Museums & Things

(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxQHTd6Kftg)

Love the latest thebrainscoop offering: holotypes, the meter bar and Brachiosaurus. DINOSAURS.

Continuing the theme of the article posted yesterday, episode 4 of amnhnyc’s Shelf Life looks at the discovery of a new mammal in museums stores. A great example of museum science.

Watch all of the Shelf Life series so far on Youtube.

History of Etiquette (in One Take)

Well worth taking a look at History Bombs’ other videos: History of Aviation, Stonehenge and Football.

The Problem With Facebook  by Veritasium

Something all museums, galleries and other non-profits need to be aware of when it comes to marketing on Facebook.

Stop-mtion video showing different women's hairstyles and fashions in history. (by Maxronanldo)

Hidden Elves Denver Museum of Nature and Science DMNS (by smetlogik)

Farewell, Montana (by thebrainscoop)

I was not prepared for how emotional this video was.

Emily Graslie, and the Brain Scoop present their farewell to the Philip L. Wright Zoological Museum at the University of Montana.

The museum, and its collection, are left without a single member of staff, as Emily takes the unmissable opportunity to move to Chicago and take up a role at the Field Museum. It makes me incredibly sad to think that this amazing, irreplaceable collection will be left, effectively abandoned, as the University cannot find the money to hire a curator or anyone to spend their time caring for it.

Since the Brain Scoop started, this collection has engaged so many people (seriously, just look at the Youtube Channel) in science. People who thought science was dull, too complicated, or 'not for them'. The Brain Scoop proved them wrong, and it was the UMZM and its collection that let them do it. People fell in love with science, with natural history, with zoology, with that collection. And now it's just...left.

I want to add the caveat that I don't judge Emily for one second for leaving the collection (not that anyone should, but this is the internet, and you know somebody will). She had no choice. And that's the terrible thing: she had no choice. There was no funding, no priority given to the museum, no job there for anyone, despite the real and important work to be done. All over the world collections are suffering from this enforced neglect, or relying on intrepid volunteers, when there is real, important work to be done with them, work like the Brain Scoop had to do through the internet because there's just not the support to do it elsewhere and...no funding.

And I'm going to stop now because I will rant. You should watch the video.

Gift Shop (Thrift Shop Parody)

Damn, that's a cold ass snow globe.

Museum-humour of the month.

Trailer for proposed TV series, 'Medicine's Dark Secrets', starring The Chirurgeon's Apprentice.

Am not dead!

Well, I kind of am in an internet sense. I've moved into a new flat which we aren't able to get a broadband connection into until 8th June (!) because someone actually has to drill through the wall to install it (downside of flat being recently renovated...).

However, I am loving my new job! It's great to finally have a real paid job in the heritage sector, and feel like I'm building up me skills by getting real experience, rather than just reading about theory all the time. I'm like, actually DOING it man, and getting paid (let's be honest, interning is great, but even museum and heritage geeks have bills to pay).

Plus, let's face it, it's pretty damn cool that my office is in a 17th-century mansion.

So, here's a video from the project I'm working on - it's a contemporary art project aimed at taking a new and fresh look at the garden here at Ham House. As part of our community interaction programme students from LCC have produced a series of animations. This one is probably my favourite at the moment. You can watch the rest here.