Category Archives: Culture

Digital learning and education in museums? Download a copy here (.pdf)

Welcome to this informative booklet on Digital Learning and Education in Museums! This report, created by the Learning Museum Working Group of the Network of European Museum Organisations (NEMO), offers innovative approaches and insights on how museums can enhance their educational offerings through digital means.

Here are three themes you may wish to explore…

What are some of the key benefits of incorporating digital learning into museum education programs?

According to page 12 of this report, one of the key benefits of opening up access to digital data in museums is that it provides educational institutions with trustworthy materials for education. This not only focuses on a narrow canon but opens up wider perspectives for the students, so that both individuals and communities can form more informed, complex, and inclusive outlooks on the world.

Additionally, page 6 notes that digital learning can take place both intentionally (through formal educational projects) and unintentionally (through playful interaction with museum objects or co-curating digital collections), providing opportunities for both formal and informal learning.

How have museums successfully integrated digital learning into their exhibits and programs?

Page 84 of this report notes that increasing Open Access to museum data and Open Source solutions have allowed cultural heritage institutions to test new formats of digital learning and visitor engagement through co-creation, co-curation, and data reuse.

This has enabled museums to offer a wider range of educational opportunities to visitors, including interactive exhibits, virtual tours, and online resources. However, the report also acknowledges that many museums face challenges when implementing digital learning programs, such as a lack of technical skills or budget constraints. The report provides case studies of successful digital learning initiatives in several museums throughout Europe.

What are some of the challenges museums face when implementing digital learning, and how can they overcome them?

Some of the challenges museums face when implementing digital learning programs include a lack of technical skills in the team, a lack of technical equipment and software, poor awareness of technological advancements, or budget constraints holding back the digital transformation.

To overcome these challenges, museums can invest in training programs for their staff to improve their technical skills and knowledge. They can also seek partnerships with technology companies or other organisations to provide access to necessary equipment and software. Additionally, museums can work to increase awareness among staff and visitors about the benefits of digital learning and the potential impact it can have on education and engagement.

Finally, museums can explore alternative funding sources or seek out grants to help support their digital learning initiatives.

The report was created by the Learning Museum Working Group of the Network of European Museum Organisations (NEMO).

The report was published in January 2023.

This article was rendered by AI – it was ratified before publication by a human.

 

The king and a maiden...image
The king and a maiden…

The University of Florida is home to the Baldwin Library of Historical Children’s Literature.You can find over seven thousand titles digitised here:

https://ufdc.ufl.edu/collections/juv

The plate accompanying this article is of a king and a maiden on horseback, from an 1872 UK edition of Fairy Tales by Hans Christian Andersen.

See more here – https://ufdc.ufl.edu/UF00026595/00001/images/5

Using the search box will afford you many hours of pleasure as you discover writing and illustrations from the disturbing to the lyrical and heart warming.

“… strengths and distinctions of the Baldwin Library include: alphabet books, marginalia and inscriptions, nonfiction from the 20th century, Little Golden Books, religious tracts, and illustrated editions from the Golden Age of Children’s Literature.

Scholars worldwide use the Baldwin Library for research in morality tales and religious tracts, conduct of life, gender roles, comparative editions, and toy and movable books.”

Source: The Baldwin Library of Historical Children’s Literature.

See more here…https://ufdc.ufl.edu/collections/juv

A treasure trove on-line indeed. We recommend this collection.

The architect, Lord Norman Foster, has been recently talking about his latest project, the InHub la punt in the Swiss Engadin Valley. Foster, in the video below, talks about the changing nature of buildings and how innovation can be accommodated, often in architecturally provocative ways, whilst offering communities new spatial and intellectual resources.

‘…designed as a centre for innovation, the project seeks to bring new visitors together with the local community to increase prosperity, create jobs, and revitalise local crafts and produce. Separate from the home or office, the setting is conceived as a ‘third place’ for collaboration and creativity. The 6,000-square-meter (64,583 square foot) project will comprise work and seminar spaces, sports facilities, retail outlets, a restaurant, as well as an underground car park…’

Foster is aware of the controversy some of his firm’s designs can create, but is always enthusiastic for intellectual collaboration and human engagement. He also reflects about the context of pandemics in the human experience and, importantly, the sustaining nature and enduring qualities of community.

