Library and Academic Success: Museum & Gallery Studies: Key topics in Museum & Gallery Studies

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Key topics in Museum & Gallery Studies

Collections Care and Stewardship by Juilee Decker (Editor)
ISBN: 9781442238794
Publication Date: 2015
Collections Care and Stewardship: Innovative Approaches for Museums considers best practices and innovations related to documenting collections with regard to movement and safe handling of items for transport, display, photography, and treatment; collections storage; and information-sharing within and beyond the museum.
Mobile Museums: Collections in Circulation by Driver, Felix (editor) Nesbitt, Mark (editor) Cornish, Caroline (editor)
ISBN: 9781787355088
Publication Date: 2021
Mobile Museums presents an argument for the importance of circulation in the study of museum collections, past and present. It brings together an array of international scholars and curators from a variety of disciplines – including the history of science, museum anthropology and postcolonial history - to consider the mobility of collections. The book combines historical perspectives on the circulation of museum objects in the past with contemporary accounts of their re-mobilisation, notably in the context of Indigenous community engagement.
Museum Object Lessons for the Digital Age by Geismar, Haidy
ISBN: 9781787352810
Publication Date: 2018
Museum Object Lessons for the Digital Age explores the nature of digital objects in museums, asking us to question our assumptions about the material, social and political foundations of digital practices. Through four wide-ranging chapters, each focused on a single object – a box, pen, effigy and cloak – this short, accessible book explores the legacies of earlier museum practices of collection, older forms of media (from dioramas to photography), and theories of how knowledge is produced in museums on a wide range of digital projects.
Museums, Heritage, and Digital Curation by Wim Hupperetz
ISBN: 9789464260748
Publication Date: 2022
Heritage institutions face major changes in the areas of digitization, narrative, inclusivity, and participation. In this groundbreaking book Wim Hupperetz, an expert in the field of museums, heritage, and digital curation, reflects on the challenge of change. How does a museum move from an object or a collection to storytelling, and what is the impact of digitization on curatorship?
Practicing Decoloniality in Museums by Csilla Ariese; Magdalena Wróblewska; Magdalena Wróblewska
Call Number: https://directory.doabooks.org/handle/20.500.12854/72823
ISBN: 9789463726962
Publication Date: 2021
The cry for decolonization has echoed throughout the museum world. Although perhaps most audibly heard in the case of ethnographic museums, many different types of museums have felt the need to engage in decolonial practices. Amidst those who have argued that an institution as deeply colonial as the museum cannot truly be decolonized, museum staff and museologists have been approaching the issue from different angles to practice decoloniality in any way they can.

How do you develop a museum exhibit? The Smithsonian has a Guide to Exhibit Development and this document is intended for anyone interested in developing exhibits, from curators planning their first exhibit to seasoned exhibit developers and designers. This guide provides an overview of the exhibit development process and offers tips on how to plan and create an effective exhibit. Some of the recommendations to develop an effective exhibit include:

Create an exhibit development team including a museum educator, a subject matter specialist, a project manager and an designer
Examine the exhibit development process: identify the stakeholders, target audience, outline key goals and objectives
Create an interpretive hierarchy to focus on the exhibit's main message and provide a structure for content
Consider visitor preferences. Successful exhibits can include ideas, emotional connections, objects and multisensory experiences
Structure exhibit texts by layering or “chunking” exhibit which breaks big concepts into smaller, more manageable pieces of information. It also gives visitors more choice in what they read. Dense blocks of text discourage visitors from reading further

From: Smithsonian Institution. (2018). A guide to exhibit development. https://exhibits.si.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Guide-to-Exhibit-Development.pdf

