[Nhcoll-l] Care & Use of Natural History Museum Collections Class--your input requested

[David Dyer]

Hi Heather,

The number one skill that I would like to see in incoming curators, collections managers, students, and others is a skill that is basic and fundamental to the museum profession but is not often discussed, and that is the basic sensitivity and care in handling museum specimens. For lack of a better term, I've called it "museum sensibility". It's not quantifiable and not easy to discern in job interviews, but is critical to the preservation of museum specimens and to do one's job as a museum professional. It seems to be an innate skill, that you either naturally have it or you don't - but it can be learned. We've all seen examples of gross mishandling of specimens  and probably can share many horror stories. In my career, I've seen museum directors, curators, respected scientists, etc. who have authority over and direct access to natural history collections who demonstrate abominable and destructive care of collections. Usually this is not intentional but rather is from a lack of sensitivity or training. On the other hand, I've seen high school interns and beginning undergraduate students who have a remarkable sense of how to handle and care for specimens. In my last position, I hired and trained probably about 75 university students over the years to work directly in collections care. I would always try to discern in interviews and from references if they have the requisite skills and personality traits that translate to being thoughtful and careful in handling specimens and maintaining a collection.  Such phrases as "I'm a little bit OCD" or "I'm very organized" were music to my ears! Anyway, I think it's imperative that the museum community teach these skills to the next generation of museum professionals, and find a way to make it demonstrable in selecting candidates for collections-related positions.

Dave Dyer


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David L. Dyer / Curator of Natural History
Ohio Historical Society / 800 East 17th Ave. Columbus, Ohio 43211
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From: nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu [mailto:nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu] On Behalf Of Heather Lerner
Sent: Thursday, March 06, 2014 2:29 PM
To: nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu
Subject: [Nhcoll-l] Care & Use of Natural History Museum Collections Class--your input requested

I have the wonderful opportunity to be the director at the Joseph Moore
Museum at Earlham College. With that position, I get to teach one course
per year in "Museum Studies." My goals with the course are to first train
students in the most useful skills they will need to go on as collections
managers or curators or researchers who use collections, and second, for
students who may never work in/for a museum in the future, to convince them
of the importance of biological collections so that they will be educated
lifelong museum advocates.
Here is where I ask for *your input:*
(1) what are the *skills *you want incoming collections manager, graduate
students or curators to have?

(2) we will read an article each week in which someone has published their
research using specimens/collections as a primary source of
information/data. For example, ancient DNA, isotope, morphological studies.
What are some of the best *examples of collections-based research* you
thinkI should include?

Thanks for your input,

Heather

--

Heather

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Heather R. L. Lerner, Ph.D., M.S.
Joseph Moore Museum<http://earlham.edu/jmm> Director
Assistant Professor of Biology
Earlham College
801 National Road West
Richmond IN 47374

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Google Voice: 949-GENOMES
Email: hlerner at gmail.com<mailto:hlerner at gmail.com>
http://heatherlerner.com/
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