What are /r/MuseumPros' favorite Products & Services?

From 3.5 billion Reddit comments

For an academic take-

I highly recommend Dr. John H. Falk's work, but specifically "Identity and the Museum Visitor Experience." He's been in the field for decades (a mentor of one of my professors).

Book: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01H5L2D0G?ref=KC_GS_GB_US

There's also the Visitor Studies Association: https://www.visitorstudies.org/

I work in the field, and I'd recommend something like Processing. https://processing.org/

Depending on the hardware of the slider, it's pretty easy to get inputs working and scrubbing though video would work nicely. Happy to help more if you can find out about what hardware they have for the sliders / lights already

Thanks everyone for the responses, I decided to go with the NUC and a good touchscreen monitor as the most cost-effective option. I'll be coding it and running it locally. I found a handy link for running chrome in kiosk mode if it's helpful to anyone: https://lifehacker.com/use-chromes-kiosk-mode-to-limit-someones-access-to-yo-1243433249

Note that I haven't tried it myself but I'm hoping that'll solve the exiting out issue a couple people mentioned since there won't be a keyboard attached.

I might post an update of this project later if anyone's interested but it'll be several months down the line as this is a bit of a back-burner project.

Ahh darn we don't have this in my archives' reference book set, but can you get your hands on a copy of this book? It should have information on properly cleaning copper artifacts, it has information on cleaning eeeeverything. Widely held in libraries.

What do they mean by "image analysis" and how will that manifest in digital form? Is this just their write up of their read on the final RTI images they produced?

RTI and publishing is indeed very difficult--see for comparison the recent article by Greene and Parker (pp. 209-36 here: https://www.academia.edu/19148712/Field_of_View_Northwest_Semitic_Palaeography_and_Reflectance_Transformation_Imaging_RTI_). Is the Art Institute aware of the work of the Oriental Institute at the U. of Chicago? Miller Prosser is one of the lead people there and could provide insight as well. They've been doing some very impressive things with the Persepolis Fortification Archive.

Yes! http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:169870 (Thingiverse.com is a website where people post files of objects designed for 3D printing. This particular design is a bit complicated, but there are simpler ones on the website as well.)

My point on SEO is less about the gamification of being "first" and more about properly laying out your HTML and assets so that your content can be properly read by Google via proper use of header tags, paragraph tags, list, etc and also not doing anything that could jeopardize your speed. It's very real and does impact the site greatly. In addition to Ryte, Google PageSpeed is another great resource to benchmark this against: https://developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed/insights/

Ignoring these elements absolutely will impact you, we didn't closely monitor them for a year (working on other non-web projects) and I can say that the drop-off was large but when we returned to optimize for them the recovery was equally large.

Yeah definitely, and it's really obvious if you don't cut smoothly, and it's easy to dent the edges if you grab it wrong. Reasonable to avoid it.

That said, mat board can look something like what you've posted if you put sticker on it and use one of these to cut the bevel.

I can't find them online, but we had folding camp stools with black seats that fit onto a cart the docents or education dept could roll out for talks or other activities in the galleries. They look just like this: https://www.amazon.com/Stansport-Folding-Stool-Black-14-Inch/dp/B001ABPBI4?source=ps-sl-shoppingads-lpcontext&ref\_=fplfs&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

Hey.

This post is very close to a qualifications and advice post which we do not allow, per rule 3 in the sidebar: "Please do not post a list of your personal job qualifications asking for 'your chances' in graduate school or in finding employment. This applies to similar 'experience' posts, that are very general (Is grad school or internship better? What should I do next?). We do not know you, can not assess your competition, have not seen you interview, etc. Giving you false hope would be in bad faith. Specific, discrete questions are allowed on a case-by-case basis."

You already have a few comments so that should give you a solid start. And here's a book to read: https://www.amazon.com/Life-Museums-Managing-Museum-Career/dp/1933253703

And now I will lock this thread per rule 3.

