The Museum Blog Book

£45
£45
CHOOSE YOUR EDITION:

How many blogs do you read regularly? Much of today’s most interesting, innovative and passionate writing about museums and galleries is hidden away in hundreds of carefully-crafted museum blogs. And all too little of this content enters into mainstream museum discourse. 

Over 75 blogs: transforming the museum experience
The Museum Blog Book brings together a collection which reflects fresh thinking and practice in and about museums. Whether the authors are from world-class institutions like MoMA, the Smithsonian, the British Museum, or the V&A - or are independent professionals or volunteers - they all share practical experience aimed at improving (and often transforming) the museum experience.

New technologies
In five sections, The Museum Blog Book explores every key area of museum operation: from managing and collecting, to learning, interpreting and visiting. The content is both rich and concise. And - reflecting its online origins - the application of new technologies is explored throughout.

676 pages | 126 illustrations
This is a book which speaks for itself: museum professionals share the experiences and perceptions they believe are the most valuable, the most urgent. It’s perceptive. Witty. Thoughtful. Concerned. Angry. Committed. Exhilarating. Invaluable.

View full description below
The Museum Blog Book

Description

Contents list
More Less

PART 1: MANAGING
BLOG: Leadership Matters
• Twenty Things Leaders Should Think About Today
• Empathy or Sympathy: What Kind of Museum Leader Are You?
• Can Women Have It All?
• Is Negotiating Not a Museum Thing?
Joan H Baldwin, Curator of Special Collections, The Hotchkiss School, Lakeville, CT

BLOG: Paper Magazine
Vitruvius in Japan: Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad
Dana Buntrock, Chair,  University of California (Berkeley) Center for Japanese Studies

BLOG: Tony Butler’s Blog
Museums and the Civic Contract
Tony Butler, Executive Director, Derby Museums Trust

BLOG: Message in a Bottle
Message in a Bottle #1-3
Phillip Van den Bossche, Director and Curator, Mu.ZEE, Ostend, Belgium

BLOG: Museum Computer Network
The Intersection Between Social Innovation, Museums and Digital
Haitham Eid, Interim Director Museum Studies, Southern University, New Orleans

BLOG: Kirsty Fife
The Cost(s) of Being an Archivist
Kirsty Fife, Archivist and Curator, National Media Museum, Bradford

BLOG: Center for the Future of Museums
Unsafe Ideas: Building Museum Worker Solidarity for Social Justice, Inside and Out
Alyssa Greenberg (Department of Art History, University of Illinois at Chicago) and Nina Pelaez (Assistant Curator of Public Programs, Williams College Museum of Art)

BLOG: Museum Questions
How Do Museums in Small Cities Gain and Wield Soft Power?
Rebecca Shulman Herz (Director, Peoria PlayHouse Children's Museum) and Ngaire Blankenberg (Director Europe, Lord Cultural Resources)

BLOG: Museum Commons
Joint Statement on Museums and Ferguson: First Anniversary
Gretchen Jennings, Museum Consultant

BLOG: Centre for the Future of Museums
Predicting Our Cultural Future: Is 2016 The Year of Musedata?
Angie Judge (CEO, Dexibit), Dacia Massengill (Digital Strategist) and Elena Villaespesa (Digital Media Analyst, Metropolitan Museum)

BLOG: The Incluseum
Michelle Obama, Activism and Museum Employment
Rose Paquet Kinsley (Cofounder, The Incluseum), Aletheia Wittman (Cofounder, The Incluseum) and Porchia Moore (McKissick Museum Management Program, University of South Carolina)

BLOG: On Public Humanities
Workshop with the NY Humanities Fellows
Steven Lubar, Professor, Departments of American Studies, History, and History of Art & Architecture, Brown University

BLOG: Exploring the Past
Replacing Mission Statements with “Why Should I Care?” Statements
Nick Sacco, Public Historian, National Park Service

BLOG: Design Thinking for Museums
Five Steps for Embedding Design Thinking in a Museum
Dana Mitroff Silvers, Founder and Director, Designing Insights

BLOG: Chad Weinard
Museums, We Need To Talk
Chad Weinard, Technologist and Digital Strategist

BLOG: Musing on Culture
The Museum is a Person
Maria Vlachou, Executive Director, Access Culture, Portugal

BLOG: NEXUS1492
How Caribbean Museums Contribute to a More Sustainable Society
Csilla Ariese-Vandemeulebroucke, University of Leiden


PART 2: COLLECTING
BLOG: Attendant’s View
Be Human: Get It Right
The Attendant

BLOG: Fistful of Cinctans
How To Be More Helpful To Researchers
Mark Carnall, Curator, Oxford University Museum of Natural History

BLOG: Interpretation Matters
Step Up at Pallant House Gallery
Kate Davey, Founder and Editor, kdoutsiderart.com

BLOG: Outsider Art
Valid Art: Creativity and Affirmation
Kate Davey, Founder and Editor, kdoutsiderart.com

BLOG: Council on Library and Information Resources
Hidden Collections For Everyone
Michael Peter Edson, Co-founder, Museum for the United Nations – UN Live.