An important, sustaining position to take, we would argue, in the current epidemiological climate.

You can see more details of the work and images of the proposed project here on the pages of designboom magazine.


This short lecture is delivered by Abdulrazak Gurnah, the 2021 winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature.

It is a concise, masterly exposition about the birth of the writing process in the young mind, as well as how, as a mature writer, the author begins to finally see the warped mirror reflecting the reality of the landscape of colonialism, racism and inequality.

In this video essay Abdulrazak Gurnah traces the arc of anger, joy, confusion and the quest for clarity in a troubled world. His writing is, in essence, a tool chipping away at the vaunting edifice of inequality, mis-direction by elites, cruelty and injustice.

It is a long journey from Zanzibar to the University of Kent, but the journey began with a sheet of paper and a pen.

In his opening stanza, Gurnah reads us an excerpt from the writings of Lawrence, that beautifully captures the experience of the young person discovering the illustrative power of reflection…a sensation, a memory, that any putative writer, in any setting will recognise immediately.

Masterly is too slight a word for this video essay, and it will remain laden with meaning and message for all of us as 2021 comes to an end…

We commend it to our readers, as we hopefully await sunnier uplands in 2022.

Discover the life of Abdulrazak Gurnah on Wikipedia here.

 

We thought this was lovely.

”…in March 2020, the choirs fell silent. The Voice Project had planned to start rehearsing a new show, Arc of the Sky, inspired by the idea of a bird’s-eye view of Holy Trinity Church, Blythburgh, known as the Cathedral of the Marshes, the landscape it sits in – the Blyth estuary – and the coastline.

Performances were planned there for July. Instead, we made this film with the singers recording and filming themselves. This is the result…”

Source: The Voice Project – Discover more here https://www.voiceproject.co.uk/about/

                                  See this wonderful creation on YouTube here

Beautiful filmic and voice creative work. Uplifting and contemplative also – but firmly anchored with their humanity.

Perfect for these difficult times.

We thought that these two U.S based projects were delightful examples of how, using remote technology, you can explore both art and place from your armchair.

They are not intended for the casual, under resourced visitor certainly, in terms of expected project outcome. However, they are wonderful case studies of how their subjects can be explored in depth from the laptop.

As well as successfully cultivating a world wide audience. See what you think…they might offer a new template for action in these difficult times?

See more details here…

Open House New York

October 17–18, 2020  See more at https://ohny.org/weekend

Yes, this citywide celebration of architecture is happening. (And, yes, things are a bit different this year.)

What will I be able to sign up for and see?

  • Self-Guided Tours: itineraries for outdoor exploration of an area by foot, by bike, or by boat.
  • On-Site Video Tours: video walkthroughs of a project with architects, historians, and other experts.
  • Open Studios: virtual presentations by architects and artists of a single project.
  • Podcasts: audio recordings about a single site.
  • Exhibitions: self-guided explorations of digital exhibitions.
  • Virtual Programs: panels, interactive tours, live Q&As, performances, and more

EDITIONS / ARTISTS’ BOOKS FAIR – New York

OCTOBER 14 – 28, 2020

See more here…

We are thrilled to announce E/AB Fair 2020, fully online, October 14 – 28 on this website.

A world class array of visual art book publishers in a virtual conference hall venue.

The fair will gather an international community of over 60 publishers and dealers, featuring emerging and mid-career contemporary artists. Each exhibitor will have their own viewing room and, as always, they will be accessible for artwork discussion and special insights.”

For a New York based initiative you can expect to find a vast array of visual art exhibitors from the East Coast of the USA. But there also, in the catalogue, a healthy assortment of non-East Coast based creative centres.

These include, for example the Glasgow Print Studio, Stoney Road Press from Dublin and the Flatbed Centre for Contemporary Printmaking in Austin, Texas’

Just visiting these web pages is inspirational. We wish all the contributors to the event good luck.


So if you are visiting OHNY this weekend, why not stay in New York for another week and take in the visual feast that is the E//AB Fair.

All without leaving your armchair!

