You feel uneasy. Should you be here? Are you trespassing? What is this place?
Open your eyes.
This is where you’ve been. The warehouse I just described to you is one of the storage facilities at the Canada Science and Technology Museum. The objects I mentioned are real, though you will probably never see them. You were right to feel uneasy. Chances are, you’re not supposed to be in that warehouse. It is a functional space, intended for the use of conservationists and curators, perhaps the occasional custodian. Not the public.
In my discussion today, I’d like to tell you about a digital history project I was involved with recently. Drawing upon the experiences of that project, I would like to raise some ideas about what it means to do digital history in the open, where everyone can see it. I’d like to suggest that this means “going public” before a given project reaches its completion. Such a practice is especially important for public historians working with artifacts. Due to financial and spatial constraints, as well as the demands of conservation, museums are seldom able to present their full collection in their public displays. The Science and Technology Museum, for example, is only able to display 10% of its collection at any given time.
This is where you’ve been. The warehouse I just described to you is one of the storage facilities at the Canada Science and Technology Museum. The objects I mentioned are real, though you will probably never see them. You were right to feel uneasy. Chances are, you’re not supposed to be in that warehouse. It is a functional space, intended for the use of conservationists and curators, perhaps the occasional custodian. Not the public.
In my discussion today, I’d like to tell you about a digital history project I was involved with recently. Drawing upon the experiences of that project, I would like to raise some ideas about what it means to do digital history in the open, where everyone can see it. I’d like to suggest that this means “going public” before a given project reaches its completion. Such a practice is especially important for public historians working with artifacts. Due to financial and spatial constraints, as well as the demands of conservation, museums are seldom able to present their full collection in their public displays. The Science and Technology Museum, for example, is only able to display 10% of its collection at any given time.
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