BLOG: Glasgow School of Art Archives and Collections
Informing Restoration
Peter Trowles, Mackintosh Curator, Glasgow School of Art

BLOG: V&A Blog: The Factory Presents…
French Postcards: History Revealed
Erika Lederman, Cataloguer, Photographs Section, V&A Museum

BLOG: On Public Humanities
The Find-Me-Another Machine
Steven Lubar, Professor, Departments of American Studies, History, and History of Art & Architecture, Brown University

BLOG: The Cricket Bat That Died for Ireland
Covert Photography in Rath Internment Camp
Brenda Malone, National Museum of Ireland

BLOG: Thinking About Museums
Representing Abundance
Ed Rodley, Associate Director of Integrated Media, Peabody Essex Museum, Salem

BLOG: Statens Museum for Kunst
Wiki Labs: Enriching Art History on Wikipedia
Merete Sanderhoff, Curator and Senior Advisor Digital Museum Practice, Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen

BLOG: Stories from the Museum Floor
From Shrunken Heads to Collective Conversations
Michelle Scott, University of Manchester


PART 3: LEARNING
BLOG: Museum Questions
• Can We Control What Students Learn on Museum Visits?
Lisa Gilbert, Saint Louis University, Missouri

• But Will You Be Here? An Argument for Tours that Encourage Life-long Learning
Jackie Delamatre, Museum Educator, Rhode Island School of Design Museum

• Can Museums Teach Content to School Groups?
• Why Do We Need Classroom Management in Museums?
Rebecca Shulman Herz, Director, Peoria PlayHouse Children’s Museum

BLOG: Under the Wings: Milwaukeee Art Museum Blog
Slow Looking: Teens Explore a Single Work of Art
Chelsea Emelie Kelly, Youth Corps Coordinator, Park Avenue Armory, New York

BLOG: Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums Blog
• Creative Baby! The Beginnings of an Idea
• Reflections on a Journey of Discovery: Lessons Learned from Creative Baby!
• An Art Exhibition Tour… For Babies?
Hannah Mackay-Jackson, Project Coordinator, Shipley Art Gallery, Gateshead

BLOG: Ren Associates Blog
The Science of Wisdom
Terri McNichol, President, Ren Associates

BLOG: The Uncataloged Museum
What Do You See In This Picture From the Rijksmuseum?
Linda Norris, independent museum professional

BLOG: Museum Hack
What Makes an Engaging Art Museum Experience?
Tiffany Rhoades, Program Developer, Girl Museum

BLOG: MoMA Learning
On Place and Proximity
Wendy Woon, Edward John Noble Foundation Deputy Director for Education, MoMA, New York


PART 4: INTERPRETING
BLOG: MoMA Learning
Agile Evaluation: User Testing and the Feedback Loop for the Redesign of MoMA.org
Jackie Armstrong, Associate Educator, Visitor Research and Experience, MoMA, New York

BLOG: Eye Level
Eye Wonder: Ten Years of Blogging
Jeff Gates (Lead Producer, New Media Initiatives) and Howard Kaplan (Writer), Smithsonian American Art Museum

BLOG: Attendant’s View
New vs Old
The Attendant

BLOG: Museums and the Digital
#beaconfail
Amelia Bowan, Learning Team, Australian National Maritime Museum

BLOG: The British Museum
• 3D Imaging: The Assyrian Reliefs at the British Museum
Matthew Cock, previously Head of Web, British Museum

• Creating a Virtual Bronze Age Roundhouse
Lizzie Edwards and Juno Rae, Co-managers, Samsung Digital Discovery Centre, British Museum

• What Colour Were Dorothy’s Shoes?
Mieka Harris, Education Manager, Citi Money Gallery, British Museum

BLOG: Archaeology, Museums & Outreach
• Co-creation and #Museumsrespondtoferguson
• Why Co-creation in Archaeology Works
Robert P Connolly, Department of Geography and Anthropology, Louisiana State University

BLOG: The Australian Museum
More Beacon Technology In Use at the Australian Museum
Jen Cork, Senior Digital Producer, The Australian Museum.

