Catching Up with Museums

I've been doing some contemplation about museums lately, inspired by the University of Leicester's Massively Open Online Course (called a 'MOOC' for short), Behind the Scenes at the 21st Century Museum offered via FutureLearn.  Okay, I'm always contemplating museums, but I'm doing more of it right now, primarily due to this course.

As many of you know, Leicester's museum studies programme is one of the oldest in the world, and probably the highest respected in English speaking countries.  Many of the most significant thinkers in museum studies are among its faculty and alumni.  It attracts a substantial number of museum professionals, working in the field, into its courses.  It's also my alma mater, and a pioneer in distance learning, so, since I am not in a position to be able to jump across the pond to do my PhD with them, this little MOOC is perfect for keeping me aprised of the latest goings-on in museum thinking.

Although it's really meant as an introductory course, many of the participants are museum professionals doing exactly what I'm doing, and as we are encouraged to share and discuss our thoughts at every possible opportunity, it feels very much like a conference.  Not the kind of conference where executive directors go and drink a lot and jaw in the lobby, but the kind where educated and experienced peers from across an industry share their case studies, offer lessons, bring learning tools, minds meet, and real professional development occurs.  That said, it also is an opportunity for museum pros to meet and gather thoughts and ideas from non-sector learners as the course is open to all, and there are plenty of folks participating who have no museum background whatsoever.  I can't speak for other MOOCs, but this course really feels like proper education, is thought-out, eye-opening, and meaningful. 

This course is particularly interesting to me, not just because I get to think about museums in a semi-structured environment, but because my museum, the Secrets of Radar, is currently re-examining its exhibits and looking at ways to reorganise them for a greater impact and more positive experience.  SoRM is an amazing gem of a museum, and it's absolutely brimming with information and cool, weird 'stuff', but it's not really what I would consider a super fun or engaging space.  Its displays have been geared to people with a basic knowledge of radio and electronics, and it struggles to be welcoming for families with younger children.  I love the depth of information, but it isn't intellectually accessible.  Nor is it emotionally accessible.  When it was founded, the philosophy behind the original didactic panels was to get the unknown, secret history of Canadian World War II radar veterans out, to tell as much of the story as possible in a limited space.  This was absolutely the priority of the veterans who created the museum.  Now, it's time to refresh the exhibits through which those veterans no longer lead tours, no longer sharing their personal anecdotes.  It falls to me and volunteers to put the human aspect into the museum, which is a second-hand experience due to the passing of those founding vets.  It's challenging, but the MOOC is helping me think about how to reinvent SoRM without messing with its original purpose, while creating an open, engaging, accessible centre for history and learning.

When the course is finished, I'm sure I'll have more to share.

CAHS Convention Photo Round-up

In my last post, I talked briefly about the pleasure of presenting at the Canadian Aviation Historical Society annual convention and let me follow-up by saying the whole event was terrific.  Aviators, historians, retired (and serving) Air Force personnel, museum staff, and aircraft restorers all came together to learn about this country's incredible aviation history.  Canada has had an enormous impact on the global aviation sector from its infancy right through the 20th century.  I can't possibly talk about everything I learned or the people I met, but I can share some photos.  I also had the most incredible experience of spending two hours with a 99-year-old radar veteran living in Hamilton, ON.  If only I'd remembered my tape recorder.

I had a behind-the-scenes tour of the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum's Bolingbroke restoration project.  That poster is a one-of-a-kind original.

I finally had an opportunity to tour "Vera" the CWHM's Mynarski Memorial Lancaster, which was built by A.V. Roe at Toronto's Victory Aircraft Ltd. site in Malton.  This was definitely a highlight.

A fascinating presentation on the secret projects carried out by Avro in the 1950s, not just the "Arrow".

"Vera" in the hangar at the CWH Museum.

A presentation about Vi Milstead, who led a very interesting career in aviation at a time when few women were flying.

Canadian Aviation Historical Society Convention

I had the great privilege to present about my beloved museum today (June 18, 2015) at the CAHS annual convention, which is being held in Hamilton, Ontario.  I've never attended one of their conferences before, and, so far, I'm thoroughly loving it.  I'm not an aviator, nor do I have an aeronautical background, but the joy of the CAHS is that it makes aviation history accessible to all.  Presenting at the conference was a pleasure, although I was quite nervous that everyone would know more about radar than me.  I decided not to focus on the technical aspects of radar or the technical advances through WWII, but to talk about the work the museum does, and to share some of my favourite stories as originally told to me by veterans at the museum.  That's what I love most about my job, the ability to share true stories and make connections between the past and the present through personal anecdotes and memories.  I'm looking forward to the rest of this conference, although I probably won't get a chance to post this, or any further entries until I return home in a few days.

Membership in the CAHS is worth it, just for this amazing journal.  Seriously.