Stephanie Allen
Stephanie Allen
Stephanie Allen is a cultural heritage information technology specialist. She holds an undergradute degree in History from the University of Western Ontario and a master's degree in Museum Studies from the University of Toronto. She currently works as a Registrar at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto; co-teaches the course Digital Applications for Collections Management in the graduate program Photographic Preservation and Collections Management in the School of Image Arts at Ryerson University and is a guest lecturer in registration and collections management at the University of Toronto's Museum Studies Program in the Faculty of Information.
A history of the world in 100 artefacts
Director of the British Museum, Neil MacGregor, narrates 100 programmes that retell humanity's history through the objects we have made. The series spans two million years of history and uses objects from the British Museum's collection to tell a history of the world, from the earliest times to the present day.
Privacy: a social norm?
Privacy is no longer a social norm, according to the founder of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg commenting on the rise of social networking.
“Many young people are choosing to open their lives in ways their parents would have thought impossible and their grandparents unthinkable. Their lives play out on a public stage of their own design as they strive for visibility, connectedness and knowledge,”
-- Jennifer Stoddart, Privacy Commissioner of Canada
What is collections management?
Collections management doesn't sounds like a nebulous concept, but ask a group of museum professionals for a definition and you soon realise it isn't as obvious as it seems.
Collections Management includes
· the clear scope of the collection / the collecting goals
· approved methods of acquisition
· responsible recordkeeping, accounting
· insurance
· care of physical object
· access
· provisions governing incoming and outgoing loans
· deaccessioning and disposal considerations
Building an Information Infrastructure
Many museums and cultural institutions have moved into the "digital age" in the name of progress. In many cases it was in name only. The movement towards a digital ge in museum was an evolution. What we need, however, is a revolution. In many ways we are still guided by the old paradigms but on a digital platform. The "old way" often made sense on paper, but the transition to digital makes less sense.
Teaching versus Experience
An upcoming conference at the University of Toronto's Museum Studies programme: Taking Stock: Museum Studies and Museum Practices in Canada makes me think about the nature of teaching versus actually working in the museum field. Does a museum professional who becomes a full-time instructor lose their relevance as a museum professional? Can a professional, academic museologist be credible as an istructor in a professional program?