Life After Museology: Museum Evaluator for Hire

I've been working about 2 months with a small museum consulting/evaluation company located in Washington DC. Here are some things I have learned on the job so far that I think might help others thinking of doing evaluation work after graduation or even while in the New Directions program. 

This maybe a forgone conclusion, but know your SPSS plus other software for statistics. 

At UW you can visit CSSCR The Center for Social Science Computation and Research and go their website for documents related to learning SPSS, SAS, Excel, R, and other software. But if you can't make it to one of their seminars, or you have difficulty learning from a pdf, there are other resources on the web. You can follow tutorials on YouTube!! These are great because, unlike a seminar or class, you can pause the video and rewind. This way you never fall behind.

For YouTube videos on SPSS, search (click on the words in bold to get to the web link):

SPSS

RStatsInstitute

myCSULA (*personal favorite)

While a student at UW, I learned SPSS more than 5 years ago as a young graduate student in biology. But after my first year, the biology department and all other science departments on campus abandoned SPSS for the R project. R is free and a more powerful stats software than SPSS. Since we were in a recession at the time free was much better than science departments paying $1,000s per year for SPSS. YouTube has been great for me to relearn SPSS. 

Buy SPSS before you leave UW. 

The UW Bookstore sells SPSS at a student rate of $90. Get the version that doesn't require a yearly license renewal. If you buy SPSS after graduation you will need to pay IBM $2,000+.  Also, saying you already have SPSS on your computer makes you a more attractive applicant, especially for contract positions. 

What other statistics software should you learn?

Excel, definitely. 

R, maybe.

This is a difficult question to answer because it depends on what potential employers are looking for. 

For example here is excerpt from a recent job ad for Education Research Manager, Center for Learning Innovation and Collaboration

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS & ABILITIES

·         Excellent project management skills with strong ability to successfully manage several large initiatives simultaneously

·         Working knowledge of PCs, using word processing, spread sheet and databases software.

·         Comfort with computer-based data management resources (for example: SPSS, SYSTAT, S-Plus, SigmaPlot, R, or SAS, etc.)

·         Comfort with change, innovation, and unique approaches to educational research methods and programming

·         Comfort with approaching members of the public for data collection purposes. 

--Patty M. 

Life after Museology: Moving to Washington D.C.

Lesson One: if you are planning to move to D.C. have a job lined up.  

I didn't understand how important this was until I started apartment searching. All the property managers, and craigslist people ask for information about why you are moving to D.C. and for letters from your employer (future or current) to prove you will have income to pay the rent. Luckily, my other half has a job in D.C. and I didn't have to worry about my unemployment status starting in September. 

Lesson Two: Prepare to compete aggressively with lots of people for any apartment.  

Before going to search for an apartment, do some homework on the neighborhoods. We have a friend in DC who was able to tell us about which areas would be great for our lifestyle. We wanted to be close to public transit, walking distance to restaurants and lots of peace and quiet. This narrowed things down a bit and helped when deciding which apartment listings to respond to. When you do meet whoever is showing you an apartment be prepared for something that feels like a job interview. Some property managers and owners not only want to know about your credit history but want to know you as a person. So having a good elevator speech doesn't hurt. In fact, we were put at the top of a list of potential renters because we happened to be environmentally friendly people and from UW. We didn't know that the owner of a 1bedroom apartment in a great area was an environmental lawyer and went to UW for law school! What are the odds? Finally, don't take your time deciding on a place. I hate to write this piece of advice because I think a person should be happy with their apartment if they are paying for it (especially DC prices which are $1,500+/month for 600 sq. ft.). Apartments go fast. If you take more than a day or two to decide before signing a check for the application fee, the apartment will be gone.

What can you do? Schedule lots of appointments on the same day, vigilantly check padmapper and craigslist everyday for new listings, and be prepared to make quick decisions.

If you need advice and help, there is a growing number of UW Museology grads in the DC metro area. 

