scholarly journals Why are our Jar Lids Crumbling?

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. e25928
Author(s):  
Jennifer Trimble
Keyword(s):  
Natural History ◽  
Specific Interest ◽  
Natural History Museums ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
The Public ◽  
History Museums ◽  
Comparative Zoology ◽  
Potential Impact ◽  
Public Exhibition

Glass jars and lids used to house fluid preserved specimens in Natural History Museums are arguably one of the most important factors needed to ensure the long term conservation of the specimens in their collections. Additionally these jars are used to display specimens in exhibits, and are the first, and often the only line of defense against damage caused by evaporation of the fluids used to preserve specimens. The Harvard Museum of Natural History (HMNH) was established as the public face of the Museum of Comparative Zoology (MCZ) which opened its doors in 1859. Often, the Museum of Comparative Zoology loans fluid preserved invertebrates to the Museum of Natural History at Harvard for display. Of specific interest to this project is a permanent arthropod exhibit displaying a variety of specimens in jars ranging from 4 oz to 1 gallon in size. During a 7-year public exhibition loan, lids began to deteriorate while on display. Visually, these lids became cracked and webbed, and upon physical manipulation the plastic crumpled into pieces. Notably, this problem has not been observed in research collections where the specimens are permanently stored. Possible factors affecting lid stability include temperature and light, and other unknowns. Given the potential impact of this issue on all collections we investigated the possible causes of lid degradation and wish to bring attention to this issue. Photography was used to document the physical problem and MicroCT was used to investigate both cracked and new lids. The resulting images are displayed here. Although the composition of lids are explored, and other jar methods outlined, flint jars remain the most consistent, and sturdy option for a student oriented museum.

scholarly journals Is Darwin dangerous? Museums, media, and public understanding of evolution

1970 ◽  
pp. 98
Author(s):  
Hanne Stranger ◽  
Peter C. Kjærgaard
Keyword(s):  
Natural History ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Science And Religion ◽  
Public Understanding ◽  
Natural History Museums ◽  
The Public ◽  
History Museums ◽  
The Media ◽  
Controversial Topic

What defines a topic as controversial? How does one measure its significance? Is it what commentators find controversial, what a majority of people think, or what generates the most heated debates? There is general consensus that evolution has been a controversial topic since the mid-nineteenth century. The scientific debate was settled in the 1930s with the modern synthesis bringing genetics and the theory of evolution by natural selection together within a single theoretical framework. The public debates, however, continued, mainly due to religiously motivated anti-evolution activists. The conflict narrative of science and religion with evolution versus creation has been – and still is – a particular favourite with the press. Consequently, the media is complicit in maintaining evolution as a controversial topic. This is the reality natural history museums have to deal with when communicating evolution. The question is whether it makes any difference which strategies museums take and, if so, whether it is possible to measure the difference. The authors discuss the role natural history museums have in the public discourse of evolution by looking at the different approaches in 2009 to the celebrations of the 150th anniversary of the publication of the Origin of Species and the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin’s birth, comparing it to the media coverage of the events in the Scandinavian countries. 

“Tibet, High Land of Monk and Nomad”: Field Museum Opens New Exhibition

1968 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 603-608
Keyword(s):  
Natural History ◽  
Natural History Museums ◽  
The Public ◽  
Field Museum ◽  
History Museums ◽  
World's Columbian Exposition ◽  
Columbian Exposition

One of the world's four most celebrated natural history museums, Field Museum in Chicago, has only recently completed and opened to the public a new permanent exhibition called “Tibet, High Land of Monk and Nomad.”Founded in 1893, Field Museum grew from a nest egg of materials from the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago the same year. Almost immediately, founder Marshall Field began sending out expeditions to enrich the Museum's nucleus of display materials. As early as 1908, Dr. Berthold Laufer led the Mrs. T. B. Blackstone Expedition to the remote Himalayan theocracy of Tibet. During the expedition, which went to both China and Tibet between 1908 and 1910, Dr. Laufer collected some 10,000 specimens for Field Museum, principally ethnological in nature. A large number of the Chinese materials were brought together in a special Civilization of China exhibition which opened four years ago.