Ausstellungen Entwerfen - Designing Exhibitions by Aurelia Bertron; Ulrich Schwarz; Claudia Frey
ISBN: 9783034607179
Publication Date: 2012
A successful exhibition is a well-balanced mix of communication, knowledge transfer, interaction, adventure, and contemplation. This widely popular handbook, which has already gone through multiple printings, offers a concise presentation of the principal phases of an exhibition's genesis with striking examples from the design practice of the authors. Topics covered are conception and design, presentation and staging, representation and education, text and graphics, typography and layout, as well as light and lighting.
Exhibiting Atrocity by Amy Sodaro
ISBN: 9780813592176
Publication Date: 2018
This book has Honorable Mention, 2021 Outstanding First Book Award from the Memory Studies Association. Today, nearly any group or nation with violence in its past has constructed or is planning a memorial museum as a mechanism for confronting past trauma, often together with truth commissions, trials, and/or other symbolic or material reparations. Exhibiting Atrocity documents the emergence of the memorial museum as a new cultural form of commemoration, and analyzes its use in efforts to come to terms with past political violence and to promote democracy and human rights.
In Detail, Exhibitions and Displays by Christian Schittich
ISBN: 9783764399559
Publication Date: 2009
From trade fair stands to museum concepts, the successful transfer of information to a wide public audience relies on effective staging and appropriate architectural design. While museum exhibitions focus on the art of communicating content, with commercial aspects tending to play a more subordinate role, the goal of trade fair stands and showrooms is to convey a brand image.
Installation Art and the Museum by Vivian van Saaze
ISBN: 9789048517510
Publication Date: 2013
Installation art has become mainstream in artistic practices. However, acquiring and displaying such artworks means that curators and conservators are challenged to deal with obsolete technologies, ephemeral materials, and other issues concerning care and management of these artworks. By analyzing three in-depth case studies, the author sheds new light on the key concepts of traditional conservation--authenticity, artist's intention, and the notion of ownership--while exploring how these concepts apply in contemporary art conservation.
The Museum As a Cinematic Space by Elisa Mandelli
ISBN: 9781474416795
Publication Date: 2019
Moving images have become an increasingly common feature in a wide range of museums, which are frequently populated with screens and audio-visual projections. But when did films start to be displayed in museum galleries? And what are the issues at stake when showing moving images in exhibition spaces? With an innovative and strongly interdisciplinary theoretical framework, this book offers an extensive investigation of the use of audio-visuals in exhibition design.
New Museum Theory and Practice by Janet Marstine (Editor)
ISBN: 9781405148825
Publication Date: 2008
New Museum Theory and Practice is an original collection of essays with a unique focus: the contested politics and ideologies of museum exhibition. Contains 12 original essays that contribute to the field while creating a collective whole for course use. Discusses theory through vivid examples and historical overviews. Offers guidance on how to put theory into practice.

Conservation consists of all actions for the purpose of safeguarding cultural heritage for the future. The purpose of conservation is to study, record, retain, and conserve as needed, the culturally significant qualities of an object with the least possible intervention. Conservation includes examination, documentation, preventive conservation, preservation, restoration and reconstruction.

Here are some organizations or sources which offer guidance on conservation for museums and galleries:

From: Canadian Association for Conservation of Cultural Property. (n.d.). What is conservation? https://www.cac-accr.ca/conservation/

Conservation Practices in Museums: For Researchers and Museum Professionals by Nobuyuki Kamba
ISBN: 9784431569107
Publication Date: 2022
The author introduces conservation science and management of cultural heritages in museums. In particular, a comprehensive conservation study and practical techniques are described. Aspects such as examination and diagnosis of cultural heritage by scientific data recording of humidity, luminosity, intensity of vibration and shock, among others, are introduced. Preventive and remedial conservation with X-ray imaging and X-ray fluorescence and other risk-control methods are also explained. The author provides basic theories based on a scientific view for the methods introduced in this book.
Installation Art and the Museum by Vivian van Saaze
ISBN: 9789089644596
Publication Date: 2013
Installation art has become mainstream in artistic practices. However, acquiring and displaying such artworks implies that curators and conservators are challenged to deal with obsolete technologies, ephemeral materials and other issues concerning care and management of these artworks. By analysing three in-depth case studies, the author sheds new light on the key concepts of traditional conservation (authenticity, artist's intention, and the notion of ownership) while exploring how these concepts apply in contemporary art conservation.
Museum and Archive on the Move by Oliver Grau (Editor); Wendy Coones (Contribution by); Viola Rühse (Contribution by)
ISBN: 9783110520514
Publication Date: 2017
The digital revolution fundamentally changed how cultural heritage is created, documented, analyzed, and preserved. The book focuses on this transformation's impact. How must museums and archives meet the challenges of digitally generated cultures and how does the digital revolution influence traditional object collection, research, and education? How do digital technologies and digital art and culture affect our interaction with images? Leading international experts from various disciplines break new ground.
Preserving What Is Valued by Miriam Clavir
ISBN: 9780774808606
Publication Date: 2002
Museum practice regarding handling and preservation of objects has been largely taken as a given, and it can be difficult to see how these activities are politicized. Author Miriam Clavir argues that museum practices are historically grounded and represent values that are not necessarily held by the originators of the objects. She first focuses on conservation and explains the principles and methods conservators practise. She then discusses First Nations people's perspectives on preservation, quoting extensively from interviews done throughout British Columbia, and comparing the British Columbia situation with that in New Zealand.
The Routledge Companion to Museum Ethics by Janet Marstine (Editor)
ISBN: 9780203815465
Publication Date: 2012
Routledge Companion to Museum Ethics is a theoretically informed reconceptualization of museum ethics discourse as a dynamic social practice central to the project of creating change in the museum. Through twenty-seven chapters by an international and interdisciplinary group of academics and practitioners it explores contemporary museum ethics as an opportunity for growth, rather than a burden of compliance. The volume represents diverse strands in museum activity from exhibitions to marketing, as ethics is embedded in all areas of the museum sector.