BLOG: Objects of Sound
Exploring the Social and Cultural Voices of Objects
Alcina Cortez, INET-MD, Universidade Nova de Lisboa

BLOG: The Distant Sound of Trumpets
The New Museum Conversation Is Not About You
Jonas Heide Smith, Head of Digital, SMK – The National Gallery of Denmark

BLOG: NAI Wild West Region Newsletter
What Constitutes Interpretive Success?
Toni Herndon, Certified Interpretive Trainer, San Diego Zoo Global

BLOG: The Conversation
Using Virtual Reality to Preserve the Past
Jenny Kidd, Lecturer in Media and Cultural Studies, Cardiff University

BLOG: Connected
Benton in 3D
Jim Olson,  Director of Integrated Media, Peabody Essex Museum, Salem

BLOG: Create Hub
Can Cultural Institutions Do More to Engage the Digital Generation?
Chantal Pinkham, Cultural Partnerships Lead, Blippar

BLOG: Cabinet of Curiosities
The Art of Black Pain
Adrianne Russell, Museum Evangelist, Literary Artist and Nonprofit Consultant

BLOG: Science Communication Unit UWE Bristol
Science Communicators Need to Get It: Science Isn’t Fun
Erik Stengler, Senior Lecturer in Science Communication, University of the West of England, Bristol


PART 5: VISITING
BLOG: The Other Museums
Who is “We”?
Cristiano Agostino, University of Edinburgh

BLOG: MoMA Learning
Combining Poetry With Visual Art To See (And Feel) in a New Way
Jackie Armstrong, Associate Educator, Visitor Research and Experience, MoMA, New York

BLOG: The Distant Sound of Trumpets
We’ve Got 99 Problems But The Museum Selfie Ain’t One
Jonas Heide Smith, Head of Digital, SMK – The National Gallery of Denmark

BLOG: The Happy Museum
Materialism Degrades Matter. Can Museums Rise It Up?
Hilary Jennings, Director, The Happy Museum Project

BLOG: Museums and the Digital
Visitors, Apps, Post-visit Experiences …And a Rethink of Digital Engagement
Lynda Kelly, Head of Learning, Australian National Maritime Museum

BLOG: Tincture of Museum
Selfie Behaviour at the British Museum
Claire Madge, Collection Care Volunteer, Museum of London

BLOG: The Learning Planet
Museums After Paris
Bridget McKenzie, Director, Flow UK

BLOG: The Uncataloged Museum
What Does Democracy Look Like at a Historic Site?
Linda Norris, independent museum professional

BLOG: The Interpretation Game: Cultural Heritage and the Digital Economy
Roxanne, You Don’t Have To Pull Out Your Bluetooth Phone
Matthew Tyler-Jones, Visitor Experience Consultant, National Trust

BLOG: Engaging Places
Creating a 21st Century House Museum
Max A van Balgooy, President, Engaging Places

BLOG: Out in the Museum
Why the V&A Gay and Lesbian Tour is Essential
Dan Vo, Volunteer Ambassador, V&A Museum

BLOG: TeamWorks Media Blog
How Museums Can Demonstrate Expertise in the Age of Google
Carol Summerfield, Chief Strategy Officer, TeamWorks Media

BLOG: MoMA Inside Out
Art, Humor and Keeping Things Uncomfortable
Calder Zwicky, Assistant Director for Teen and Community Partnerships, MoMA

APPENDIX
How to Write a Good Blog Post
Jeff Gates, Lead Producer, New Media Initiatives, Smithsonian American Art Museum

Editor
More Less

Graeme Farnell is a museum professional with experience in curation, management, and the leadership of UK national museum organisations as the Director of the Scottish Museums Council and of the UK Museums Association. He holds an MA in Fine Art from Edinburgh University and a post-graduate film-making qualification from the London Film School. He is the founder and publisher at MuseumsEtc.

Reviews
More Less

Suse Anderson, Asst. Professor Museum Studies, George Washington University:
Blogging is a unique form of writing. At once personal, professional, and political, it draws its power from its immediacy, responsiveness, and the often-provisional nature of its dialogue; a kind of thinking-out-loud. Its visceral discourse responds to and reflects a changing world and sector. Like the best blogs, this book will perhaps be most useful when browsed, dipped into, and revisited often. Its individual chapters weave together to tell bigger stories, whilst each piece holds pearls of wisdom to be digested at will. Whenever you're seeking inspiration or perspective, the authors in this book will have some to share.

