An Explanation of Museum Registration

*Notation - The intention of this presentation is to be a somewhat facetious characterization by someone who has great adoration for the art of museum registration. *

This dissertation about museum registration is an invitation . . . a demystification . . . a disambiguation . . . (intensification of anticipation . . . )

I have received communication in conversation that it is difficult to make a determination of what registration does unless there is an abdication of registration's participation in a museum's organization for some explanation. This representation is an attempt at illumination that registration is the centralization and standardization of the collection's information and situation.

A foundation in the equation of good collections management is the coordination of the physical care of the object's location plus its underlying documentation and itemization. While there is huge appreciation and consideration for the preparation of the actual artifact, without the correlation and association of its identification it really is just 'a thing' without true explanation or contemplation.

Registration is responsible for the initiation of objects into the computer database compartmentalization, making sure its numeration and location is tracked right from the moment it lands in the organization. Then there's the preparation for the examination at the collections committee consultation for consideration whether or not it may be accessioned into the collection with all its characterization.

Registration also works on the facilitation and orchestration of loans and their documentation, importation, transportation and their certification of valuation and indemnification. This effort can be for research loans and their investigation as well as objects being loaned in or out of the organization for presentation.

Museum work is all about collaboration, coordination and consultation. This of course means registration works well and often with the organization's departments of conservation, curation, interpretation, repatriation, education, communication, administration, presentation and exhibition installation. Registration is here to serve in the participation of the museum's celebration of its association to its community population.

So that's a quick summation, perhaps an oversimplification and generalization, but likely will do for the immediate duration as a general characterization of registration. It might not sound like much glamorization or even stimulation, but to me and others who have the occupation of museum registration, it is fascination.

Any interrogation?

Thank you for the creation of time for this self-amplification. In the near future, I hope to have the opportunity for reciprocation.

Salutation(s)!

"Museum Registration Methods" perpetuation & other books of appreciation

 Lessons Learned & Next Steps

This plaque was given to me by a friend who had it in her house for years. She said she had placed it on many different walls, in different rooms so she could see it and have it remind her to 'keep the faith' in challenging times. She said she had recently moved it but hadn't figured out its next home . . . but when I came to visit, ah-ha! she knew I needed to have it. So now it is up on my dining room wall . . .

I am not going to lie, it has been a very VERY challenging year or so on my museum career journey after my last work experience at the big museum. I have had the opportunity, though, to really work through some tough thoughts, and come to the other side. In no particular order, they are:

• I am Caroline, a kind human who does good work and makes meaningful connections. I am more than any title, where I work, where I live, how much money I make, even who I love. I have learned to be first to see my own worth, and not to need to have someone else show me my value.
• My superpower is organizing thoughts, ideas and information. I have the capacity to easily see the fine details of a project and then zoom out to the bird's eye view and then go back into another detailed project. And then I can weave it all together, like magic.
• Primarily through writing this last blog series and my notebooks, I have rediscovered just how much work experience I have and that yes, I have transferred my museum-based skills in other areas of work, and can do so again.
• I matter and my ideas are meaningful, museum-y stuff and otherwise.
• My job is to bring the best of me to whatever I do. Some days my 'best' needs help, and so I find support and that's okay. But other times my best is AMAZING and I really need to make time and energy to celebrate that. I need to believe in myself and to take it with me into the greater world. In a way, this blog has shown me that I have learned a lot of lessons over the years, and I need to remind myself of those lessons from time to time. (It's kind of like thinking I am Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz . . . the answers are already within me, I just have to click my blog!)
• I am curious and my heart is open. I believe in trust and vulnerability; fundamentally, these values need to be earned and reciprocated for any relationship to grow.
• I have / am learning to surrender to the moment. And no, I don't mean giving up! But I have learned that if I can be still and be present, I am right where I am supposed to be. The Universe, in fact, has my back and has organized some incredible things for me. I am learning to be comfortable not knowing all the details and that everything will happen as it should. 
• I am tough. My new mantra is "Even if _______ happens, I am going to be okay". Cuz it's true!
• There's a lesson in every experience and yes, some are REALLY hard. But in choosing to be stronger, I only make myself better in getting through the challenging times. And for this, I am ever-grateful.