The Edinburgh International Book Festival starts today. Events are free and you can visit the very impressive festival web pages here – https://www.edbookfest.co.uk/

Edinburgh books made tangible: Florencia Viadonna, Creative Commons, Unsplash

Taking place in your web browser from the 15th to the 31st August 2020.

  • Book attendance at over 140 events – see more.
  • Browse the very comprehensive Festival Bookshop – see more.
  • What’s happening with the Baillie Gifford Children’s Programme? – see more.

Some highlights for us…

The New York Times Series

‘For the second year running, The New York Times and Edinburgh International Book Festival are collaborating to bring a timely and thought-provoking celebration of writing and ideas to readers around the world’.

Sessions include Women in Politics, live NYT book reviews, Inside the NYT Crossword and Should Capitalism Survive Climate Change? In turbulent times this festival theme will help crystallise your take on the socio-political tensions that wrack the country in 2020. See more.

Outriders Africa

Having supported ten writers to explore and re-imagine the landscape in the US in 2017, the festival this year will send ten writers on journeys across Africa.

‘Outriders will again see ten writers explore a region of the world – this time in Africa. Each pair of writers will embark on an international journey through Africa, meeting writers and communities along their way and engaging in discussions around migration, colonial legacies, inequalities and the impact of globalisation and environmental change. Each of the ten Outriders will create a new work in response to their journey which will be presented at the Edinburgh International Book Festival 2021’.

You can find this important work, challenging perceptions here.

Made in Scotland

If you needed evidence of the intellectual  powerhouse that is Scotland, find it in this festival theme here.

You can find the festival full programme here.

You can explore how to book here.

You can donate and support the festival here.


In the U.S. the Smithsonian Institution has created an Open Access resource of staggering diversity.

Update July 2020: If you are interested in furniture, specifically in growing your own furniture – check out this fabulous article on the BBC web pages – https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-32977012


Swiss/German side chair, late 17thC – early 18thC – Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

“Smithsonian Open Access, where you can download, share, and reuse millions of the Smithsonian’s images—right now, without asking. With new platforms and tools, you have easier access to nearly 3 million 2D and 3D digital items from our collections—with many more to come. This includes images and data from across the Smithsonian’s 19 museums, nine research centers, libraries, archives, and the National Zoo”.

Source: https://www.si.edu/openaccess

As always with Open Access resources, despite millions of electronic artifacts in the Public Domain on the Smithsonian web pages, some do have license/usage restrictions. Always check before use!

Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, Gift of Joseph H. Hirshhorn, 1966

For the inquisitive, there is a wealth of subject matter and themes to explore on the Smithsonian pages. Whether your interest is art, ceramics, photography, science or zoology…there will be a reservoir of interesting items to peruse.

A search of the archive for ‘film’ produces a delightful range of posters, lobby cards and images of garments worn in Hollywood movies.

See an example search here.

This is a creative archive in the public domain, bar none. It is easy, even in a short time, to find resources that can inspire your next creative project.

We recommend a visit to the Smithsonian.

 


Update: 5th Feb: Not long now! Check ticket availability here

Another fabulous series of literary treats available again this year. An imaginative, stirring and diverse programme of author and book occasions. 28th February to 31st March.

See more here…

We are looking forward to rounding out the Festival with the Golden Age of Crime Weekend, for example…Saturday 28th & 29th March, hosted by the Radisson Park Inn Palace Hotel in Southend on  Sea.

Discover more here:

Or, if crime fiction is your thing, you can even begin the calendar of events in the company of Val McDermid at the launch event: How the Dead Speak. On February 28th in the evening at Anglia Ruskin University in Chelmsford.

Young Essex has not been forgotten either – with a full range activities for the young reader. We particularly like the Manifesto for Essex launch, where young people can give voice to their thinking about Climate Change.

Also for Young Essex is a great idea, the pop-up storytelling armchair. Springing into events across a range of different locations in Chelmsford, Basildon and Harlow.

 ‘A super comfy treat for book lovers young and old to enjoy their favourite stories out loud! Free and open to all – come along and hear a story…’

Whatever your age, check out the Festival full events list here.

Find out how to book here.


Image credit:

News Desk image by Markus Winkler, Creative Commons, Unsplash...

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