Aleia Brown, Visiting Curator, Michigan State University Museum:
This wonderful collection of essays illuminates the vital conversations taking place online by and about museums. The authors address a range of hot topics, as well as more elusive issues in the field, while pushing readers to think critically about what it means to be a 21st century museum. The Museum Blog Book is essential reading for those looking to creatively and thoughtfully consider how museums can interact with the world beyond their physical spaces. 

Alima Bucciantini, Asst. Professor of Public History, Duquesne University, Pittsburgh:
The Museum Blog Book gives readers access to cutting edge thinking on a variety of museum topics in one place, as well as resources to find out more. This is a valuable resource for practitioners, students, and teachers alike. 

Andrea Burns, Associate Professor, Department of History, Appalachian State University:
The Museum Blog Book has collected a wealth of accessible and important blog posts from some of the most noted and contemporary voices in the museum field. Anyone who is interested in learning more about key topics of concern for museums in the twenty-first century will find this book to be an essential resource.

Guillermo Fernández, Consultant for Museums and Science Exhibitions, Tarragona, Spain:
New communication technologies have contributed to important changes in the way museum professionals work. Paradoxically, this more interconnected professional collective now has less time available to take advantage of the extraordinary training resources offered by the internet. This book offers a careful and well-ordered selection of key themes for museums from the refreshing approaches of the best bloggers.

David Fleming, Director, National Museums Liverpool:
I love blogs – they have given a new lease of life to opinion-forming about museums. This book contains some of the best museum blogs around, and it is essential (and compulsive) reading.

Nik Honeysett, Chief Executive, Balboa Park Online Collaborative:
There has never been a more important time for the global museum community to speak out, to pick a side, pick a cause or simply make sense of the world we now live in. If you want to see how that’s happening, this book will show you with glorious insight into our mission-driven community. Its both personal and general, strategic and tactical, local and global, diverse and opinionated, but totally compelling - just like museums. The publisher hopes I’ll find the results both "enjoyable and inspiring". Yes I did. Simply put, read this book to remember why you work in a museum.

Robert R Janes, Editor-in-Chief Emeritus, Museum Management and Curatorship:
The Museum Blog Book transcends the ephemeral nature of the digital world by assembling an impressive array of blogs on the challenges and opportunities of contemporary museum work. In the transitory age of the Internet, this is a collection of substance and insightwhere the words stay put – in a book. With commentaries on dozens of topics, ranging from new technology to activism, this book will engage any museum worker who values critical thinking and self-reflection, with or without a handheld device.

Nick Merriman, Director, The Manchester Museum:
Blogging and social media provide a new kind of museum discourse: often informal, witty, moving, personal, and hard-hitting. The ephemerality of the medium is a strength, but also means that much that is of long-lasting value is lost to future audiences. This book does us a great service in bringing together some outstanding examples of this important genre in the more durable format of a book.

Therese Quinn, Director of Museum and Exhibition Studies, University of Illinois at Chicago:
Pleasures, provocations, pain… Indictments and incitements. Manifestoes! A rich gathering of the best of the blogosphere on all things museum, this compendium works equally well as an introduction to the field for newcomers and a sourcebook for experienced practitioners. With topics of urgent contemporary concern - leadership and gender, worker activism, museum selfies, and writing strong blog posts like these - this book is for everyone with an interest in museums, and should not be missed.

Lawrence R Rinder, Director, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive:
Kudos to the folks who assembled this amazing compendium. Thanks to their prodigious reading and sifting we can now benefit from the thoughtful and timely observations on museum practice from a host of international museum professionals. This book is a gift to us all! 

Robert Weisberg, Co-chair, Conference Program Committee, Museum Computer Network | Senior Project Manager, Publications and Editorial, The Metropolitan Museum of Art |  robertjweisberg.com :
This book presents critical and loving, sharp and heartfelt insight from a diverse group of writers hailing from from many institutions, backgrounds, and perspectives, all sharing one goal - improving our museums in order to improve our communities, society, and the world. Dear museum workers, read this book - especially the answers and questions from other parts of the museum field than yours. It’s a sprawling conference and a modern discourse on museum relevance all in one.

