore the importance of linguistic accuracy, and the implications of inaccuracy in translation. This work is meant to represent the chronological process by which I explored the original translations and ultimately determined my final retranslations. As such, I have attempted to reflect the results of the different stages of my work in the division of my five chapters. The first chapter is an introduction to the museum: its history, purported aims, and layout. In discussing the museum, I consider some applications of Vivian Patraka’s museum and performance theories to this site, eventually exploring the connection between the importance of these texts within their physical and cultural space and the importance of their proper translation. To further delve into the subject of translation theory and its implications to my project, I will invoke the work of David Bellos, Walter Benjamin, and others. After having laid this theoretical groundwork for my project in conjunction with a background of the museum, my second chapter will present the original translations of the texts from the portion of the museum devoted to D-Day, supplemented by my annotations. These annotations are prefaced with an explanation of the methodology that I used while sifting through these original translations, which I hope will help to at least primarily explain the categories into which I have chosen to group the errors and problems that I found. The third chapter is a deeper analysis of each of these categories, beginning with the most significant or global and descending all the way down to the purely technical. Each section of this commentary will include examples of pertinent cases of the problem or error and a discussion of the stylistic or cultural issue present. After having identified all the present errors in my second chapter and analyzing them by category in my third, I will present in my fourth chapter a complete retranslation of these selected texts My fifth and final chapter will serve to conclude the process, stating any changes or modifications to my theoretical or procedural approach I find appropriate after having completed the project. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2013. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: College Honors Program. / Discipline: Romance Languages and Literatures Honors Program. / Discipline: Romance Languages and Literatures.

O presente trabalho tem o intento de apresentar questões e proposições na construção de planos museológicos a partir das experiências do Museu Lasar Segall (MLS). No primeiro capítulo é apresentado o histórico do MLS, enfocando seu perfil museológico (escolhas conceituais) e suas práticas de gestão, assim como um paralelo de suas experiências com o pensamento museológico contemporâneo, e ainda um breve panorama com trabalhos acadêmicos que já foram realizados tendo o MLS como objeto. No segundo capítulo é descrito e apresentado o resultado do diagnóstico museológico que buscou mapear as funções e atividades do MLS hoje, sua cadeia operatória museológica, bem como sua relação com a sociedade. No terceiro capítulo, a partir dos anteriores, e permeando uma discussão sobre os processos de planejamento em museus, são apresentadas questões e propostas enfocando a construção de planos museológicos. / This work aims to present issues and propositions for the museological plan elaboration from the Lasar Segall Museum (MLS)\'s experiences. In the first chapter is presented the MLS\'history, focusing its museological profile (conceptual choices) and their management practices, as well a parallel of their experiences with contemporary museological thinking, and even a brief overview with academic studies that had been conducted having MLS as a study object. The second chapter describes and presents the results of museological diagnosis that intent to map the MLS\' functions and activities nowadays, its museological operative chain as well its relationship with society. In the third chapter, from the previous ones, and permeating a discussion about the planning processes in museums, are presented issues and proposals focusing on museological plan elaboration.

Tese de mestrado integrado. Engenharia Informática e Computação. Faculdade de Engenharia. Universidade do Porto. 2010

n/a

The internship requirements for Master of Applied Science in Materials Conservation were completed in the Materials Conservation laboratory of the Australian Museum under the direction of Miss Sue Walston between November 30th, 1981 and July 9th, 1982. The work programme focused upon the preparation of artefacts for a permanent gallery display entitled "The Abelam, a people of Papua New Guinea". Wooden carvings, shell ornaments, bone implements, ceramic and coconut bowls, and wooden spears were the most common artefact types requiring treatment, prior to display. Many objects were decorated with pigments, shells, beads or feathers and were secured with plied fibre string. Artefacts were photographed , condition and proposed treatment reports were written, practical work was carried out and final treatment reports were finished. Upon completion of the gallery, the Materials Conservation laboratory staff reviewed their role in the overall gallery plan. As a group, the problems affecting the conservation and display of artefacts were identified and analysed. A flow chart of exhibition guidelines for Materials Conservation was prepared for use when planning future galleries. The relative humidity and temperature were monitored regularly in various areas throughout the museum. Accurate readings were obtained using a sling psychrometer and thermohygrographs. Each week the modes of the relative humidity charts were calculated, analysed and recorded. While treating objects for the Abelarn gallery, the need for specifically coloured support materials became evident. Dye types capable of permanently colouring a diverse range of cellulosic materials were investigated. Trichromatic colour cards were prepared for each material. A flood occurred in the Aboriginal gallery which required immediate action by the conservation staff. Affected artefacts were transported to the laboratory, stabilized and reports on their condition were written. A workshop on microscopic examination of cellulosic materials was organized by Mary-Lou Florian, Conservation Scientist with the British Columbia Provincial Museum, Canada. She also gave a lecture at the Forestry Commission of N.S.W. on Conservation of Aboriginal carved trees and Canadian totem poles. Dr. P. Casey presented information on fungi to the Australian Museum Conservation staff. A technical meeting on the topic of interlaboratory co-operation was attended at the conservation unit of the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences. The conservation facility at the Art Gallery of N.S.W. and the Nickleson Museum, University of Sydney, were viewed.