This entry marks the end of my own personal Eras Tour (oh how I love Taylor Swift and how she has rerecorded her albums!) in reviewing where I am going on my career. I am not sure right now where that may lead me, and that is both exciting and daunting. But I hope to pop back in to write about a museum issue from time to time, and to update you to where I am. In the meantime, you'll find me continuing my journey, running in my new 'race day' shoes which I call my swifties cuz a. they are springy, help me run fast and b. they are pink and sparkly. What a fun way to take my next steps!

Working in a Large Museum

The Dream Job: Senior Registrar . . .

Shipping exhibition crates in January 2020

Yes, it finally happened! After my time at Royal Roads University, I at last got the job I had been training for my whole career, the one I was seeking for so long: I became the Senior Registrar at a large museum, the Royal BC Museum to be precise, in January 2015. My career journey had brought me to this point through my education, my experience, my interests and my professional development. I was ready to be a super-star registrar!

I began the job joining an exhibition installation that was well under way, and tasked to bring in loaned objects from all over. Loan agreements, shipping logistics, insurance, couriers . . . it was all mine to facilitate. And I loved it. I had documentation to organize, emails to send, people to call, arrangements to make. I was collaborating with curators, collections managers, exhibits colleagues, conservators, museum management, museum executive, lenders (and their personal assistants), government representatives, shipping companies, customs agents and security inside and outside the museum. All this work was to be completed within the deadline of the exhibition opening in mid-May. What a rush, what a feeling to get it open, and to have played a part in all of it. THIS is exactly what I had in mind when I set out to work in museums.

My desk during an exhibition installation. Weeee!

I was also responsible for organizing the Collections Committee meetings, which were in need of a review. I began by speaking to colleagues about what they thought worked, and what they thought needed changing. In a collection of natural history specimens, human history objects and archival holdings, there are many different perspectives. I visited each area - botany, entomology, palaeontology, vertebrates, invertebrates, modern history, Indigenous collections and archives - and began to gain an understanding of both the diversity of the collections and holdings and how it was important to create clear universal and simple policies and procedures for the intake and dispersal of these items. The Collections Committee was the place where all new acquisitions are reviewed, deaccessions are discussed and repatriations are documented. It also reviews / is the time for discussion if there are areas where policy should be updated, including thoughts on rapid-response collecting. These quarterly meetings were quite the event to coordinate and orchestrate - having the right amount of paperwork (but not too much) and knowing which items require attention and which others are routine acquisitions was a learning curve, but it was so important to the legal and ethical obligations of holding a collection in trust for the public at the provincial museum.

Registering new objects and specimens in the database, working on temporary exhibitions, managing loans in and out for both research (from the natural history collections) and exhibition (mostly from human history), as well as Collections Committee meetings kept me and the associate registrar very busy. We also worked to improve all process and procedures through the creation of workflows, and suggested policy changes. It was so very busy that I really didn't have a lot of time for writing here on the blog, or volunteering outside of the work I was doing at the RBCM. There were also challenging issues during this time, including navigating COVID and working from home, and the very difficult work of discussing colonialism / colonial practices and racism in the organization. There were interesting times as well, such as the announcement of the new Collections and Research Building . . . which meant even more work of preparing to move the massive collections of seven million objects, specimens and archival holdings to a new location. 

Although the Senior Registrar position was - and in many ways, still is - my dream job for museum work, I found that I was wanting to continue to grow professionally. I was so excited with the idea of moving all the collections and I wanted to play a key role at the management level, being at the meetings to plan for the move as well as, hopefully, the building of a whole new museum at the current location. I also wanted to really be a part of those hard, thoughtful discussions around colonialism and the changes that we needed to make. And so I took a leap of faith and applied for - and won! - the position of Director of Collections, which I started in October 2021.

Next Step: Daring to Lead . . .