Data
More Less

Pages 676
Colour illustrations 126
Size 216 x 140 mm
Publication 27 February 2017
Editions £59 [paperback] | £45 [eBook]
ISBN 978-1-910144-84-8 [paperback] 

Description

How many blogs do you read regularly? Much of today’s most interesting, innovative and passionate writing about museums and galleries is hidden away in hundreds of carefully-crafted museum blogs. And all too little of this content enters into mainstream museum discourse. 

Over 75 blogs: transforming the museum experience
The Museum Blog Book brings together a collection which reflects fresh thinking and practice in and about museums. Whether the authors are from world-class institutions like MoMA, the Smithsonian, the British Museum, or the V&A - or are independent professionals or volunteers - they all share practical experience aimed at improving (and often transforming) the museum experience.

New technologies
In five sections, The Museum Blog Book explores every key area of museum operation: from managing and collecting, to learning, interpreting and visiting. The content is both rich and concise. And - reflecting its online origins - the application of new technologies is explored throughout.

676 pages | 126 illustrations
This is a book which speaks for itself: museum professionals share the experiences and perceptions they believe are the most valuable, the most urgent. It’s perceptive. Witty. Thoughtful. Concerned. Angry. Committed. Exhilarating. Invaluable.

Contents list

PART 1: MANAGING
BLOG: Leadership Matters
• Twenty Things Leaders Should Think About Today
• Empathy or Sympathy: What Kind of Museum Leader Are You?
• Can Women Have It All?
• Is Negotiating Not a Museum Thing?
Joan H Baldwin, Curator of Special Collections, The Hotchkiss School, Lakeville, CT

BLOG: Paper Magazine
Vitruvius in Japan: Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad
Dana Buntrock, Chair,  University of California (Berkeley) Center for Japanese Studies

BLOG: Tony Butler’s Blog
Museums and the Civic Contract
Tony Butler, Executive Director, Derby Museums Trust

BLOG: Message in a Bottle
Message in a Bottle #1-3
Phillip Van den Bossche, Director and Curator, Mu.ZEE, Ostend, Belgium

BLOG: Museum Computer Network
The Intersection Between Social Innovation, Museums and Digital
Haitham Eid, Interim Director Museum Studies, Southern University, New Orleans

BLOG: Kirsty Fife
The Cost(s) of Being an Archivist
Kirsty Fife, Archivist and Curator, National Media Museum, Bradford

BLOG: Center for the Future of Museums
Unsafe Ideas: Building Museum Worker Solidarity for Social Justice, Inside and Out
Alyssa Greenberg (Department of Art History, University of Illinois at Chicago) and Nina Pelaez (Assistant Curator of Public Programs, Williams College Museum of Art)

BLOG: Museum Questions
How Do Museums in Small Cities Gain and Wield Soft Power?
Rebecca Shulman Herz (Director, Peoria PlayHouse Children's Museum) and Ngaire Blankenberg (Director Europe, Lord Cultural Resources)

BLOG: Museum Commons
Joint Statement on Museums and Ferguson: First Anniversary
Gretchen Jennings, Museum Consultant

BLOG: Centre for the Future of Museums
Predicting Our Cultural Future: Is 2016 The Year of Musedata?
Angie Judge (CEO, Dexibit), Dacia Massengill (Digital Strategist) and Elena Villaespesa (Digital Media Analyst, Metropolitan Museum)

BLOG: The Incluseum
Michelle Obama, Activism and Museum Employment
Rose Paquet Kinsley (Cofounder, The Incluseum), Aletheia Wittman (Cofounder, The Incluseum) and Porchia Moore (McKissick Museum Management Program, University of South Carolina)

BLOG: On Public Humanities
Workshop with the NY Humanities Fellows
Steven Lubar, Professor, Departments of American Studies, History, and History of Art & Architecture, Brown University

BLOG: Exploring the Past
Replacing Mission Statements with “Why Should I Care?” Statements
Nick Sacco, Public Historian, National Park Service

BLOG: Design Thinking for Museums
Five Steps for Embedding Design Thinking in a Museum
Dana Mitroff Silvers, Founder and Director, Designing Insights

BLOG: Chad Weinard
Museums, We Need To Talk
Chad Weinard, Technologist and Digital Strategist

BLOG: Musing on Culture
The Museum is a Person
Maria Vlachou, Executive Director, Access Culture, Portugal

BLOG: NEXUS1492
How Caribbean Museums Contribute to a More Sustainable Society
Csilla Ariese-Vandemeulebroucke, University of Leiden


PART 2: COLLECTING
BLOG: Attendant’s View
Be Human: Get It Right
The Attendant

BLOG: Fistful of Cinctans
How To Be More Helpful To Researchers
Mark Carnall, Curator, Oxford University Museum of Natural History

BLOG: Interpretation Matters
Step Up at Pallant House Gallery
Kate Davey, Founder and Editor, kdoutsiderart.com

BLOG: Outsider Art
Valid Art: Creativity and Affirmation
Kate Davey, Founder and Editor, kdoutsiderart.com

BLOG: Council on Library and Information Resources
Hidden Collections For Everyone
Michael Peter Edson, Co-founder, Museum for the United Nations – UN Live.

