Tag Archives for Natural Sciences

Top Ten Most Read Blogs of 2017

This year has been a riotous 365 days of wolves in dresses, spiral poo, and googly-eyed owls, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. We’ve had more articles (up by *84%* on 2016) (that number surely requires bold text), more comments, more feedback, and most importantly- more authors than ever before. The NatSCA blog is clearly the place to find stupendous stories, pretty pictures, wondrous wisdom, and… alluring alliteration it seems. To round up 2017, we have identified the top ten most read blogs of 2017, and, because we are super nice, we have even included links to save you searching for them and facilitate your viewing pleasure. You’re welcome, enjoy, and…

Happy New Year to you all!

The top ten most read blogs in 2017:

1- The curious life of a museum curator

2- Neither a Borrower Nor a Lender Be?

3- Stirring the hornet’s nest – are natural science collections even legal?

4- National Gorilla Day! (or Racist Skeletons in our Closets)

5- Private Bone/Taxidermy Collection: The Good, The Bad and The Illegal

6- Famous Flies – Petiver

7- Top Ten Most Read Blogs of 2016   (curiously)

8- It’s All In The Subconscious

9- Making Nature; at Wellcome Collection

10- What is a museum curator made of? Slugs and snails and puppy dog tails, and then some…

The number of blogs that have been published through NatSCA this year is the highest we’ve ever had, but next year we want to beat that record so do get in touch with your idea/s if you would like to submit an article to us. You don’t have to be a professional in natural history, as blogs are relatively informal by nature (no pun intended), it just needs to be related to a natural sciences subject which, let’s face it, with the right twist can encompass just about anything. So drop us an email, or peruse the guidelines and then send us a submission; blog@natsca.org. We look forward to hearing from you after you’ve recovered from the turkey and mince pies.

Written by Dr Emma-Louise Nicholls, Deputy Keeper of Natural History at the Horniman Museum and Gardens and NatSCA Blog Manager.

NatSCA Digital Digest

Welcome to the weekly digest of posts from around the web with relevance to natural science collections. We hope you find this useful and if you have any articles that you feel would be of interest, please contact us at blog@natsca.org

1. Blog: The Importance of Natural Sciences

Jack Ashby, Manager of the Grant Museum

Synopsis

Comparing attitudes across the Atlantic

The importance of natural sciences

2. Training: Interpretation Planning

Friday 18th July, Museum of London

Synopsis

‘Nick Poole from Collections Trust will be delivering an add on session from 1-1.30pm on digitisation and the potential of using your collections on line through various platforms’.

Interpretation Planning

3. Museum and Heritage Awards

Advisor- the team behind the M and H show and awards

Synopsis

A review of this year’s award winning projects

Museum and Heritage Awards

Compiled by Emma-Louise Nicholls, NatSCA Blog Editor

NatSCA Digital Digest

Welcome to the weekly digest of posts from around the web with relevance to natural science collections. We hope you find this useful and if you have any articles that you feel would be of interest, please contact us at blog@natsca.org

1. Blog: Natural Support from Colleagues

Jan Freedman, Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery

Synopsis

The way to best manage and safeguard our natural history collections is to ask for help and guidance from each other, says Freedman. He talks about the different types of natural sciences collections and hazards that we should look out for.

http://www.museumsandheritage.com/advisor/news/item/3242

To care for and manage our collections, Freedman explains why it's best to ask each other for help. The smilodon cast LDUCZ-Z2724 at the Grant Museum of Zoology. (C) UCL / Grant Museum of Zoology

To care for and manage our collections, Freedman explains why it’s best to ask each other for help. The Smilodon cast LDUCZ-Z2724 at the Grant Museum of Zoology. (C) UCL / Grant Museum of Zoology

2. Blog: On the Origin of Our Specimens

Emma-Louise Nicholls, Grant Museum of Zoology

Synopsis

In a 12 part series, Nicholls looks at each of the curators that have cared for the collections at the Grant Museum over the last 186 years. Illustrating the series with specimens that can be directly attributed to specific curators, she tells the story of the Museum by demonstrating how each curator added to and steered the development of the collections.