My leadership / support / management style is largely based on Brene Brown's "awkward, brave and kind" philosophy of showing up to be the front person of a team with vulnerability and courage. I knew I was taking a pretty big risk stepping out of a unionized position, as there was a new CEO to start soon . . .  it was a time of change and upheaval. But I also share Brene's admiration of the Roosevelt quote below: I was ready to step up and get into that arena!

In this director role I was responsible for work plans for the natural and modern history collections managers as well as the registration team. We had to do all the regular work and plan for a new collections building on top of that. I was tasked to run competitions to hire four permanent staff as well as a team of technicians to work to get the collections ready to go (there were 99 applicants for one competition!!). And I thought I was busy in the Senior Registrar role . . . some pretty long days were had, with a team of nearly twenty on the roster.

Among all this work came the official government announcement that there would be a new building on the site where the museum stood, closing the exhibition galleries for years during the rebuild. I won't put a link to the day's events but, as you may have guessed, it did not go over well. Less than two months later, the downtown project was cancelled, and public opinion was low of the museum, despite the fact that it used to be such a beloved institution. The way the project was launched and how quickly it was pulled back made for even more stressful times within the museum.

I was soldiering on with the plans for the move of the collections and supporting the Collections team by providing a safety net and a hand-up where I could. But, as someone in the arena, I was vulnerable . . . and the new CEO wanted to make organizational changes. Sometimes, if you're in a leadership role, you make a hard decision; sometimes you deliver a hard decision; sometimes you receive a hard decision. That last one was where I found myself, along with two other museum directors (research and learning), as we were walked out of the building, our positions eliminated, released without cause. After over seven and a half years at the museum, this was the abrupt end to my dream I had pursued with my whole being . . . and it has been very long, hard road to recover from that moment.

In my next post, I delve into the lessons learned from my museum work journey thus far, which have been mighty! One thing remains certain about this latest walk down my path: I have no regrets about taking on that management role. I know museums as a whole are going through tough times, and we all have to be courageous and stand up to say we are going to be a part of the solution, not sit it out. I don't know what my future holds, or where or how I will serve museums next, but I remain brave, I remain passionate, and I remain strong.

 From Musing about Museums to Analyzing Archives . . . 

Hatley Castle at Royal Roads University

"I am a collections management expert and I would do a STELLAR job as your archivist." 

This is the message I found in a notebook of what I wanted to relay when I interviewed for the position of Archivist at Royal Roads University. When I found out about the opportunity, it intrigued me. As mentioned, my consultant/contract work was not making a whole lot of money (might have something to do with the volunteer gigs . . . ) and so I was always on the look-out for full-time, permanent position where I could use my collections management skills. Here was my chance to stretch myself, to really learn about archives and archival work. I had of course done some work previously in the Government House archives but this was going to be immersed in the profession. And an awesome thing happened: I rocked the interview and presentation, and not only because I brought up an 80s photo of when I visited the site when it was Royal Roads Military College (!!), but because I demonstrated how my experience would add value to the university, specifically in the library as their archivist. So the next step in my career journey was to enter the world of archives!

Rockin' the big hair look
at the top of Hatley Castle at Royal Roads

I previously wrote quite a bit about what it was like to be the archivist in a library at a university located in a National Historic Site (many layers to explore!). There was much to learn there, and I loved getting to know the people and the place. There were many dimensions - the Dunsmuirs of the Hatley Park days, the ex-cadets from when it was a military college (many of whom were still very active in preserving their story and the site) as well as the work required as the university archivist. I was a department of one, with a couple of summer students along the way, responsible for entering information into the database, organizing the physical archives, writing posts for the weekly staff online newsletter, giving presentations and creating and staffing temporary displays for events. I also oversaw the digitization of the military college yearbooks, making sure that they were OCR'd (optical character recognition) so that they were searchable for the alum. It was a rich and fulfilling professional time on a stunning campus that included beautiful lunchtime walks.

The Japanese Garden

Seriously, if you ever get the chance to visit - DO!!