BLOG: Glasgow School of Art Archives and Collections
Informing Restoration
Peter Trowles, Mackintosh Curator, Glasgow School of Art

BLOG: V&A Blog: The Factory Presents…
French Postcards: History Revealed
Erika Lederman, Cataloguer, Photographs Section, V&A Museum

BLOG: On Public Humanities
The Find-Me-Another Machine
Steven Lubar, Professor, Departments of American Studies, History, and History of Art & Architecture, Brown University

BLOG: The Cricket Bat That Died for Ireland
Covert Photography in Rath Internment Camp
Brenda Malone, National Museum of Ireland

BLOG: Thinking About Museums
Representing Abundance
Ed Rodley, Associate Director of Integrated Media, Peabody Essex Museum, Salem

BLOG: Statens Museum for Kunst
Wiki Labs: Enriching Art History on Wikipedia
Merete Sanderhoff, Curator and Senior Advisor Digital Museum Practice, Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen

BLOG: Stories from the Museum Floor
From Shrunken Heads to Collective Conversations
Michelle Scott, University of Manchester


PART 3: LEARNING
BLOG: Museum Questions
• Can We Control What Students Learn on Museum Visits?
Lisa Gilbert, Saint Louis University, Missouri

• But Will You Be Here? An Argument for Tours that Encourage Life-long Learning
Jackie Delamatre, Museum Educator, Rhode Island School of Design Museum

• Can Museums Teach Content to School Groups?
• Why Do We Need Classroom Management in Museums?
Rebecca Shulman Herz, Director, Peoria PlayHouse Children’s Museum

BLOG: Under the Wings: Milwaukeee Art Museum Blog
Slow Looking: Teens Explore a Single Work of Art
Chelsea Emelie Kelly, Youth Corps Coordinator, Park Avenue Armory, New York

BLOG: Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums Blog
• Creative Baby! The Beginnings of an Idea
• Reflections on a Journey of Discovery: Lessons Learned from Creative Baby!
• An Art Exhibition Tour… For Babies?
Hannah Mackay-Jackson, Project Coordinator, Shipley Art Gallery, Gateshead

BLOG: Ren Associates Blog
The Science of Wisdom
Terri McNichol, President, Ren Associates

BLOG: The Uncataloged Museum
What Do You See In This Picture From the Rijksmuseum?
Linda Norris, independent museum professional

BLOG: Museum Hack
What Makes an Engaging Art Museum Experience?
Tiffany Rhoades, Program Developer, Girl Museum

BLOG: MoMA Learning
On Place and Proximity
Wendy Woon, Edward John Noble Foundation Deputy Director for Education, MoMA, New York


PART 4: INTERPRETING
BLOG: MoMA Learning
Agile Evaluation: User Testing and the Feedback Loop for the Redesign of MoMA.org
Jackie Armstrong, Associate Educator, Visitor Research and Experience, MoMA, New York

BLOG: Eye Level
Eye Wonder: Ten Years of Blogging
Jeff Gates (Lead Producer, New Media Initiatives) and Howard Kaplan (Writer), Smithsonian American Art Museum

BLOG: Attendant’s View
New vs Old
The Attendant

BLOG: Museums and the Digital
#beaconfail
Amelia Bowan, Learning Team, Australian National Maritime Museum

BLOG: The British Museum
• 3D Imaging: The Assyrian Reliefs at the British Museum
Matthew Cock, previously Head of Web, British Museum

• Creating a Virtual Bronze Age Roundhouse
Lizzie Edwards and Juno Rae, Co-managers, Samsung Digital Discovery Centre, British Museum

• What Colour Were Dorothy’s Shoes?
Mieka Harris, Education Manager, Citi Money Gallery, British Museum

BLOG: Archaeology, Museums & Outreach
• Co-creation and #Museumsrespondtoferguson
• Why Co-creation in Archaeology Works
Robert P Connolly, Department of Geography and Anthropology, Louisiana State University

BLOG: The Australian Museum
More Beacon Technology In Use at the Australian Museum
Jen Cork, Senior Digital Producer, The Australian Museum.