More to come soon....

Related to that idea I didn't use for Research Design class, I just ran across this article connected with the Trends Watch 2012 (Center for the Future of Museums), Unschooling, Museums & Learning Models for this Century.  Really interesting comment section regarding museums' role in the debate about formal vs. informal education.

Volunteers!

Hi all! Welcome to my first Museoblog post!

I just wanted to take the opportunity to talk about volunteers, because volunteers are awesome! Yes, there is the aspect of "free labor" which, as museums, we are always happy about. But volunteers bring so much more to the table than just working for free! They bring passion, loyalty, commitment, and enthusiasm. They are your institution's community connection, and they can act as ambassadors and marketers. There is no greater word on how your institution is meeting its goals than to hear from a volunteer how excited they are to be there for free!

One of the reasons I enjoy working with volunteers is that excitement and enthusiasm. They are genuinely interested in helping the museum and are always willing to provide feedback and help out when needed. I enjoy reading shift reports because almost everything is "Got to talk with a bunch of visitors today and it was awesome!" or "I love talking with visitors about [exhibit name] because the always teach me something new!". I read a shift the other day where one of our volunteer tour guides got tipped...and immediately donated it to the museum!

There are so many ways volunteers can be incorporated into museums. Special events, front desk, collections, marketing, development, exhibits--anywhere! They have so much passion to share, and guests really pick up on that, and it helps to strengthen community connections.   

Museocomics #2: Way overdue

Yes, Museum Advocacy Day was over a month ago, but any day is a great day for starting important conversations and getting through awkward ones full of Ben Stiller references. 

End of the Quarter Thoughts

As the quarter has been winding down for me and I have had some time to just relax and think, I thought I would be happy. It is near the end of the quarter, I am done my work, my girlfriend is coming across the country to visit, and I am feeling fairly optimistic about summer jobs and internship opportunities. Despite all this, when I slowed down and caught my breath, I began to feel unhappy and unsettled. Although I couldn't make out why at first, I tried to get to the bottom of these emotions. I finally realized that I was unhappy with myself: unhappy with my attitude and approach to grad school.

Normally, I pride myself in being a fairly helpful, caring person. And honestly, this was one of the reasons that I decided to work in museums in the first place. I thought working in a museum would be the best way for me to use my talents in the service of others. It could be a place for me to put my passion and energy toward something I believe in, and share that passion with others, even if it means being a little tired at the end of the day.

What made me so unhappy was how quickly I had lost sight of that throughout the year. I felt as if I had changed, and not for the better. Rather than asking myself how I could help others, I was asking myself how I could make myself look better to future employers. Rather than thinking about what my talents were that I could use to make someone's day a little better, I was thinking about what I could do to beef up my resume. While I think that graduate school is the time to network, develop skills that would look good on a resume, and start to think about jobs, it is not the end the end-all be-all of our future careers. It is a tool to help us achieve what it is we would like to achieve.

I am writing this reflection on my own personal experiences in the hope that it will give others the time to stop and think about their own experiences in our graduate program, or in other graduate programs. Whenever you are feeling stressed about an assignment, busy schedule, thesis paper, or projects, I hope that you think about what is beyond the stress. First, the stress is a sign that you care about what you are doing, and that you are invested in the choices you have made to be where you are today. But it can also get in the way of seeing why we are stressing ourselves out in the first place.

While stress might be a necessary evil in motivating us to get things done, if stress overtakes the love and passion in what you are doing, slow down! We might not turn in the perfect assignment, make a perfect budget, or write the perfect thesis, but we don't need to. What we need to do is make ourselves the most effective museum professionals we are capable of being, so we can be happy with ourselves and spread that happiness along.

