Why Museums?

Breanna Suk, President 

Alberta Museums Association Board of Directors

I have been asked a lot in my life, “Why museums?” Why choose to go to school to study history with plans to work in a museum? Why decide to focus on collections and exhibits in museums as a career path? Why stay in museums given the current economy and uncertainty? The question is always, “Why museums?” But let me ask you a few questions and see if the answer becomes clearer.

Taking the Time: A Student’s Perspective on Collections Management

by Laura Rose Iocca 
Fourth Year Museum and Heritage Studies Student 
University of Calgary

During my time as a practicum student working at the University of Calgary Nickle Galleries, I was given the opportunity to work with one of the largest academic antique coin collections in Alberta. Through this experience, I was able to grasp the essence of what is involved in collections management, and the importance of this role relating to museum and heritage studies.

The Nickle collection consists of a variety of coins from various eras from Europe to Asia Minor. With the guidance of Marina Fischer, the Numismatic Specialist for the Nickle, I had the privilege of performing tasks that are vital to collections management: large scale inventory and cataloguing of the artifacts, researching locations on ancient maps, and ensuring descriptions and information about the artifacts were inputted correctly. As well, I cultivated vital handling techniques and storage practices for antique numismatics.

A Spotlight on Mentorship

Ahead of the Mentorship Q & A session, Meredith Leary, Program Coordinator, sat down for conversations with two additional participants in the Alberta Museums Association (AMA)'s Mentorship Program: Katelin Karbonik, a Mentee in the 2020 cohort, and Robert Janes, a Mentor from the 2019 and 2020 cohorts. In the conversations below, they share their experiences in the Mentorship Program, and their thoughts about the value that mentoring with established and senior-level museum professionals can bring to the Alberta museum community.

It Could Happen to You … Sometime When You Least Expect It

Lucie Heins, BSc, MA, Assistant Curator, Daily Life & Leisure
Royal Alberta Museum 

Uncertain Times

March 11, 2020: "WHO [World Health Organization] formally declared the existence of a pandemic."^[i]

Little did we know that one year later we would still be in the midst of a pandemic. It has been a difficult year for museums around the world as they navigate the effects of restrictions from social distancing, from reduced capacity to temporary closure. The big question is, how do they remain sustainable?

Sustainable and Relevant Community Museums

Bill Peters, President, Bill Peters Consulting

At the Alberta Museums Association (AMA)'s 2014 Conference, the panel discussion, "Imagining Possibilities: Building Governance Capacity for Sustainable and Relevant Community Museums" saw four members of the AMA Board of Directors discuss how to bring the wisdom of the Sustainability Working Group Report to Alberta's institutions. The panellists, Laura Gloor, Blane Hogue, Lorraine MacKay, and Bill Peters, discussed how museums can:  

1. Be seen as vital, necessary, and active contributors to our communities;

2. Understand and respond to the pressing needs of our communities through our numerous connections and networks where expertise, information, and resources are shared;

3. Organize and govern courageously in order to embrace new, efficient, and sustainable behaviours and practices; and

4. Understand how to successfully integrate all dimensions of sustainability - social, cultural, health, environmental and financial - into a vibrant expression of community.

 

In this piece, Bill has gathered the reflections of his colleagues as they look back on the session and consider the relevance of these lessons today.

Museums as Cultural Catalysts

Douglas Worts, Culture & Sustainability Specialist, WorldViews Consulting

Throughout my involvement with the Alberta Museums Association (AMA), the AMA has distinguished itself as a progressive force in the field. Always thoughtful about emergent trends affecting both museums and communities, the AMA has understood the need for museums to be aware of, and engaged with, the forces that shape the living culture and the culture of museums. Over the past 20+ years, I have participated in numerous AMA projects, including two favourites:

• the development and roll-out of the Museum Excellence Program in the early 2000s, and
• delivering the AMA's 2003 conference keynote, which focussed on the topic, "Museums in Search of a Sustainable Future," published the following year in the Alberta Museums Review, Fall 2004.

Indigenous Information Literacy: Q & A with Rachel Chong

In this e-interview, Rachel Chong explores her work creating the Indigenous Information Literacy Project at Kwantlen Polytechnic University Library. This project's development and implementation has increasingly been the subject of library professional development and information sharing in the GLAM sector (galleries, libraries, archives, and museums). As museums are facing similar knowledge-keeping, -use, and -access decisions and situations, the Alberta Museums Association (AMA) asked Rachel to share her experience with the project directly with museums.

Do Not Shy from Controversy

Aimee Benoit, Present Curator, and Wendy Aitkens, Past Curator
Galt Museum & Archives

Over the past two decades, the Galt Museum & Archives has tackled many sensitive and potentially controversial subjects for public presentation. They include exhibits on a local woman's survival in the Auschwitz concentration camp; the various influences in climate change; Indigenous people earning the rights to wear special clothing; the achievement, challenges and issues involved in sports; recent immigration to Lethbridge; and 2SLGBTQ+ histories. 

Each exhibit and the associated programs involved experts in the field, support from the community, and solid research. Planning for feedback, both positive and negative, was a major part of each project.