BLOG: Objects of Sound
Exploring the Social and Cultural Voices of Objects
Alcina Cortez, INET-MD, Universidade Nova de Lisboa

BLOG: The Distant Sound of Trumpets
The New Museum Conversation Is Not About You
Jonas Heide Smith, Head of Digital, SMK – The National Gallery of Denmark

BLOG: NAI Wild West Region Newsletter
What Constitutes Interpretive Success?
Toni Herndon, Certified Interpretive Trainer, San Diego Zoo Global

BLOG: The Conversation
Using Virtual Reality to Preserve the Past
Jenny Kidd, Lecturer in Media and Cultural Studies, Cardiff University

BLOG: Connected
Benton in 3D
Jim Olson,  Director of Integrated Media, Peabody Essex Museum, Salem

BLOG: Create Hub
Can Cultural Institutions Do More to Engage the Digital Generation?
Chantal Pinkham, Cultural Partnerships Lead, Blippar

BLOG: Cabinet of Curiosities
The Art of Black Pain
Adrianne Russell, Museum Evangelist, Literary Artist and Nonprofit Consultant

BLOG: Science Communication Unit UWE Bristol
Science Communicators Need to Get It: Science Isn’t Fun
Erik Stengler, Senior Lecturer in Science Communication, University of the West of England, Bristol


PART 5: VISITING
BLOG: The Other Museums
Who is “We”?
Cristiano Agostino, University of Edinburgh

BLOG: MoMA Learning
Combining Poetry With Visual Art To See (And Feel) in a New Way
Jackie Armstrong, Associate Educator, Visitor Research and Experience, MoMA, New York

BLOG: The Distant Sound of Trumpets
We’ve Got 99 Problems But The Museum Selfie Ain’t One
Jonas Heide Smith, Head of Digital, SMK – The National Gallery of Denmark

BLOG: The Happy Museum
Materialism Degrades Matter. Can Museums Rise It Up?
Hilary Jennings, Director, The Happy Museum Project

BLOG: Museums and the Digital
Visitors, Apps, Post-visit Experiences …And a Rethink of Digital Engagement
Lynda Kelly, Head of Learning, Australian National Maritime Museum

BLOG: Tincture of Museum
Selfie Behaviour at the British Museum
Claire Madge, Collection Care Volunteer, Museum of London

BLOG: The Learning Planet
Museums After Paris
Bridget McKenzie, Director, Flow UK

BLOG: The Uncataloged Museum
What Does Democracy Look Like at a Historic Site?
Linda Norris, independent museum professional

BLOG: The Interpretation Game: Cultural Heritage and the Digital Economy
Roxanne, You Don’t Have To Pull Out Your Bluetooth Phone
Matthew Tyler-Jones, Visitor Experience Consultant, National Trust

BLOG: Engaging Places
Creating a 21st Century House Museum
Max A van Balgooy, President, Engaging Places

BLOG: Out in the Museum
Why the V&A Gay and Lesbian Tour is Essential
Dan Vo, Volunteer Ambassador, V&A Museum

BLOG: TeamWorks Media Blog
How Museums Can Demonstrate Expertise in the Age of Google
Carol Summerfield, Chief Strategy Officer, TeamWorks Media

BLOG: MoMA Inside Out
Art, Humor and Keeping Things Uncomfortable
Calder Zwicky, Assistant Director for Teen and Community Partnerships, MoMA

APPENDIX
How to Write a Good Blog Post
Jeff Gates, Lead Producer, New Media Initiatives, Smithsonian American Art Museum

Editor

Graeme Farnell is a museum professional with experience in curation, management, and the leadership of UK national museum organisations as the Director of the Scottish Museums Council and of the UK Museums Association. He holds an MA in Fine Art from Edinburgh University and a post-graduate film-making qualification from the London Film School. He is the founder and publisher at MuseumsEtc.

Reviews

Suse Anderson, Asst. Professor Museum Studies, George Washington University:
Blogging is a unique form of writing. At once personal, professional, and political, it draws its power from its immediacy, responsiveness, and the often-provisional nature of its dialogue; a kind of thinking-out-loud. Its visceral discourse responds to and reflects a changing world and sector. Like the best blogs, this book will perhaps be most useful when browsed, dipped into, and revisited often. Its individual chapters weave together to tell bigger stories, whilst each piece holds pearls of wisdom to be digested at will. Whenever you're seeking inspiration or perspective, the authors in this book will have some to share.

