Collections: A Journal for Museum and Archives Professionals

This paper explores the Grace Mary Crowfoot collection of textile objects and letters found in the Textile Research Centre (TRC) in Leiden. Crowfoot, a textile archeologist worked mainly between North Africa and the Middle East, although her interests were far more expansive. Her collection in the TRC has largely gone unstudied. Including a variety of textile samples and related artifacts, along with letters between Crowfoot and her mentee Robert Charleston, the collection seems disparate, however I argue that we may garner much information from such a collection The paper questions how small, diverse collections can be useful for academic research. How can a small collection like the Crowfoot collection be used and how can it contribute to our understanding of the individual and wider society? This paper explores the opportunities and scope in analyzing smaller collections themselves as historical records.

Women scientists have long been underrepresented in histories of mainstream science and in archives and museums. Using a lecture series as a well-known model for engagement, this article explores implementing a proactive method for documenting and preserving a record of women scientists’ research at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Envisioned broadly as a public history and documentation initiative, the Women in Science Lecture Series seeks to highlight the work of women scientists, generate conversations about documenting women in science, and promote the University of Illinois Archives as a repository well-suited to house the records of women scientists. The authors argue that taking more public and proactive measures is vital for capturing women scientists’ research and experiences and for promoting cultural heritage institutions as places where their stories and records are valued and belong.

In this article, I attempt to trace and reflect on how and what knowledge emerged when I discussed historical artifacts with members of the community of origin. The information coming up during our collaborative work sessions does not easily fit into existing standard categories of collection databases. Rather than issues such as protagonists, dates, locations, etc. of photo shoots, or materials, methods of production and uses, etc. of objects, our conversations were about relations between people, life circumstances, uncertainties, legitimate informants, and social meanings. The emergent knowledge, as I argue, did not simply reflect different concerns or perspectives of community members as compared to those of scholars and provided for in database fields but was co-produced from all participants’ prior knowledges through concerted doings. Without presenting a ready-made solution, I further argue that we need to find ways of accommodating references into our collection databases revealing authors and ways of knowledge production.

The natural history collections community has made significant strides in the past decade in the digitization of their holdings. Digitization has made the data and corresponding images of collections publicly available to researchers, students, and the public. Data and images are served online by institutions’ local databases, and regional, national, and international aggregators. One challenging aspect in digitizing natural history collections is the presence of offensive language, such as racial slurs in collection and location data. We present findings from a community survey and analysis of data from relevant aggregators to assess the presence of and approach to offensive language in collections data. We also suggest initial guidelines for data warning statements and disclaimers and transcription guidelines to help preserve historical integrity of data while also supporting inclusive and safe workspaces. Please note that in writing about offensive terms found in natural history collections, we use and refer to offensive terms and include images of labels and documents to provide examples.

Museums throughout the United States house undocumented collections with variable access. With the technological developments over the past twenty years, digital documentation, particularly photogrammetry, has become more accessible and affordable which can bring these collections to a wider audience. This tool can help enable collaboration among researchers, institutions, and museum professionals, contribute to the stewardship of these collections, and overcome the physical and financial barriers that hinder open-access, allowing museum professionals to display their artifacts in new, engaging ways and make them more accessible to the public and other scholars. With the goal of using digital documentation to make archaeology and anthropology collections more accessible, five small artifacts from disparate collections in the Evansville Museum of Arts, History & Science were recorded, drawn, and modeled: a Jerash type oil lamp, a Samaritan type oil lamp, a Roman oil lamp from Meidum, Egypt, an Ottoman ceramic smoking pipe, and a ceramic sherd. This case study illustrates how small to medium size institutions can construct a photogrammetry toolkit with minimal financial and staff resources.

The study introduces twelve Mediterranean insular grassroots micromuseums and their collections. Curators were asked a set of questions concerning their collections, thus, the message intended, the method applied, and sources of information used to interpret the collection. They were also asked about the involvement of others and negotiation in interpretation, presentation, and decision-making concerning selection and display of objects. Based on replies, the study showed that while the collections displayed promote a theme, they primarily intend to build connections and bring together communities, whether by place, shared interest, practice, or past experiences such as history or specific events in history. Besides the intended connections, collections displayed at grassroots micromuseums could raise further and deeper connections with different communities and visitors. Also, depending on the curators’ choices, collections displaying different identities at such museums could create more personal connections than impersonal collections aimed to promote a homogenous identity.

Like many museums worldwide, Philippine museums moved their operations online when COVID-19 hit. However, studies showed that central to this move was digital heritage collection, which required time and resources spent years before the pandemic began. This paper re-examines the concept of openness of digital cultural heritage in Philippine museums. This paper tries to determine the state of openness of Philippine museums along with their perception of Open Heritage Data. Using the Open Heritage Data Model of Roued-Cunliffe, document analysis of eighty five museum websites was done. This was followed by semi-structured interviews of thirteen Philippine museums. A thematic analysis was done to answer the questions on openness and Open Heritage Data in Philippine museums. Philippine museums have minimal openness when it comes to physical, online, and data access levels. This can be explained by their cataloging practices, the effects of the pandemic on their institution, and their perception of Open Heritage Data. This lack of openness contributes to global inequality in digital cultural heritage.