Hello everyone!
This month at the DMA I've been working on finding contextual images for the 'Content Chunks' that the Digital Content Coordinators (D3Cs). Content Chunks (CC) are basically pages that tell about an artist/designer, a culture, a historical period, a process/material, or a term. The images help illustrate the person, idea, etc. We've been in charge of finding non-copyright images that best represent the CC so that the public/educator can best understand the concept we are trying to provide information on. It has been a lot of fun to work on this project, albeit a bit difficult at times because we have to find public domain images. This means that I've had to learn all about what public domain is and how to find copyright information on a variety of images. It has also been difficult to choose the best image to illustrate some concepts that we tend to take for granted; such as materials, historical figures, mythical figures, etc. that may or may not have some political and/or culture ramifications attached to a particular depiction. It has also been a challenge to work with the technological side - the DMA, the D3Cs specifically, use Evernote which has come with a whole slew of technical issues that are not always anticipated.
I've also been working on Teaching Ideas (which is a specific 'Content Chunk' related to Art Education) to create questions and lesson plans for individual objects in the collection. This has been a lot of fun, as well, because I've been able to sort through all kinds of education files that date back to the mid-70s! We've been adapting these lesson plans and customizing what the DMA has used in the past to make it applicable to a 2016 audience. This has come with a lot of tech issues, too! Both projects have helped me learn how to work with large groups of people who are often time just as picky as I am on how we all like to do things! Overall, it has been a great month at the DMA and I can't believe it has gone so quickly!
I hope everyone had a wonderful July!
Megan
I would love to hear more about those education files from the 70's! What have you noticed are some similarities and differences between 1970's and 2016 approaches to museum education? Could be fun to write an article or a paper about this in your future....
ReplyDeleteGlad you are getting some practice with copyright and public domain issues! That's one of those things that I feel like I could never really teach you in class and has to be learned in the field! :)
Right, that sounds really cool! I'm sure the approach has changed dramatically over the last 40 years, pretty much like everything else in the world! I can remember going to museums when I was younger and it's interesting to go now, knowing what I know and seeing the changes that have occurred over the years, I think it will continue to grow and be one of the most amazing experiences that an individual can have. Keep up the fantastic work!
ReplyDeleteI am also interested to hear what you have learned about museum education through those files and what is practiced today. That is one of the ways were our internship split, so I will be looking forward to hearing your insight in your presentation and what you found!
ReplyDeleteThat sounds great! I agree, the technology side of things can be challenging! I am also curious what you thought about some of the old museum education practices. I went through a few of these not long ago from the YMCA and it was very interesting!
ReplyDelete