By Tracey Berg-Fulton, Database Associate, Carnegie Museum of Art Collections As a first time MCN attendee, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I’m not entirely in the technology world, but I’ve got one leg in and so I was worried I’d be overwhelmed by talk of frameworks, blasted by acronyms, and completely unable to contribute to…
by Mikkel Kirkedahl Nielsen, Curator at Sydvestjyske Museer / PhD Fellow Aalborg University (DK) Having been aware of the existence of the Museum Computer Network for years, this year I applied for a scholarship and was very lucky to receive one! A great thank you to the MCN organizers for giving me such an opportunity! Somehow…
By Jessica Suess, Digital Partnership Manager, Oxford University Museums As a lucky recipient of a MCN scholarship, I was able to attend this year’s Museums Computer Network conference in Minneapolis. It was a great opportunity to get new ideas and inspiration, both for my organization, and to share through my role on the Museums Computer Group UK committee….
By Diana Marques, Doctoral Fellow at the Smithsonian’s Natural History Museum Bio: Hi! I have a background in Biology and specialize in Visual Scientific Communication, working with technology, illustration and animation in a variety of scientific subjects and techniques, for museums, publishers and researchers. I’m a Smithsonian fellow pursuing a doctorate degree in Digital Media, focusing on the museum visitor…
By Daniel Caulfield-Sriklad, Fulbright Visiting Researcher, Drexel Digital Museum, Westphal College of Media Arts & Design at Drexel University Connecting with like-minded professionals is one of the most valuable and enriching professional experiences. There are exciting movements with digital technology and the arts however; it is fundamental to share these movements so that we can progress in a conscious and…
By Laura Hoffman, Manager of K–12 Digital and Educator Initiatives, The Phillips Collection What’s it like being a first-timer at the MCN conference? It’s hard to fit into one post. Working within the digital sphere of museums for the past five years, I kept hearing more and more about the MCN community and its conference. As a scholarship recipient and a presenter, I wanted to…
By Hana Maruyama, Multimedia Producer, Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center In museums, we talk about empowering and we talk about sharing the stories of communities of color, but we need to do more than that. If we were succeeding at sharing these stories, museum audiences and workers would not be overwhelmingly white and Michelle Obama would not have said…
By Lesley Parilla, Cataloger, Smithsonian Field Book Project I’ve attended library and archive conferences, but found 2015 MCN conference in Minneapolis to be one the most relevant to my work I found in years. Why? Because the project on which I work blends library and archive techniques. It can be challenging to explain this blend of…
By Nicole Lovenjak, Library Practicum (2014-2015), The Banff Centre Earlier this year the Art Libraries Society of North America (ARLIS/NA) reached out to its members and asked for submissions that addressed MCN’s conference theme from our own perspective. As a new art information professional, having just recently completed my MLIS, I jumped at the chance to gain insight into this…
MCN is looking to add Program Co-Chairs for 2016-2017 Position Title: Program Co-Chair (2 positions) Period: 1 year, with the possibility of a 2nd term Start: Mid-December 2015 Commitment: 1-3 hours/week throughout the year, increasing as the conference nears; full time during the conference. The 2016 Co-Chair must be available one weekend in January for…
Reflections on the MCN 2015 keynote speech by Haitham Eid, Assistant Professor/Interim Director, Master of Arts in Museum Studies Program, Southern University at New Orleans. I have just returned from Minneapolis after attending the MCN conference for the first time. It was a very rewarding experience and I had the chance to meet with some wonderful and intelligent…