Evaluation Excitements

Hey everybody!  Those of us in the Intro to Audience Research class got to have a Skype interview with a few experienced (and enthusiastic) evaluators yesterday, including Kathryn Owen of the Woodland Park Zoo, Kathleen Tinworth of the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, and Steve Yalowitz of the Institute for Learning Innovation (ILI)

During the talk, Kathleen mentioned a blog she writes about her many evaluation adventures.  I asked her if she would mind if I went ahead and linked it to our own blog, and she graciously (and again, quite enthusiastically) agreed.  So, here it is:

http://exposeyourmuseum.com/

I highly recommend checking it out.  She writes a lot about new technologies and reaching out to underrepresented audiences, and it's all quite interesting stuff! 

While My Guitar Gently Rotates in an iPad App

Are iPad apps the future of museums? George Harrison's son Dhani Harrison is putting together a project that digitally showcases his father's guitar collection including 360 degree views, details about the guitar, facts about the guitar's relationship to George, songs he played on each guitar, and more. Harrison said on Conan that he would like to expand the project to collections of other famous guitarists, like Eric Clapton. Seems like a pretty cool way to make private collections like these accessible to the public... Is this the direction of museums and collections of the future?

The app launches this week, and while the $9.99 price tag will probably prevent me from downloading it, I am sorely tempted. Click below to read the NY Times overview of the project:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/23/arts/music/new-ipad-app-the-guitar-collection-george-harrison.html

Museocomics #1: In which the controversy assignment returns

FYI, Megan J. is the funny one in this collaboration. I just doodle and mess with her ideas.

Also, I'm glad this comic is about 580 and not 590, because the 590 version would just be an Excel spreadsheet. And then where would the dinosaur go? 

Museum Advocacy Day Letter Workshop!

So, a few of you may know that my heart yearns for greater museum advocacy.  Weird, you say?  No, I say!  So should yours!  We all know that museums can save the world.  So why are they so chronically underfunded?  As future and emerging museum professionals and potential co-conspirators in the saving of the world, we know that we will need sustenance since we can't eat love (of museums).  Museum Advocacy Day (yes, there is such a thing!) is on Tuesday, February 28th.  AAM has provided some great content and our very own Seattle branch of Emerging Museum Professionals is providing an opportunity for us to get together and make some noise about the good museums do and why in this time of legislative belt-tightening and election campaigning, our legislators should make sure museums get funded.  Please join us and help make some Noise...quietly, with letters.  

We'll be providing the essentials, pizza and accoutrements like writing materials; you bring yourself and those who love museums (and maybe a laptop if you've got one).  A big shout out to the Museology Department for financial support (pizza and print costs)!  Also, we a little short on stamps, so if you can spare some, it is most appreciated.  Do you care enough about your future career to stand up for it?  This event is open, so please also help pass on this invitation to other museum folks and supporters.

MUSEUM ADVOCACY 101

Monday, February 27

6-8 p.m.

UW Campus, Art Building Room 317 (look for signage) 

Thanks,

Lissa

Best Part Of a Museum Is...

According to Visitors, THIS is the Best Part About Going to a Museum
(Hint: It’s Not The Exhibits) 

Interesting article by Colleen Dilenschneide. Obviously pertinent for museologists and suggests that museums may want to reconsider how they design their visitor experience. - Ari

With the budget looming over the heads of the firsties like a tiny apocalypse, I've found it helpful to think back on exactly why I'm here.  That's why I'd like to share the abridged Jablonski museo-origin story, and I encourage all of you to do the same!  Even though nostalgia will not balance a fake museum budget, it is definitely therapeutic!

In the beginning...
Like many six-year-olds, I was dino-crazy.  I could barely remember my own phone number, but I could tell you about the hunting patterns of the deinonychus and the thick bony skull of the pachycephalosaurus.  Basically, I was way cool. 

Evidence of coolness.

Dinosaurs were the subjects of many earliest drawings, stories, and bizarre impressions.   And that's when I saw this:

Awwww yeeeeeeah.