http://blogs.ucl.ac.uk/museums/tag/on-the-origin-of-our-specimens/

The Grant Museum as it was in the 1880s. (C) UCL / Grant Museum of Zoology

The Grant Museum as it was in the 1880s. (C) UCL / Grant Museum of Zoology

3. Paper: Natural History’s Place in Science and Society

Joshua j. Tewksbury, John G. T. Anderson, Jonathan D. Bakker, Timothy J. Billo, Peter W. Dunwiddie, Martha J. Groom, Stephanie E. Hampton, Steven G. Herman, Douglas J. Levey, Noelle J. Machnicki, Carlos Martínez del Rio, Mary E. Power, Kirsten Rowell, Anne K. Salomon, Liam Stacey, Stephen C. Trombulak and Terry A. Wheeler.

Synopsis

An interesting look at how natural history is of vital importance to a wide range of disciplines. Despite this, it seems that there has been a decline in support for natural history in developed economies. The paper argues that the support should be reinforced as natural history provides a significant benefit to society.

http://bioscience.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2014/03/23/biosci.biu032.full

Compiled by Emma-Louise Nicholls, NatSCA Blog Editor

NatSCA Digital Digest

Welcome to the weekly digest of posts from around the web with relevance to natural science collections. We hope you find this useful and if you have any articles that you feel would be of interest, please contact us at blog@natsca.org

1. Blog: Knowledge Network

Paolo Viscardi, Deputy Keeper of Natural History at Horniman Museum

Synopsis

Looking at Subject Specialist Networks and how this type of inter-museum communication can improve the sector as a whole. An ‘open line of communication’ encourages a quality control that is standard throughout museums, and allows for the incorporation of discussion with non museum based academics. The success of SSNs centres on workshops and conferences though time and money make these logistically difficult. Suggestions are made regarding solving these issues to perpetuate the benefit museums receive via SSNs.

http://www.museumsandheritage.com/advisor/news/item/3215

For your pleasure… A sloth bear skull, Melursus ursinus. Specimen LDUCZ-Z1637. (C) UCL Grant Museum

2. Blog: Museum Training for the World

Edmund Connolly, British Council-UCL Museum Training School Coordinator

Synopsis

The British Council and University College London have joined forces to launch the Museum Training School. Based in a variety of museums and galleries across London, this school will give early career museum professionals the opportunity to meet with staff from across the sector, and aims to arm attendees with the necessary skills to ensure ‘sustainability and growth’ of collections, galleries and museums for the future.

http://blogs.ucl.ac.uk/museums/2014/03/07/museum-training-for-the-world/

3. Event: How Museums Can Contribute to Wellbeing

One day event in Newcastle Upon Tyne

Synopsis

This event is aimed at a range of museum staff such as curators, managers, and those involved in education and outreach. it will look at how museums can focus on wellbeing and use it as a tool in relationships and collaborations with external organisations. It will also investigate ways of securing funding, building on the foundations of wellbeing as a concept.

http://www.museumsassociation.org/find-an-event/ev1062022?utm_source=ma&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=06032014#.Ux8JZNhKTwA

For further pleasure, the sloth bear skull from an exciting angle. Specimen LDUCZ-Z1637. (C) UCL Grant Museum

4. Event: Museum Week on Twitter

Contacts are @TwitterUK or museumweekuk@twitter.com

Synopsis

The 24th to 30th March is Museum Week on Twitter. The main hashtag #MuseumWeek will be the umbrella tag that will run all week long. Aside from this, there will be a specific theme, and relevant hashtag, each day, centred on topics related to museum and collections. It will be an opportunity to showcase parts of museums and collections that would otherwise not be accessible to the public. It also aims to give museum staff the chance to interact with each other through Twitter, and for both professionals and the general public to engage.

For more information, please contact Twitter on the above email or Twitter handle.

Compiled by Emma-Louise Nicholls, NatSCA Blog Editor