I also had the opportunity to collaborate with and get to know people who worked at RRU - there is so much knowledge there, and many great programs. I particularly learned a lot from the presentation course called the Instructional Skills Workshop. More of a life-lesson on how to trust myself, and to BELIEVE that I know a lot and can get the message across without overthinking or excessive prep. Rereading this post and the one before on giving presentations reminded me that if I simply breathe and ground myself, I can confidently engage with any audience, understanding that they are genuinely interested in what I have to share. I think I learned from the peacocks that that roamed the campus that being 'showy' isn't a bad thing . . . deep within, I possess knowledge and a compelling narrative that can captivate others. 

I truly love the opportunity to learn new things, think in innovative ways and embrace challenges that I have never considered before. I am so grateful for my time at Royal Roads University, to have served as the archivist that allowed me to gain a further understanding of archives. This experience built upon the foundation of university work that I had at University of Victoria and further deepened my appreciation of working at a National Historic Site, much like my earlier role at Government House. Experience by experience, brick by brick, this is how I grow and evolve; I am immensely grateful for the opportunities that have shaped my professional path.

Part of the RRU Archives collection I oversaw

Museum Consultant, Part 2 . . .

Well, I have caught up in my career review to when I first started this blog in 2010, just after I finished my work at the University of Victoria. It was a prolific time for my writing, and I hesitate now to write over or revise those posts of how I worked during the year-and-a-bit I was focussed solely on being a consultant and a writer. I also want to make the experience of this post more than 'check out this link!' . . . it's a fine balance. I am hopeful though that through this post (and the entire blog, really) I am able to showcase that every step is one that pushes me a little bit more, to my next level. And so when I come to reviewing the work I did as a consultant in the early 2010s, it makes me proud to know that:

1. I was the volunteer coordinator for the 2010 BC Museums Association conference in Nanaimo. Collaborating with an amazing committee, I conceptualized the theme, initiated a call for session proposals, evaluated the submissions, set up the conference schedule, secured keynote speakers, finalized agreements, and then worked to make sure everything went swimmingly on-site. It was quite the undertaking but the results were immensely rewarding.

Ya, I even organized OWLS to come to the conference!

2. I won a contract to be the the tour coordinator for a 2-year travelling exhibition for the Royal BC Museum. I promoted the exhibition Aliens Among Us, which was about invasive species in the province. I set up a tour route, helped facilitate the contracts and ensured the shipping, installation and promotion was coordinated in a manner that worked both for the host venue and the RBCM. I organized curatorial visits to these areas as well. I was able to attend the first opening and saw just how cool it was to have the provincial museum represented in a community outside of the capital of Victoria.

Parksville Museum as host of Aliens

3. I worked with a small museum up-Island in Mill Bay to set up all their inventory and collections management policies and procedures. I lead five workshops that instructed volunteers how to inventory their collection, document it on a simple spreadsheet, organize their paperwork and photograph each object. I also created their collections management policy booklet and template forms. I was able to do this all a shoe-string budget, bringing foundational concepts forward to achieve organizational excellence, which in turn would help them build to their next level. (This project was the inspiration of my most popular blog post, An Inventory Project in a Small Museum - nearly 4,000 reads!)

An identification photo of an object in the
Mill Bay Historical Society collection

4. In working with a colleague who was the primary contractor, I contributed to the creation of updated policy manuals for a museum in North Vancouver. Specifically, my role was to review and update collections management documents and all their forms as well as their collections policy.

So I had a busy calendar! As I review my notebooks and see just how many projects and deadlines I had on the go, I am impressed with my multi-tasking capacities. It was an exciting time professionally, for sure, even if it was not super-lucrative for me at the time (uh-huh, I need to be honest in this career adventure story!). But the wealth of experience and people I met along the way proved invaluable. Learning to balance all the demands of multiple clients and all that goes with it - insurance, contracts, billing and of course delivering everything on time and (more than) what was expected - was formative experience that significantly contributed to my development as a museum professional. And would I do it again? Without a doubt . . . it could well be essential to my continued engagement within today's museum and collections sector. So yes, I remain open to work, eager to contribute - please drop me LinkedIn message or an email to BCMuseumRegistrar@gmail.com if you want to connect!