Critical Practice by Janet Marstine
ISBN: 9780415658546
Publication Date: 2017
Critical Practice is a work that blurs the boundaries between art history, museum studies, political science and applied ethics. Marstine demonstrates how convergences between institutional critique and socially engaged practice, as represented by the term 'critical practice', can create conditions for organisational change, particularly facilitating increased public agency and shared authority. The book analyses a range of museum interventions exploring such subjects as the ethical stewardship of collections, hybridity as a methodological approach to social justice and alternative forms of democracy.
Inconvenient Heritage by Jos van Beurden
ISBN: 9789463720595
Publication Date: 2022
The discussion about objects, ancestral remains and archives from former colonial territories is becoming increasingly heated. Over the centuries, a multitude of items - including a cannon of the King of Kandy, power-objects from DR Congo, Benin bronzes, Javanese temple statues, Maori heads and strategic documents - has ended up in museums and private collections in Belgium and the Netherlands by improper means. Since gaining independence, former colonies have been calling for the return of their lost heritage. As continued possession of these objects only grows more uncomfortable, governments and museums must decide what to do.
Inside the Lost Museum by Steven Lubar
ISBN: 9780674971042
Publication Date: 2017
Curators make many decisions when they build collections or design exhibitions, plotting a passage of discovery that also tells an essential story. Collecting captures the past in a way useful to the present and the future. Exhibits play to our senses and orchestrate our impressions, balancing presentation and preservation, information and emotion. Curators consider visitors' interactions with objects and with one another, how our bodies move through displays, how our eyes grasp objects, how we learn and how we feel. Inside the Lost Museum documents the work museums do and suggests ways these institutions can enrich the educational and aesthetic experience of their visitors.
A Practical Guide to Museum Ethics by Sally Yerkovich
ISBN: 9781442231627
Publication Date: 2016
How much is too much public participation? Where does a curator's authority begin and end? With money increasingly difficult to raise, is a museum more likely to accede to potential funders' demands even when those demands might compromise the museum's integrity? When a museum is struggling with debilitating debt, should the sale of selected items from its collections and the use of the resulting proceeds bring the museum into a more stable financial position? When a museum attempts to build its attendance and attract local visitors by crowdsourcing exhibitions, is it undermining its integrity? Ethical questions about museum activities are legion, yet they are usually only discussed when they become headlines in newspapers. Museum staff respond to such problems under pressure, often unable to take the time required to think through the sensitive and complex issues involved. Grounded in a series of case studies, A Practical Guide to Museum Ethics confronts types of ethical dilemmas museums face and explores attempts to resolve them.
The Routledge Companion to Museum Ethics by Janet Marstine (Editor)
ISBN: 9780203815465
Publication Date: 2012
Routledge Companion to Museum Ethics is a theoretically informed reconceptualization of museum ethics discourse as a dynamic social practice central to the project of creating change in the museum. Through twenty-seven chapters by an international and interdisciplinary group of academics and practitioners it explores contemporary museum ethics as an opportunity for growth, rather than a burden of compliance.

In today's rapidly evolving and diverse world, museums have a responsibility to create an inclusive and welcoming environment for all visitors. By implementing Diversity, Equity, Accessibility, and Inclusion (DEAI) initiatives, principles and practices, museums can create an inclusive and equitable environment which recognizes and values differences, eliminates discrimination and provides accessibility and equal learning opportunities for everyone. This shapes and inspires the future of their communities. The following resources offer a great starting point on information about the many important aspects museums are considering as they create their programming and content:

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/museums-must-step-up-importance-deai-initiatives-promoting-cortes#:~:text=By%20implementing%20Diversity%2C%20Equity%2C%20Accessibility,provides%20equal%20opportunities%20for%20all.