Not a museum pro, just a curious lurker, but I have successfully removed a heavy cigarette smell from comic books by encasing them in a plastic tub (Really Useful Box brand) with a few activated charcoal bags for about a month.

I think these were the cheap charcoal bags I used, but I imagine there's something more professional / well-tested for proper conservation efforts? I've also only ever had to do this to modern comics, which didn't have noticeable surface residue, and their glossy paper probably reacts a bit differently from canvas.

Maybe that helps somehow? Cigarette smoke is nasty stuff. Good luck!

Store flat, definitely. Interleave with ph neutral paper; buffered or unbuffered will work. Buffered paper has an alkaline additive to counteract the acid from the object; unbuffered does not. I'd go unbuffered--buffered can in some cases exacerbate the problem and the composition of the inks are a wild card. A non-profit gallery should swap out interleaving as part of a long term collections management plan; a for-profit gallery would move product theoretically--after a sale, it's someone else's problem.

For containers, flat files are great for big stuff, Solander boxes or drop side metal edge style for smaller. Folders made from archival card stock can hold a decent stack and provide more support. When handling, use a piece of rigid acid free board or foam core wrapped in archival paper like a pizza peel; use two people depending on size.

I have seen many damaged prints and plans come out of tubes and inevitably crave potato chips after. 200+ is a doable number to care for properly. Backing boards are necessary for framing and exhibition, but not back-of-house storage.

This one, on a tripod base: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B079HGNLPS/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The LED panel is flexible, so you can focus the light more or less. There's a warm-to-cool adjustment. Two of these are ideal for photographing all sorts of museum objects.

Know the lingo and the structure of a museum - even if this isn't your training, seeming like you understand whats going on can go a long way. And as a PhD, this book will be easy reading: https://www.amazon.com/Museums-Motion-Introduction-Functions-Association/dp/144227879X

A tee on a nice hangar will do the job well or look for a simple display armature.Then fold one of each size with the design facing out for the shelf so it feels more bountiful and people can see the sizes or if there is room, a very small coat rack where you can hang samples of all the sizes.

Absolutely agree - I think we want it to be an institutionalized thing that becomes part of the cultural fabric over time.

As we were researching how other museums are doing social media, we came across this presentation from 2017 that gave some context. A lot of the survey responses came from Europe, but we still thought it was a decent snapshot. Looks like other museums have similar struggles.

Thanks for sharing!

I've actually performed quite a bit of RTI on busts and reliefs. I linked it in another comment above (although I didn't mention that I'm one of the coauthors), but pp. 209-36 of the following volume contain just a bit of my work with RTI:

https://www.academia.edu/19148712/Field_of_View_Northwest_Semitic_Palaeography_and_Reflectance_Transformation_Imaging_RTI_

So, if you've got any Palmyrene epigraphs in your collection (or, really, any Northwest Semitic at all), do let me know.

What I was getting at with the multispectral reference was actually to combine multispectral with RTI. I can't find the paper now, but one was presented in San Diego at the Society of Biblical Literature national meeting in 2014 which was very impressive with its results.

> So it's generally recommend you hold on to your individual photos so you can hopefully reprocess them if/when the algorithms are improved.

Hence my TB external HDD that's quickly filling with cam raw files! I'm going to need a full blown army of these things here pretty soon.

Ultimately, we need someone to develop that iPad app so that you can manipulate the light just on the touch screen--nothing else necessary (unless you want a simple drop down menu for various different filters--diffuse gain, specular enhancement, etc.)

More in response to your other comment in that space.

We use something like this:

https://www.amazon.com/Industrial-Acrylic-plexiglass-Bending-Plastic/dp/B00NDK4P9Q

We heat up a line and then free form bend using the edge of a table. Then we throw it back onto the element where we want the next bend and slowly coax it into shape. It’s a bit of an art but is actually easier than it looks. Sometimes we use a dowel or something to try and get a very specific curve but I find just heating and bending repeatedly works the best. Although you can overheat it and have to start over.

I can try and record something on Monday to give you a better idea of the process if that’s helpful. It’s hard to explain in writing!

