People love a performance. At the Connecticut League of History Organization's (CLHO) 2010 Annual Conference in Hartford at Connecticut's Old State House, keynote speaker Dale Jones provided insights on how theatrical performance can enhance historical interpretation at museums and historical societies. Jones, with a background in folk studies, theatre, oral history, historical interpretation, and visitor studies enthralled the audience with tips and stories culled from his work bringing history to life at institutions ranging from...
I posted a few months ago about the Qm2 Museum Directors roundtable, run by John and Anita Durel, which I have been attending this year. One intriguing take-away from our last meeting was John's thoughts on strategic planning. He believes that knowing how to think strategically and act strategically is more important than simply having a strategic plan. And that the primary purpose of creating a plan in the first place is to teach your...
Looking for a national forum where history lovers can meet to discuss the topics and challenges they face every day? A place where history museum and historical society employees and board members can go to ask questions and get answers from colleagues? If so, check out the American Association for State and Local History's (AASLH) new online communities. Two online communities are currently live: History News: AASLH's first online community focuses on their quarterly print...
The HRC thanks Gail Wiese for serving as a guest author for the following entry. Gail is Assistant Archivist at Norwich University in Northfield, Vermont. Her work in the Norwich University Archives has focused primarily on processing historical photograph collections and increasing the accessibility of archival collections. She also works part-time performing traditional cataloging of manuscript collections at the Vermont Historical Society in Barre, Vermont. Would your institution like to make descriptions of its archival...
The HRC thanks Laura Casey for serving as a guest author for the following entry. Laura has worked in the museum field for fifteen years. She is currently Coordinator of the Museum Services Program at the Texas Historical Commission. Before joining the Historical Commission in 2004, she was the director of museums in Illinois and Kansas. Ten years ago I never dreamed of the Internet serving as a repository for instructional movies for museums....