Making Connections

Visiting UBC Library retrieving during an archives event

Okay, all vulnerable here: this was a hard post to write regarding my career journey. 

I really enjoyed my time at Government House. I was there for over four years, and it was good, the longest I had ever worked anywhere. Great, even, with the experience I received and the work I imagined I could do there to bring heritage alive. I thought it was more of a forever thing; but honestly, and you know this, no job is. I was sad when it ended, and a little worried for the future.

My pain was confirmed in my journals - I was certain that I would struggle to ever work again. It feels painfully familiar now, which sorta sucks. It was also not true, which is inspiring! The Universe is not miserly, it just has its own pace of doing things and providing lessons.

So what happened after the Government House job ended? I continued networking. I went to conferences for archives and for heritage. I also considered (again) what work aligns with making history, heritage, collections, stories more accessible to everyone. With this energy in me, I looked all around. I saw that there was a one-year position as on-site Program Coordinator in the Cultural Resource Management Program at the University of Victoria. Hmmmm . . . sounds interesting. And so I applied . . . and then got it!

Shoot, what a good hair day I had that day!! At least for the 2010s-ish and me! :)

I spent the year working with museum and heritage planning professionals to organize and deliver their on campus courses, with all their advance material and syllabus support. I organized their field trips and prepared the classroom. I also worked with students to find out what courses would work best with their professional goals and timeline. And, personally, I learned a huge amount of information on heritage planning, and how the work of preserving buildings and neighbourhoods is so important in where we live.

At a Heritage Planning workshop

I also remember really connecting with people. There was one student who honestly did not see herself worthy of being in the group, and although this was her final class, that she didn't deserve to graduate. This broke my heart. It also made me brave, and I counselled her that she WAS important, and that her group needed her, and she WAS worthy. She was so willing to walk away . . . until she understood that she made a difference, that her part of the presentation mattered, and she had a voice, a perspective. And ya, so that she could graduate. She eventually went into the classroom and joined her group and delivered her piece. If this was the only true connection that I made in that year, it was all worth it. 

This was not a full time position, which meant I could continue to work on other projects that I had lined up. I was excited to start the planning for a conference of the BC Museums Association (as a volunteer, which I blogged about here) and I knew I could make the space to do this outside of the responsibilities of the work, which was really important to me. It also helped me align my thoughts about my career, and where I wanted to go next, including the birth of this blog and work as a contractor. 

Change is hard, and making all the connections that these tough challenges bring helps me grow and makes me stronger, ready for the next adventure. Stay tuned!

Life as Heritage Officer for British Columbia's Government House . . .

Heritage Officer Caroline, circa 2005

After such an amazing time in California, my next museum career chapter began in a new city (for me) back in Canada: Victoria. We moved in 2003, and I spent the first while getting the kids settled in elementary school as well as really joining a community of parent/teacher groups, hockey teams and softball fun. I was lucky enough to have this time as I was not the primary family income earner. But it wasn't long until collection work called me . . .

I began my search as I always have - networking with other professionals, researching local organizations and finding out if there were any open opportunities out there. I also dug pretty deep into what it is I needed and/or could do at this time in my career and family life, this was that I wanted part-time work and any sort of long commute was going to affect childcare needs so I had best stay local. Additionally, I investigated volunteer opportunities to sort of test-drive places that I thought might be interesting to work. And I really really looked at my museum studies degree in collections management - were there non-museum places that needed their treasures organized? How could I find them if I was not able to work in a museum, specifically?

Well, as you may have guessed, I did happen to hear of one place that needed help with, of all things, a landau, and found out that it was smack in the middle of Victoria at Government House, the Office and Residence of the Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia, the representative for the Crown in the province. With all my gumption, I sent a letter, saying I would love to help. To my surprise, there was a response, with an additional ask of how to care for their collection of artwork and antique furniture, which was either on loan from local museums and galleries, or had been presented by the public after the a fire had burned the (second!) Government House to the ground. Oh my goodness, yes, I could absolutely help them out with that!

