UAM Summer Internship Blog 2021: Capturing Information for You - Help Videos and Condition Reports
Landing page for the University of Alberta Museums Search Site.
I just wrapped up the first month of my student internship with the University of Alberta Museums (UAM) and I have been a part of two exciting projects. I worked on help videos for University of Alberta Museums Search Site, and also reviewed and updated condition reports for UAM collections.
In October 2020, the University of Alberta Museums launched a new tool for the public to access museum collection data - University of Alberta Museums Search Site. The Search Site allows you to search objects or specimens across 19 registered U of A Museums collections. One of my tasks was to create help videos for some of the Search Site features to assist users in navigating and utilizing the site. I began this project by exploring and familiarizing myself with different features and functions of the Search Site as I was a new user to the Search Site. In collaboration with Jill, Katherine, Emily, and Denis - members of the UAM Search Site working team, I drafted four scripts for Search Site features: Auto-Citation, Map Functions, Advanced Search, and Updated Keyword Search. As I was working towards producing videos, I realized that in order to produce three to six minute videos, or any other content that you access online on a museum website, hours of work and collaboration are required. Some of Search Site working team members’ efforts are already captured in more than 10 help videos that you can find here.
Condition reports are records that museum workers use in documenting an object or specimen’s physical condition at a particular time. While museum visitors may never get to see a condition report on an object, it is a very useful tool from a museum’s perspective as it provides essential information about the object/specimen, and is at the core of managing and caring for museum collections. In consultation with my colleagues Jenn, Katherine, and Emily, I reviewed and updated existing templates used for humanities-based objects to ensure they comply with the most up to date professional standards, and am in the process of developing a template to be used for natural science specimens. Being part of this project has opened my eyes to some of the work that goes on behind the scenes to enable museums to function.
I learned from both projects that a tremendous amount of collaboration and communication goes into almost every aspect of museum work. I especially valued receiving advice and feedback from my colleagues -- Jill, Communications and Marketing Manager, Jenn, Movable Cultural Property Advisor, Katherine and Emily, Collections Management Advisors for Science and Humanities respectively, and Denis, Systems Administrator. As a small museums unit, everyone has many roles and takes various responsibilities. Their support was invaluable and will continue to be for the rest of my internship. Adjusting to the work, it has been made evident that I was wrapped in a nice comfortable bubble under the title of “student.” Now I can confidently say that I am getting a taste of the real work world through this internship.