Lab Hour Posting Over and Out

I have already collected lab hour data, but will add to that total any hours you might earn on Tuesday when Carrie and I will be there. Come by if you want or need to participate in de-installation (or if you were given permission to measure or modify a condition report during de-installation). The exhibit closes tomorrow! 

Research and Inventory Worksheets

We're done! Class is over. Can you believe it? The last day of the exhibit is Thursday.  I bought some (hopefully) matching paint today and it's already in the Museum awaiting application on the Tasmanian Sojourn wall next week.  Have a great final's week! I'll begin grading hardcopies of the inventory sheets tonight. 

Accession vs. OTHER Numbers

There is only one place on your forms for a trinomial: "Accession No." "The Beardsley Inventory No." is NOT an accession number/trinomial, it is the number found in the Beardsley Inventory produced back in the late 1950s listing all the objects donated. It is digitized for you on SacCT. The third number in the accession no. trinomial MIGHT match the Beardsley Inventory No., but sometimes they confused objects during the 1974 retroactive accessioning process and the trinomial doesn't match. Open the Accession File on SacCT and check. 

I'll meet you guys in the classroom, collect the hardcopies of your assignment, have a brief discussion, and then we'll go down and have some refreshments in the museum. Last class today...we only have de-installation next week!

"Beardsley #" versus "Beardsley Inventory No."

Students: some of you are confusing the number found on some of the round tags "Beardsley #" (commonly also the SSC number) with the Beardsley Inventory No. called for on your worksheet. To find the Beardsley Inventory No., open the digital accession file on SacCT and search the original hand-written Beardsley inventory produced in the 1950s. 

In some instances, that number became the last in the accession trinomial (when those were assigned in 1974), but this wasn't always the case. Likewise, when the "Sacramento State College" catalog cards were produced in the 1960s, the original Beardsley Inventory number sometimes became the SSC Catalog No., but there were many (many) misattributions, misnumberings, etc. And then the MS-Access database has other problems.  Your job isn't to correct these in those records, but to record them as they appear and then to point out in the "Notes" portion, that these problems occurred.

Skirts

If you are researching one of the skirts with dyed fronds, let me know! Nancy found a great catalog in our library that details the varied ethnobotanical materials found in Maori skirts and I noticed that two of our more fragile skirts are very similar to a couple featured in her catalog.

Reminders

We will meet at 1:30 sharp in the library breezeway. I'll split the class into halves that will rotate between library research and touring the Special Collections. Don't forget that your last reading quiz is open until 11 a.m. tomorrow. 

For Seya (and Others).

At least some of you will recognize this. Click on the "Catalogue Entry" to learn more. I found this while looking for leads on a different object entirely.  This is the page that led me to this small, private collection.

Joe and CM Team (Maori Cloak)

This is posted for Joe, who is assigned the Maori cloak, but may also be of interest to the rest of the Colonial Milieu team

More

Another digital catalog with objects that look similar to some of ours. Who has the mat in the bottom of the exhibit case in the Full Circle team's area?

Smithsonian Catalogs

I'm posting this link in response to Maria's most recent post, but this catalog (and the many other online museum catalogs out there in cyberspace that you can easily locate through word and/or images searches that incorporate a key term for the object and the words museum or collection) will be very good leads for many of you. AND Carrie posted the link to the CAS online catalog recently (which has a bazillion fans from Polynesia, as well as many many other items). Use these sources to direct you to scholarly works.

Today we meet in the classroom to discuss your job posts and catalog reviews.

If you haven’t checked SacCT, you should do so later today. The instructions for next week’s NAGPRA-related blog post have been uploaded, as have the worksheet and  instructions for your object research. The Research and Inventory Worksheet  is a fill-able pdf. I will hand out a copy of these in class so we can go over them, but you'll see on SacCT that you have very specific instructions for how to save them. "Once you have completed one for each of your objects, you will save it as “YourName_1" (then_2, _3, _4 and so forth).  The order in which you complete and save your worksheets does not matter.  These file names will later be changed by me or Carrie to reflect the object’s accession number. For now, I need to be able to identify them quickly as yours [for grading purposes] in an electronic folder."  If you don’t have access to Adobe Pro, you should go to one of the campus labs (I have linked to a map under the assignment tab on Blackboard that shows the labs with Adobe Pro). The photocopied images of comparative objects drawn from your scholarly references should be stapled to the relevant hardcopy of the Research and Inventory Worksheet. (The electronically submitted worksheets will not have these appended.) Remember, there will need to be three of these for each of your objects (one from each of the scholarly sources you cite).  If you are researching five objects, you’ll have a total of 15 images. Each must be marked with an abbreviated source citation).  Please don’t hesitate to ask/email me if you need help with anything related to the research assignment. I have many catalogs in my personal collection and am more than happy to also help you try to locate other sources. If you get started now, you’ll have plenty of time to request inter-library loans. Every second you spend on object research counts toward lab hours. Please don't leave this to the last minute.

SAS Request

Students, please respond to Amy's April 17 post about the exhibit.

Catalog Review

If you've checked your syllabus and SacCT, you'll see that I've given you a list of catalogs (all in the library) from which you must choose in order to complete the catalog review assignment due on Tuesday at 11am. Once you've checked your catalog out from the library, please leave a note here in the comment section telling the rest of us which one you selected, since I'm not entirely sure how immediately the library system updates availability notices in their system. 

Lights, Action, Exhibit (and Reception)!

The team photos Nancy took yesterday, along with a few other reception pics, are loaded on her blog. Be sure to check them out. Here are some more images that document the exhibit process and the reception. I begin with the storyboard presentations, as a reminder of how far we have come in a matter of weeks, having moved (on fast-forward) through all the critical stages of exhibit design:  1) concept development, 2) design development, 3) fabrication and 4) installation. Congratulations to all; everyone had great things to say about the show. When you are next in the museum, read the feedback in the guest register. I'll have a docent check list (for opening and closing) prepped and in the reception desk folder by the time the museum opens. Joe and Nathan are on duty today.

Storyboard Presentation

March  11, 2014

Graphic Design Storyboard

Nancy presents the graphic design elements.

Parallel Lives Team

Tasmanian Sojourn 

Colonial Milieu Team

Full Circle Team

  Opening Day

 April 15, 2014 

Please leave this door closed during
exhibit hours.

Asher the Adorable

Paul, Jessica, Gia, Airelle and Abbie

Nathan, Fiona, Holly and (almost) Nancy

 

Remember to tell visitors we have a touch box
where they can handle fragments of fiber that
 have fallen off the 100+ year-old-objects.
And that we thank them for NOT touching
the exhibit materials.

CLEAN LAB! Courtesy of me; please
do your part to keep it this way.

ER

NOTE: I did not have to go to the ER for any foam board trimming injuries. And we are finished a half-day ahead of schedule.