I created a proposal that described what I would do to photograph and inventory the collections they had, and to put it all on a database. I knew it would be a big job, and so I asked them what they wanted most: a couple of completely inventoried rooms (as in a 'piece of the cake') or all the inventory done of one kind of object - say their loans (a 'layer of the cake'). Well, it turns out the wanted the whole cake, but first they would try me out on a four month contract. I was thrilled.

Much like what's described in my inventory post, I first walked through the whole building and saw what was ahead of me. I found out about the objects on loan, the furniture with the donation stickers still on them as well as closets full of gifts presented to the Lieutenant Governor during official events. The building is four storeys which included a very large dining room, a ballroom - both for large, official celebratory events - a sitting room, staff offices (some converted from old servants' rooms!), of course the official residence of the Lieutenant Governor as well as the suites that are made available for visiting dignitaries. It's a big place, and very interesting, filled with artwork by British Columbia artists as well as portraits of former Lieutenant Governors (LGs) and, of course, the monarch.

After the visual review, I set out to understand the documentation available and reviewed the government files they had on the donations and loaned works as well as any commissioned paintings of the LGs. I thought the best way to set up the information on the collection should be readily accessible to any staff, and decided to work with Microsoft Office Access. It's not a perfect manner, but, at the time, other areas were using the database to track events and people, and so I designed what fields were required and another staff member worked with me to make it happen. I also lucked out and was able to use code to be able to add images so I could upload a photo for each object. I created a worksheet for each object and gathered materials to photograph, measure and document and number them in a system I devised. I was set!

I mapped out a logical way to inventory, choosing to go room by room. I worked with a Government House summer student, which was very lucky as an inventory project is exponentially faster when there is more than one person working - one writes up information, the other can set up a photograph and its numbers (I always like to put the number right in the photo, with the object!). We had a make-shift 'photo studio', using a white tablecloth over a collapsable table, and a whiteboard background. We set that up in a corner of each room we were inventorying. And when the intern was not available, I entered the data into Access and uploaded the photographs. We had a good system going!

I was keen to show my worth, and how the collection information could be used for the tour guides and others. And so when I was able to get the photographs to reproduce in Access reports, I cartwheeled down the hall in excitement. Well, no I didn't, but I sure would have if I could have! It meant so much to be able to provide these details in any sorted manner - by lender, by object type, by room, by artist. If you don't know what you have, you can't share that knowledge, right? 

With the inventory under control, I was brought in on a project to rehabilitate an 1872 building onsite as a teahouse with an area for information on the site. The building, known when I was there as the Butterworth Cottage, was once used as a home by the head gardener. There was also evidence that animals were kept there, as written on the walls there were notations of pigs born, with a date. Pretty cool, for sure.

Butterworth Cottage, south side

My job was to write the interpretive panels on the House and site, and use photographs from both the Government House archives as well as from other sources (with permission, of course). I wrote up a timeline of LGs as well as mentioned the house history, who had visited and of course information on the gardens. I worked with a designer to get the best layouts. This whole project ended up with a Hallmark Society award, and it was a great experience. Find time to visit if you haven't already! 

Inside Butterworth Cottage, with interpretive panels

Well, what else can I say? I have gone on a lot longer than I thought I would about this experience as Heritage Officer at Government House. I was fortunate enough to work there four years and four months, which is pretty good for just having pitched an idea too them! And I do need to also describe what it was like to work at such an important place, and how hard the Lieutenant Governor works for the province. There's a lot to celebrate in BC, and this institution and the position is all about that. The LG visits all over the province, attending large events and small, and gets to know a lot of people. I cannot tell you how much of an honour it was when the Lieutenant Governor would drop in at staff coffee time in the servery on the main floor (complete with a really long table). I said to a colleague outside of Government House that it was like talking to a historical figure; I was corrected to say, no I *AM* talking to a historical figure!  The people in this role - while I was there, Honourable Iona Capagnolo and Honourable Stephen Point - are truly remarkable British Columbians. 

