For those of you with twitter accounts…

I started updating my work’s twitter account: @MorristownNPS

Feel free to follow it!

I plan to tweet about special events, facts, and objects in our collection.

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Mobile Apps: Brooklyn Museum and the AMNH

Hi Everyone,

Erin and I visited the Brooklyn Museum and the American Museum of Natural History last week. I decided to download the app ahead of time to my ipod touch because I was not sure how long it would take at the Museum. When we got to the Brooklyn Museum, I did not notice any sign advertising the mobile app. I would guess that most visitors did not even know that the museum had one. Similarly, I did not locate a desk or anything where you could rent a ipod if you did not have your own.

I was quite excited to test out that app, but soon became discouraged. Not only did my ipod touch take a long time to detect the Museum’s wifi, but the app took a very long time to load. Erin, who was using her iphone, had the same problems. We started to walk around the museum hoping we would find a stronger connection. The text began to load, but my ipod would not load the app’s images. It was very hard to locate the object the app was describing without the image. I tried to reload the app multiple times, but soon became so frustrated that I abandoned it. Erin had the same problems on her iphone. I did use my blackberry to call numbers on the wall labels for more information. That was interesting, but I did not have the patience to call every object’s extension.

Like Erin, I played with the app when I got home and think it has potential. The images loaded while I was at home, which suggests there was a problem with Brooklyn’s wifi strength and not the app. I think the rotating object of the day was cool. This is a great way to show people objects that they might not get to that visit. In addition, I wish I could have browsed the highlights in each geographical area. The Museum has a good basic outline, but I would have liked to see more information about each object. As Katie said, a lot of the text was from their website and didn’t provide additional information. Also, check out the Brooklyn Museum’s open storage. It. was. AMAZING!

After lunch, we went to the AMNH. Like Lea said, the app is not very well advertised. I didn’t see a sign for it nor did I notice a place where you could rent ipods. I thought I downloaded the app the night before, but it turns out I only downloaded the Dinosaur app (Cori described this app very well in her post). The explorer app was for the entire museum and not just the dinosaur exhibits. I noticed the app had different tours, but Erin and I choose the visit the highlights. We decided to visit the Eastern Island Head first. In my opinion, the best part of the app was its map and directions. The museum is so big and I know I would have been lost without the app’s gps capability. Not only did the app provide directions to exhibits and objects, but also to the cafe, bathroom, store, and exhibits. In addition, the app kept track which exhibitions and objects you visited. I switched to the dinosaur app when we were in the exhibit with the T-rex. I think children would really love the app at the AMNH. It was user friendly and even had a tour of all the objects in Night at the Museum! I will definitely use this app at my next visit to the museum.

My final thought: Did anyone feel a little self conscious using your phone in the museum? Most of the other visitors were not using the app and I wondered if they thought I was someone who couldn’t put their phone away… Little did they realize I was actually engaging in the museum!

Mobile Apps Field Trip

Hello,

Would anyone like to come to the city with me to test out mobile apps? I am available on Tuesday, Nov. 1 and Thursday, Nov. 3.

Hacking is fun

Here is a snapshot of my hacked website. It is probably uglier than the original, but at least it is more colorful. I couldn’t figure out how to change the basic skeleton (it is very link heavy on the right side), so I played with what I knew how to do. I changed the fonts, colors, and main picture.

Original: http://www.nps.gov/morr/index.htm

Colorful:

Participation is all around us!

Hey everyone,

I am in Chicago for fall break and wanted to share my experience at the Art Institute of Chicago.

While viewing the Impressionist works, I noticed a group of young kids (probably 5 years old) wearing yellow shirts. They were part of an “art and creativity” education program. The children were accompanied by adult educators and gathered around examples of Monet’s paintings. After asking the group questions about specific paintings, the educators encouraged the children to draw in their sketchbooks. It was great to see the children engaged with pieces of art in the gallery.

This was a great example of Simon’s book in action.

New York’s Great Museums could do Better

Here is a related article to the one below…

http://www.theartnewspaper.com/articles/New-York-s-great-museums-could-do-better/24509

To Charge or What to Charge?

A depressing article about museum entrance fees. It reports that the MOMA and Boston MFA have increased fees from $20 to $25.

I love museums and want to help them as much as possible, but $25 seems outrageous. In addition, these prices are going to scare away many potential visitors, especially those that can’t afford to bring a family of four to the museum for a day. Is it more important to make a profit or serve the community?

http://www.theartnewspaper.com/articles/To-charge-or-what-to-charge?/24451

Spread the learning!

Here is the link to the social media exhibition’s press release: http://www.pacemacgill.com/press_release.php?item=100

And a list of the works on display:
http://www.pacemacgill.com/checklist.php?item=100

Nudity and Facebook

While compiling my resources list, I came across this article from “The Art Newspaper.” It talks about facebook’s censorship of works of art expressing nudity, specifically Courbet’s “The Origin of the World.”

http://www.theartnewspaper.com/articles/Too-rude-to-show?/24494

Should facebook allow Museums to post works of art expressing nudity? Is facebook an “online curator”?

Museum Resources

Hi everyone,

Below are a few resources I frequently consult:

http://www.theartnewspaper.com/
This is a fabulous source for current controversy, new exhibitions, and general news in the art/museum world. The paper subscription is quite expensive, so I much prefer to get the headlines online (this is my homepage). There is a “museums” tab at the top of the page for specifically museum related news.

“Making Museums Matter,” Stephen Weil, Smithsonian Books, 2002.
http://www.amazon.com/Making-Museums-Matter-Stephen-Weil/dp/1588340007
This book is made up of various essays written by Stephen Weil. He discusses the museum’s role in preserving and displaying its collection to the public while also taking into consideration the problems museums face today (nazi era art, shift from collection to education, budget concerns, etc.) You may want to check out another book written by Weil, which I have not read yet: “A Cabinet of Curiosities: Inquiries into Museums and their Prospects,”Smithsonian Books, 1995.

“A Graveyard Preservation Primer,” Lynette Strangstad, American Association of State and Local History, 1995.
http://www.amazon.com/Graveyard-Preservation-American-Association-History/dp/0761991301
I know this sounds suspicious, but I am writing my thesis on historic graveyard preservation and this publication has been very helpful. This primer provides instructions on how to access a tombstone’s condition and properly clean it. You never know when your collection might have a tombstone in it. The Newark Museum, for example, has two full headstones and a few fragments in its collection!

http://www.asia.si.edu/research/curatorial/currentResearch.asp
I also frequent the Freer Sackler Museum’s website. If you are unfamiliar with the museum, it is the Smithsonian’s Museum of Asian Art located in D.C. I took a few classes in Asian Art when I was an undergrad and took field trips to the Museum multiple times. I think their website includes valuable information about the collection and seems user friendly. It also includes a “research” tab on the top right that talks about upcoming exhibitions, publications, etc.

I hope you guys find these helpful!