Aleia Brown, Visiting Curator, Michigan State University Museum:
This wonderful collection of essays illuminates the vital conversations taking place online by and about museums. The authors address a range of hot topics, as well as more elusive issues in the field, while pushing readers to think critically about what it means to be a 21st century museum. The Museum Blog Book is essential reading for those looking to creatively and thoughtfully consider how museums can interact with the world beyond their physical spaces. 

Alima Bucciantini, Asst. Professor of Public History, Duquesne University, Pittsburgh:
The Museum Blog Book gives readers access to cutting edge thinking on a variety of museum topics in one place, as well as resources to find out more. This is a valuable resource for practitioners, students, and teachers alike. 

Andrea Burns, Associate Professor, Department of History, Appalachian State University:
The Museum Blog Book has collected a wealth of accessible and important blog posts from some of the most noted and contemporary voices in the museum field. Anyone who is interested in learning more about key topics of concern for museums in the twenty-first century will find this book to be an essential resource.

Guillermo Fernández, Consultant for Museums and Science Exhibitions, Tarragona, Spain:
New communication technologies have contributed to important changes in the way museum professionals work. Paradoxically, this more interconnected professional collective now has less time available to take advantage of the extraordinary training resources offered by the internet. This book offers a careful and well-ordered selection of key themes for museums from the refreshing approaches of the best bloggers.

David Fleming, Director, National Museums Liverpool:
I love blogs – they have given a new lease of life to opinion-forming about museums. This book contains some of the best museum blogs around, and it is essential (and compulsive) reading.

Nik Honeysett, Chief Executive, Balboa Park Online Collaborative:
There has never been a more important time for the global museum community to speak out, to pick a side, pick a cause or simply make sense of the world we now live in. If you want to see how that’s happening, this book will show you with glorious insight into our mission-driven community. Its both personal and general, strategic and tactical, local and global, diverse and opinionated, but totally compelling - just like museums. The publisher hopes I’ll find the results both "enjoyable and inspiring". Yes I did. Simply put, read this book to remember why you work in a museum.

Robert R Janes, Editor-in-Chief Emeritus, Museum Management and Curatorship:
The Museum Blog Book transcends the ephemeral nature of the digital world by assembling an impressive array of blogs on the challenges and opportunities of contemporary museum work. In the transitory age of the Internet, this is a collection of substance and insightwhere the words stay put – in a book. With commentaries on dozens of topics, ranging from new technology to activism, this book will engage any museum worker who values critical thinking and self-reflection, with or without a handheld device.

Nick Merriman, Director, The Manchester Museum:
Blogging and social media provide a new kind of museum discourse: often informal, witty, moving, personal, and hard-hitting. The ephemerality of the medium is a strength, but also means that much that is of long-lasting value is lost to future audiences. This book does us a great service in bringing together some outstanding examples of this important genre in the more durable format of a book.

Therese Quinn, Director of Museum and Exhibition Studies, University of Illinois at Chicago:
Pleasures, provocations, pain… Indictments and incitements. Manifestoes! A rich gathering of the best of the blogosphere on all things museum, this compendium works equally well as an introduction to the field for newcomers and a sourcebook for experienced practitioners. With topics of urgent contemporary concern - leadership and gender, worker activism, museum selfies, and writing strong blog posts like these - this book is for everyone with an interest in museums, and should not be missed.

Lawrence R Rinder, Director, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive:
Kudos to the folks who assembled this amazing compendium. Thanks to their prodigious reading and sifting we can now benefit from the thoughtful and timely observations on museum practice from a host of international museum professionals. This book is a gift to us all! 

Robert Weisberg, Co-chair, Conference Program Committee, Museum Computer Network | Senior Project Manager, Publications and Editorial, The Metropolitan Museum of Art |  robertjweisberg.com :
This book presents critical and loving, sharp and heartfelt insight from a diverse group of writers hailing from from many institutions, backgrounds, and perspectives, all sharing one goal - improving our museums in order to improve our communities, society, and the world. Dear museum workers, read this book - especially the answers and questions from other parts of the museum field than yours. It’s a sprawling conference and a modern discourse on museum relevance all in one.

Data

Pages 676
Colour illustrations 126
Size 216 x 140 mm
Publication 27 February 2017
Editions £59 [paperback] | £45 [eBook]
ISBN 978-1-910144-84-8 [paperback] 

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