The Art of Minorities by Virginie Rey (Editor)
ISBN: 9781474443760
Publication Date: 2020
How are issues related to identity representation negotiated in Middle Eastern and North African museums? Can museums provide a suitable canvas for minorities to express their voice? Can narratives change and stereotypes be broken and, if so, what kind of identities are being deployed? Against the backdrop of the revolutionary upheavals that have shaken the region in recent years, the contributors to this volume interrogate a range of case studies from across the region - examining how museums engage inclusion, diversity and the politics of minority identities.
Becoming Our Future: global indigenous curatorial practice by Julie Nagam (Editor); Carly Lane (Editor); Megan Tamati-Quennell (Editor)
Call Number: Barrie campus GN35.B43 2020
ISBN: 9781927886229
Publication Date: 2020
This book explores how Indigenous visual art and culture operate within and from a structural framework that is unique within the cultural milieu. Through a selection of contributions by Indigenous curators, artists, and scholars, this book brings together perspectives that define curatorial practices, and at the same time postulates Indigenous sovereignty and self-determination within the three countries. These compelling essays begin to unearth the connections and historical moments that draw Indigenous curatorial practices together and the differences that set them apart.
Democratising the Museum by Pille Runnel (Editor); Pille Pruulmann-Vengerfeldt (Editor)
ISBN: 9783653039726
Publication Date: 2014
Democratising the museum is a collection of articles reflecting upon the problem of how participation, technologically mediated or not, can support the museum in the process of becoming more accessible. The open museum shares power with its visitors while negotiating professionalism and the role of the museum in a modern society.
Diversity, Equity, Accessibility, and Inclusion in Museums by Johnnetta Betsch Cole (Editor); Laura L. Lott (Editor)
ISBN: 9781538118634
Publication Date: 2019
A go-to resource for readers interested in learning about diversity and inclusion work in the field - past, present and future. This edited collection seeks to facilitate a much-needed intergenerational dialogue that builds on lessons from the past, broadens thinking about the many different facets of this complex work, and ignites inspiration for continuing to correct inequities across museums of all types, sizes, and locations. In this book, thought leaders in the museum field present their research, analysis and work to answer some of the most challenge questions facing the museum field. Why do these problems persist? How can a new generation of museum leaders champion change to better represent the communities that museums strive to serve and engage? What can we learn from those who have been observing, experiencing, and writing about these issues?
Worlds in a Museum: Exploring Contemporary Museology by Louvre Abu Dhabi (Editor)
ISBN: 9789462702332
Publication Date: 2020
This book addresses the topic of museums in the era of globalisation, exploring contemporary museology and the preservation and presentation of culture within the context of changing societies. Departing from the historical museum structure inherited from the Enlightenment, leading experts from art, cultural, and academic institutions explore present-day achievements and challenges in the study, display and interpretation of art, history, and artefacts.

The impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on art is dynamic, constantly evolving and pushes the limits of what and how we think about it. Here are some links to YouTube videos by experts in the field which can begin discussions about this fascinating topic:

The Creativity Code by Marcus Du Sautoy
ISBN: 9780674988132
Publication Date: 2019
The award-winning author of The Music of the Primes explores the future of creativity and how machine learning will disrupt, enrich, and transform our understanding of what it means to be human. Can a well-programmed machine do anything a human can--only better?
Creativity in Art, Design and Technology by Liggett, Susan Earnshaw, Rae Townsley, Jill
ISBN: 9783031248696
Publication Date: 2023
Creativity is a difficult concept, how can it best be defined, understood, applied, and practiced? This book provides important answers to these questions. Technology can enable artists to be more creative. Scientific and artistic thinking give us two complementary tools to understand the complexity of the world, with science reducing subjective experience to essential principles and art intensifying and expanding our experiences. These examples also show how artists can push the boundaries of technology into exciting new realms that have not been explored before. The impact that art and art practice can have on culture, society, and social responsibility is explored in detail through examples and case studies.
Digital Da Vinci by Newton Lee (Editor)
ISBN: 9781493909643
Publication Date: 2014
This second volume of the Digital Da Vinci book series leads the discussions on the world's first computer art in the 1950s and the actualization of Star Trek's holodeck in the future with the help of artificial intelligence and cyborgs. In this book, Gavin Sade describes experimental creative practices that bring together arts, science and technology in imaginative ways.
Robots and Art by Damith Herath (Editor); Christian Kroos (Editor); Stelarc Stelarc (Editor)
ISBN: 9789811003196
Publication Date: 2016
The first compendium on robotic art of its kind, this book explores the integration of robots into human society and our attitudes, fears and hopes in a world shared with autonomous machines. It raises questions about the benefits, risks and ethics of the transformative changes to society that are the consequence of robots taking on new roles alongside humans. It takes the reader on a journey into the world of the strange, the beautiful, the uncanny and the daring - and into the minds and works of some of the world's most prolific creators of robotic art.
Tactical Entanglements: AI Art, Creative Agency, and the Limits of Intellectual Property by Zeilinger, Martin
ISBN: 9783957961839
Publication Date: 2021
How do artistic experiments with artificial intelligence problematize human-centered notions of creative agency, authorship, and ownership? Offering a wide-ranging discussion of contemporary digital art practices, philosophical and technical considerations of AI, posthumanist thought, and emerging issues of intellectual property and the commons, this book is positioned against the anthropomorphic spectacle of “creative AI.” It proposes instead the concept of the posthumanist agential assemblage, and invites readers to consider what new types of creative practice, what reconfigurations of the author function, and what critical interventions become possible when AI art provokes tactical entanglements between aesthetics, law, and capital.