Oh, and I DID get to meet a prince, who said he wished he had someone like me on staff, one who could look after collections and the items presented to him on official visits (I wrote a policy on gifts to the LG during my time there). Maybe I should follow up, and that's where my next adventure could take me . . . ?!

 A California Dream . . .
From Volunteer to Grad School to Exhibitions Registrar

I wasn't long in Edmonton before an opportunity came up to go to California as spouse on a Free Trade visa, moving there to follow the (first) internet boom. We thought we'd go for just a year or so, to see what it was like, and ended up staying for ten. In these years I volunteered, went to graduate school and then worked in California museums, all the while we had two kids and bought a house and made great friends. It was an amazing decade with a lot of unique experiences for this Canadian gal, one that was very formative along my museum path.

The US didn't need people with History degrees (I know, right?!) as much as they required those with Computer Science and so I was back to my volunteer world as I was not able to obtain a work visa under Free Trade. Lucky for me, I found two amazing places to give my time, and grow my museum experience. For the first year, I was able to dedicate a day a week each at the Phoebe Hearst Museum of Anthropology on campus at the University of California, Berkeley, as well as at the Oakland Museum of California. Both experiences were so thought-provoking, with a lot of learning, and each had staff and fellow volunteers that were very welcoming. At the Hearst Museum, I worked with the Native American basket collection. This was until I said I was expecting a baby . . . and then I was promptly moved to a Japanese netsuke collection as there were a lot of concerns about pesticides used to 'preserve' the baskets. (This was the first time I had really understood what museums did to many Indigenous objects, and I was pretty shocked. I had much more to learn.) At the Oakland Museum, I worked in the History department, and was taught on their database how to properly catalogue and complete data entry. I worked in the storage rooms, and remember how one time I was given a big sheet of foam-core and asked to build a box with a glassine window, so the object could be seen without opening the box. (Oh, how to learn to think in multiple dimensions!) It was a great experience.

As mentioned, I got to work with amazing people. I met an intern at the Oakland Museum from John F. Kennedy University who told me all about their Museum Studies program, specializing in collections management. I was blown away that such a thing might exist! I was given information and an application form and applied when the baby was just a few months old . . . and got accepted (and so I applied for and got a student visa). I started just before she turned a year old, and it was a balance for sure. It was a program designed for working professionals, though, and so classes were in the evenings which meant I had childcare. AND the baby loved to nap, so I had great amounts of time during the day to do my readings and coursework . . . totally doable for this great program of amazing conversations, hard assignments and INCREDIBLY cool field trips, meeting fascinating museum people all over the San Francisco Bay Area. I was in dreamland in this program. 

For my first assignment at JFKU, I had to visit a Bay Area cultural entity
so I took the babe to the the SF Zoo
and wrote about a family visitor experience.

Part of the program was to complete a bazillion hours* of unpaid internship. I worked at two very different museums, getting two unique experiences. My first one was at the Provincial Museum of Alberta, working on a project to reorganize, rehouse and inventory a military cap badge collection. I went back to the PMA because my mum could watch my daughter while I worked full time for a couple of months. It was a balance (again) but we made it work . . . I just wish the supplies had come in sooner because it was such a stress to wait for these very-precise boxes to show up! But they eventually did, phew. The other was at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, where I completed paperwork to prepare arms and armour from the collection for deaccession and supported the registration department wherever I was needed. I completed this internship over a longer period of time as I was back at school by then, and I had to commute from the East Bay. I learned a lot there . . . and I found out how interesting it was to work in an art museum. (*may not be an accurate number!)