The Museum as a Cinematic Space

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elisa Mandelli
Keyword(s):  
Natural History ◽  
Exhibition Design ◽  
First Century ◽  
Extensive Investigation ◽  
Natural History Museums ◽  
The Public ◽  
Moving Images ◽  
History Museums ◽  
Cinematic Space ◽  
Broad Variety

Moving images have become a common feature in museums, where visitors are now accustomed to finding a broad variety of projections and screens. But when did films start to be displayed in history, science or natural history museums? How did visitors react to the transformation of static displays by means of moving images? And what are the current stakes of showing audio-visuals in exhibition spaces? The Museum as a Cinematic Space is an extensive investigation of the use of moving images in exhibition design outside the art field. It explores how museums have incorporated films and audio-visuals in their display from the beginning of the twentieth century up to the present. The Museum as a Cinematic Space investigates the inclusion of cinematic elements (films, screens, projections) within the display. In addition to describing the strategies used by the curators to exhibit films, the book identifies the practical, technical and discursive conditions that made possible the use of moving images in museum galleries during the twentieth and twenty-first century. By opening itself to moving images, the exhibition becomes a place where cinema and museum spectatorships converge, reshaping the relations between the public, the images, and viewing space.

Best practices for genetic resources associated with natural history collections: Recommendations for practical implementation

2014 ◽  
Vol 28 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 77-112 ◽  
Author(s):  
Breda M Zimkus ◽  
Linda S Ford
Keyword(s):  
Natural History ◽  
Genetic Resources ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
Practical Implementation ◽  
Natural History Museums ◽  
Best Practice Guidelines ◽  
History Museums ◽  
Natural History Collections ◽  
Traditional Natural

Abstract Researchers associated with natural history museums have made the collection of genetic resources a priority due to their importance in molecular studies, but often the long-term curation of these collections is difficult due to decentralized curation over multiple storage locations and lack of community best practice guidelines for their stewardship. Unlike traditional natural history specimens, the research utility of genetic samples increases with lower storage temperatures and fewer freeze–thaw events and, in addition, their use is consumptive. Collection managers must, therefore, maximize the research potential of each sample by carefully considering use on a case-by-case basis. This paper presents standardized guidelines accumulated for the management of genetic collections associated with natural history collections. These recommended practices are informed by general standards for biorepositories and augmented by information unique to natural history collections with the goal of providing a foundation for those curating genetic samples. Information pertains to all aspects of genetic sample curation and will assist those in making decisions regarding how to collect, store, track, process, and distribute genetic specimen samples. These guidelines also will allow users to make informed decisions regarding how to apply and improve the curation of their collection given their institution's goals and available resources.

Making the unfamiliar personal: arts-based ethnographies as public-engaged ethnographies

2013 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 402-413 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lydia N Degarrod
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Embodied Knowledge ◽  
Art Making ◽  
The Public ◽  
New Thinking ◽  
Public Exhibition ◽  
Forms Of Knowledge

I present the installation Geographies of the Imagination, an arts-based ethnography about long-term exile, as a form of public ethnography that unveils the acquisition and transmission of ethnographic knowledge as interactive, emergent, and creative. I will show how the methods of collaboration and art making created bodily forms of knowledge among the participants and the audience at the exhibition of the installation that have the potential for stimulating new thinking. The use of these methods advanced the acquisition of ethnographic knowledge, and heightened the development of empathy among the participants and the researcher. Furthermore, the public exhibition of this installation allowed the participants to exercise social justice, and created a setting for socially experiencing embodied knowledge.

Fund natural-history museums, not de-extinction

Nature ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 598 (7879) ◽  
pp. 32-32
Author(s):  
Corrie S. Moreau ◽  
Jessica L. Ware
Keyword(s):  
Natural History ◽  
Natural History Museums ◽  
History Museums
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