UBC Master of Archival Studies/ Master of Library Information Studies Student
This is the first post in a series of five, each building on a project mentioned in my Belkin Art Gallery poster (see my September 11, 2020 post “Reflecting on a Remote Summer: Collections Assistant for the Belkin Art Gallery”). I worked on these projects in my position as the Belkin’s Collections Assistant from June 2020 to January 2021. This first post focuses on a database project.
As part of a volunteer professional experience through the UBC School of Information, I completed a systems project at the Vancouver Art Gallery Library & Archives during the winter 2020 academic term.
From June to August 2019, I volunteered a few days a month on stage one of the “Cultural Resource Recording Project: Under the St. Paul’s Church Hall, Lower Burial Ground in Kingston.” The project allowed me to gain some experience in archaeological field work and learn more about some of Kingston's hidden history.
For the summer 2019 UBC Arts Co-op work term, I returned to Murney Tower Museum National Historic Sire of Canada; this time as a Collections Management Assistant. My work at MTM not only assisted with the Museum's efforts towards alignment with Community Museum Operating Standards in Ontario, but also earned me the 2018-2019 iSchool MAS Co-op Student of the Year award.
As part of our final outreach project for LIBR 548X Social Media and Digital Outreach, my course peers, our professor Dr. Erik Kwakkel, and I put together an exhibition promoting some of the many facsinating items in the University of British Columbia Rare Books and Special Collections holdings.
During the summer of 2018, I had the opportunity to work as the Chief Historical Interpreter at the Murney Tower Museum (Kingston, Ontario). The Tower is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the oldest museum in Kingston. Some of my responsibilities included supervising interpreters, arranging and providing visitors with guided tours, and working closely with the curator to manage museum operations and collections.
In my role as Chief Historical Interpreter, I worked with fellow staff members to conduct a complete inventory of the Murney Tower Museum collection. Through the creation of a master Microsoft Excel spreadsheet and the careful handling, photographing, and re-packaging of artifacts, we were able to ensure the accountability and proper preservation of the collection at both on and offsite museum storage locations.
As the Chief Historical Interpreter at the Murney Tower Museum, I was given the opportunity to assist the Museum Curator with the 2018 exhibition renewal. I was given an independent project of researching curator-approved and museum-related topics of my choice. The project also entailed generating the text, selecting the images, and creating a digital draft of a panel to be included in the renewal. This project enabled me to expand and utilize my research, design, and collaboration skills.
For an assignment at the iSchool@UBC for LIBR 506: Human Information Interaction, I acted as an information intermediary in the search process for a classmate. In completing this assignment, I was able to draw on skills learned in previous class lectures regarding the reference interview and the use of various information resources and tools, such as the UBC LibGuides and Summon and backward and forward chaining.
In my role as Chief Historical Interpreter at Murney Tower Museum, one of my responsibilities was to create a social media plan for the museum. I was also in charge of running the museum's social media platforms, which included, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Google My Business.