Museums in Motion is really great and was updated a few years ago with relevant case studies. The editor who did the updates teaches at the undergrad level so written to be understood at that level which would be a good fit for you (rather than the Leicester folks who are more often writing for post-grads). Also, I'm quoted somewhere in there.
Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/Museum-Administration-American-Association-History-ebook/dp/B01IUD170K/ref=sr\_1\_2?qid=1636737415&qsid=146-0274854-0925154&refinements=p\_27%3ACinnamon+Catlin-Legutko&s=books&sr=1-2&sres=1538152258%2C144...

I had to read sections of the book Museum Administration 2.0 by Hugh Genoways for my Historical Administration book. I cannot speak to the whole text but I thought it was very insightful especially with revenue generation and strategic planning. I will link the amazon page so that you can look through the table of contents to see if this of interest.

Anything that says Project Manager or Client Success or similar. The main thing to highlight is your organizational base and ability to analyze which allows for flexibility. I've heard mailchimp is great to work for - here is an example but it is for a principal project manager https://mailchimp.com/jobs/listings/2340360-principal-product-manager/ From having this position for six years, this is the key statement You exhibit a positive attitude, listen hard and change fast; you are excited to work in a high-growth, fast paced environment. Companies have to pivot quickly while staying on mission to stay afloat. For now, I like it better than higher ed and museums- our clients are usually awesome and you get to see results pretty quickly.

Hello! We would like to introduce you to Weava- a free Chrome extension that helps you highlight, annotate and save your findings under folders and subfolders of your choice. You can use the tool across websites and digital documents, and export your findings to other formats as well. This will enable you to read and take notes as you go about your work - and to see your respective highlights and notes when you visit the specific PDF or websites later.

But we would also like to acknowledge that we do not yet offer any OCR functionality for scanning PDFs (i.e turning it into text that can be highlighted). While a tag system is absent, Weava enables you to sort your highlights into folders. We also do not boast of a great search tool - at least not yet, but we are gradually improving.

In spite of all this, do try outWeava and let us know of your experience.

Something like this ?

TBH, that hasn't been brought up. I can float it with the board.

President has spoken about initially getting two tablets. two fixed stands might not give us enough flexibility to cover all exhibits. Otoh it is a chance to figure out where interactive exhibits work best.

thanks for the food for thought

You might want to look into MAs in Arts Administration - its leadership skills plus museum-y stuff.

There is a book written by a museum director a few decades ago, might not be too accurate as to what things are like now but its kinda a classic: https://www.amazon.com/Making-Mummies-Dance-Inside-Metropolitan/dp/0671880756

One of our (now retired) professors at GWU wrote a book I still reference from time to time, A Legal Primer on Managing Museum Collections: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1588343227/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_fabc_Q7HTNRT40478KPW8WXRV

Glad I could help. There’s also a book that’s recently out (admittedly I haven’t read it yet but it’s supposed to be great)

https://www.amazon.com/Brutish-Museums-Colonial-Violence-Restitution/dp/0745341764

Just got this one for Christmas and I LOVE it so far! The phone attachment lets you take really clear pictures. Can't wait to use it on hikes and at concerts.

https://www.amazon.com/Gosky-Definition-Monocular-Telescope-Smartphone/dp/B07B8XTS3Z/ref=mp_s_a_1_2_sspa?dchild=1&keywords=monocular&qid=1609097739&sprefix=mono&sr=8-2-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEyRTdPSVdZOE...

Don't know how well it would suit your needs, but it seems like it could work

This is the definitive guide, though a bit of a long read: https://www.amazon.com/Crowdsourcing-our-Cultural-Heritage-Ridge/dp/1138706175

The three programs /u/necroturd recommended are excellent, and for the most part free.

I would also recommend thinking about your cataloging process completely before starting. You really don't want to be halfway through the process of cataloging your artifacts when you realize how you decided to do it won't work for whatever reason.

To help with that, I'd suggest picking up a copy of Museum Registration Methods. It lays out pretty simply most of the different aspects of collections management.