Fake thunder and lightning effects highlight this massive diorama of prehistoric carnage at the Milwaukee Public Museum.  NEAT, right!?  Six-year-old Megan thought so too.  Thus began the early stages of museolove.  At that point, even the dead blank stares of the Streets of Old Milwaukee mannequins couldn't turn me off to museums. 

Fast forward 18 years.  The year was 2009.  A certificate program had drawn me to Illinois, where everybody gets excited about tractors and bears. 

"Sexiest tractor this here side o' the Mississippi!"

Although my certificate was for zoos and aquaria, an internship at the Putnam Museum drew me into the world of museums. On the very first day of my internship, my mentor had a brief conversation with a squirrel skeleton on her desk.  And that's when I knew I was in the right place. 

Ghost dance party!  These probably happen in museums. 

One of my first solo projects at the museum involved cataloging the massive paleo-invertebrate collection at the Putnam.  Essentially, I was locked in a storeroom surrounded by dead things for 8 hours a day for 2 months.  Despite my somewhat antsy nature, it remains one of my favorite projects simply because of how amazing it felt to be around things that had actually been alive over 400 million years ago.  That is SO MANY YEARS YOU GUYS! 

400 million years is like almost infinity years! 

We may not be fighting off Nazis and rescuing religious relics like Indiana Jones, but if we're lucky we may just get to hold a trilobite in our hands, catalogue a neat basket, or get a future Museologist just as excited about old things as we all are.  And those hopeful thoughts will get me through the budget.  Power on, Museologists.   

The Mob Museum - No, this isn't part of Wilson's Assignment

How sweet, The Mob Museum opened on Valentine's Day in Las Vegas, Nevada.  Would Bugsy be proud?

Here are some quick facts:

• Cost $42 million for construction 
• Funded by the city of Las Vegas and nearly $9 million in federal, state and local historic preservation grants. It is run by the 501 (c) 3 non-profit 300 Stewart Avenue Corporation.
• Exhibit Space 17,000 sq.ft (Total space: 41, 000 sq.ft)
• Location: A historic building, once a federal courthouse and Post Office, and the site of hearings into organized crimes in 1950. 

Mission (?) I didn't find anything titled mission, but this was written under "Overview." Maybe the mob doesn't want to reveal to much about the business?

"The Mob Museum, a 501 (c) 3 non-profit, is an interactive Museum dedicated to the history of organized crime and law enforcement. The Museum presents a bold and authentic view of organized crime’s impact on Las Vegas history, as well as, its unique imprint on America and the world. The Museum presents the real stories and actual events of mob history via interactive and engaging exhibits that reveal all sides of the story about the role of organized crime in the U.S. The Mob Museum offers multiple perspectives and provides a contemporary, engaging, challenging and educational experience."

If you want some info, read the NY Times article.
If you can't forget about it, then visit the museum's website.

--See you later, Patty

The Raven.. I mean, *THE* Raven

'This grim, ungainly, ghastly, bird': Dickens' pet raven which inspired Edgar Allan Poe's most haunting poem goes on display

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk
"Each line of Edgar Allan Poe's The Raven still has the power to send a chill down the spine.
Now Charles Dickens' pet raven called Grip - the little known, real-life inspiration behind one of literature's most terrifying poems - has been has been put on display to commemorate the author's 200th birthday. 

The bird, which Dickens [had] a taxidermist preserve, has been given pride of place in a new exhibition in Philadelphia's public library...."

This seemed interesting, so thought I'd share! Click the link for the whole article -Ari

Garrett's (hopefully) Interesting Tidbit!*

The put your head between your knees and kiss your bum good bye edition

Like most of us Museonauts I spend an inordinate amount of time at the Burke Museum.  This time is usually spent following scholarly pursuits or working; at least that is the party line.  Occasionally I come across something unusual or interesting, and I don't mean in the galleries or in public spaces. I would like to share one of these moments with you all.

