Brief Hiatus

I will be taking a break (as I have already been doing) from writing on here while I finish out my semester and do some more research.  I expect to begin writing sometime after December 12, when I'm finished, although I may post if I find something of interest.

Are Best Practices Always Best?

Anyone who's ever been involved in public history and the library world has heard the term best practices thrown around so often, they've probably never stopped to think if best practices really are best. 

Why Best Practices aren't always the best for your business

This article may be about business, but if public history institutions are ever going to truly serve their patrons AND balance the budget, they're going to need to become a part of this business world.  I've only recently just started thinking this way, and one of the best lines from this article has volumes to speak to public historians: "'Expertise is the enemy of innovation,'...'The big ideas come from people with fundamentally different points of view. Look outside your own bailiwick.'" How can we, as public historians or librarians, include people with non-traditional focus areas in a way that will strengthen the institution as a whole?  How can we break away from the best practices-centered model into an innovative, dynamic model?  More on this in a few days.  I need some time to research!

3-D digital heritage preservation

One of my top interests is digitization and the application of advanced technology to humanities fields.  The video posted below is a TED Talk given by Ben Kacyra, founder of non-profit preservation company CyArk.  

There are so many ways this kind of technology can benefit public history and the historic preservation field. In order to enter this kind of conversation, we public historians need to stay relevant and learn how to work with all kinds of technology--long-distance laser scanning is only one example.

On Government Funding I

Isn't it possible that underneath the guise of helping, government grants and intervention are really hurting the museum world? If museums had to play the same game as every other business, they'd think twice about collecting things they will never exhibit, implementing controversial and unpopular interpretations, and hiring unnecessary bureaucratic staff. We should expose museums to the free market, because then, people would pay for the products they value, and museums that are out of touch with their patrons would shrivel up--this would ensure greater transparency.

This can't happen, however, unless general taxes are lower. If the rich had more money in their pockets, they'd donate more to cultural institutions, and I think the American museum/cultural scene would be stronger for it. People tend to be more careful with their own money, and the government is no exception. So let people spend their own money on cultural institutions, and see what happens!

PCMRS tomorrow!

I'm presenting at the Pittsburgh Consortium for Medieval and Renaissance Studies at Carnegie Mellon University tomorrow. My talk, entitled "Last Judgment of Empire: Medieval and Religious Imagery in Thomas Cole's Destruction," will take place at 4:40 pm in Baker Hall 136A.

Google Art Project

I'm going to kick off this blog with a post of something I recently discovered and found really interesting. Google Art Project, sort of like Google Maps but for art museums, combines 17 art museums internationally. This project contains ultra high resolution images and a tool for combining digitized works into personalized collections.

Here is the website:

Google Art Project

There are quite a few potential uses for a tool like this in the digital humanities world. What I like most, besides the ability to see the interior design of each institution, is the digital collection creation tool. This allows everyday users to participate in gallery creation and apply the kinds of selection and organization that curators use to create galleries.

For public history, I think the digital history museum model is a good one, but could include a more interactive scheme. Maybe historians could consider creating more digital museum space and adding interactive sections like the digital collection creation tool. I like how the Google Art Project is user-oriented and designed as a tool for increased enjoyment of the museums themselves. Again, Google has proven how amazing it is and provided humanities lovers with an awesome tool.

Welcome to Marketing History!

Welcome to my new blog, Marketing History: Public History for the Public. On this site, I will be posting about new ideas in public history, marketing methods, interesting projects and ways to really make history come alive for people. From digital archival collections, websites, and interactive online museums to public programming, living history demonstrations, and innovative displays, there are a lot of fascinating new things going on in the public history field.