Some time ago I found something intriguing in the basement Men's bathroom. Many of you will stop reading here and I don't blame you, but trust me it is not what you think. After washing my hands I went to throw the paper towel away when I noticed something unusual about the trash can. It was in fact a re-purposed drum for emergency drinking water.  It was issued by the Office of Civil Defence as part of survival supplies for a fall out shelter.  Which is exactly what the Burke basement is.



"I was built to save lives, now I keep us from getting ants! Which is equally important."



Some of you may be like me and wander the halls staring at the ceiling because you don't know where the ninjas may come from.  If this is you then you will have undoubtedly noticed the Fallout Shelter signs posted in and around the basement.  (I will give you a hardy handshake if you can find them).  In 1962 at the height of the cold war when the current Burke building was erected our cozy basement was built to withstand a nuclear holocaust. Now we know what was meant by preserving collections in perpetuity.

I hope you found this interesting, I know I am asking to much thinking my inane jokes were actually funny, but I enjoyed writing this and I hope you kind of enjoyed reading it.  That said everybody should try to post something from time to time.  It is super easy, it doesn't have to be profound for goodness sake (see above dribble).  Also I wrote most of this on my Android phone using the free Blogger App.  That is right we are one step closer to being ruled by the machines. 

*FYI the title sounds better if you put it to a jingle

Internships About and Abound

In the Seattle-Tacoma area, internship opportunities abound and there is something for all Museology students to seize upon.  If you are willing to travel however, there are even more institutions that would be thrilled to take on an intern, and many of these institutions are untapped opportunities.  A twist of fate in the paleontology collections led me to Catherine Brown, director of the Stonerose Interpretive Center in Republic, Washington, where I have started an internship.  While I am certainly not the first student to engage in a "long distance relationship" with an institution, I have decided to blog about the experience and its benefits and challenges, for the benefit of other students.  Urban museums tend to receive more resources and attention due to their proximity to universities and measurable economies, but the entire Pacific Northwest is full or rural museums that deserve attention.

A case of shale fossils, Stonerose Interpretive Center.

The Stonerose Interpretive Center is a museum that owns and operates a rich Eocene fossil site (49 MYA) in Republic, in Ferry County, six hours Northeast of Seattle.  (http://www.stonerosefossil.org/)  Visitors can see the museum and actually dig for their own fossils.  I made the drive last weekend for my initial grand tour and meeting with the board, and had several long conversations about projects and priorities with the director.  The drive itself was fun- I got to see more of the Cascades, Steven's Pass, and some of Eastern Washington.  And on the East side I walked on a frozen lake for the first time, shin deep in snow.  Coming back I drove through forested mountain canyons, through the Columbia River basalt flow, and saw the Grand Coulee and scablands.  The trip itself was worth it.

To manage this internship, we decided that this will be a long-term, long-distance relationship.  For the next year, I will be visiting the site for a weekend about every six weeks.  I will also stay a few extra days over Spring break and the summer periods.  In between these on-site periods, I will work on projects that will be can be worked on while off-site, with some on-site testing and execution.  Not having had an intern before, the doors were thrown open for me and I was told "do whatever you want!".  The four areas of focus we decided we could make significant progress on with this model are strategic planning, fundraising, a visitor study, and education programming.

Interestingly, Stonerose shares a building with the Ferry County Historical Society.  The director there, Dr. Perry, states that there are historical societies with much to be done in pretty much every county in Washington.

Coming out the other end of this endeavor, I hope to developed a list of tips, benefits, and pitfalls of long-term, long-distance internships with museums outside the Puget Sound area.  

Some old mining stuff, Ferry County Historical Society Museum.

Welcome!

Hello friends!  Welcome to the Museoblog!  Feel free to share thoughts and stories and all of your deepest darkest feelings.  But PLEASE, let’s keep it mission-related.

Museoblog Mission statement: Let’s have fun and fill this bugger up!

-Megan