The final stage of the degree was the masters project. Incredible. So much work. So much angst to find the topic then narrow it and have the topic approved. Once narrowed down, I sent out a survey to make sure it was a topic that made sense for museum professionals in the field. Through that survey, I uncovered that the donor's point of view was rarely part of the information gathered when an object was being considered for the collection. I therefore further researched and then wrote my project and called it "Honoring the Spirit of Donation: Documenting Donors' Perspectives in Collecting Museums". This was a fascinating story to me as it involved not only the documentation of the physical object but also the story behind why a donor thought an object was so important to them that it belonged in a museum. My product from this research - because we were not just supposed to talk about a challenge, but to provide an answer to it - was that I developed a form to facilitate a conversation with the donor at the time of donation. This simple step added a personal dimension to the value of the object, and brought in a way to share the authority of the object's documentation. (If you're interested in a template of the form, please send me an email that you can customize to your collection's needs.)

After graduation, I was able to get a work visa and worked in a few places in the Bay Area, including a children's toy museum and contract work for some small history museums. I also got back to the Oakland Museum of California, this time in the Education Department, where I was responsible for obtaining permissions for historical images that were to be used in their Gold Rush curriculum guides. Later on, I was the OMCA's Art Department registrar for exhibitions, which was an amazing experience that deserves its own blog post, it was just so cool: I managed logistics, I went to an artist's home, I oversaw couriers and of course organized the paperwork of the temporary exhibitions for the art department. It was a challenging role but it allowed me to use all the knowledge and skills I had gained throughout my museum experience and education. 

And so after a decade of working with / through visa requirements while balancing family needs, we made a decision that it was time to move back North. My museum journey in California was such a valuable and memorable experience that has stayed with me: I learned so much through my studies and my work in the rich museum environment in the San Francisco Bay Area. It was a time that shaped my career and continues to inspire me as I move forward . .  you might say it was a dream come true!

Well, I certainly kept my documents from California!
Daytimes, planners, portfolios and master's project.
Oh, and journals. Don't forget the journals. 

Coming Home . . . Part 1  

After my travels, it was time to come home to Edmonton, Alberta, and figure out my next steps in the museum working world. Of course wanted to find a paying job, and started by walking my resume around town and joining the provincial museum organization. I also continued on with the Air Force Reserve band on a part-time basis, both playing and researching the history of the band (see the article at the end of this post). I was open to volunteer work, and I found opportunities out there at a volunteer action centre. I gave my time to a community organization -- working bingos! -- and made two other commitments: one as a costumed interpreter at Fort Edmonton Park, and the other at the then-Provincial Museum of Alberta, the largest institution in town. 

The interpreter work was intriguing to me. I worked on 1885 Street, a 'pioneer' version of life on the prairies, and was given a costume to wear and a general script to work from. I could be in-character or not, as my job was to interpret life as it would / could have been in a farmhouse with a fire stove. I met visitors and worked on my cross-stitch, sometimes made bread or biscuits with another interpreter. It was a very interesting way to spend a few hours every week for the spring and summer months. (I do wish I had a photo of me from that time!)

My adventure at the Provincial Museum, however, was career-making. I remember wondering why I had to be interviewed - I was working for free, after all. It didn't really occur to me that they wanted ME to find my right fit as well. I went in, open to suggestions, but again, they wanted to hear from me and find out my interests and ensure I found the right spot, likely so I would keep coming back. I told them about my degree and my travels and my interests, which was primarily (at that time) around military history and why people serve. The museum's volunteer coordinator took everything into consideration and thought I might be a good fit for work 'behind the scenes' in collections, which I had never really thought of, or even knew much about. She set me up to connect with a collections person so I could be trained to work directly with the military history department. I didn't know it then, but this changed everything about what I wanted to do with my degree and also with my career. 

I was provided very solid training on how to inventory collections items, and walked through how to describe, measure and document objects. I don't quite recall how much time they took to train me but I do remember my first assignment: it was to fully document a soldier's kit box. It contained uniforms, medals, photographs, letters and other documents - a whole time of service. I remember his name as Johnathan Cave, and even confirmed it when I found my daytime from way-back-when, which said "Met Mr. Cave today!" (I know! I am my own best archivist and historian!)

I also applied for jobs throughout that year or so but it was through this volunteer work and training that I was offered a position to inventory a collection at a historic site. I was on a team of four people, and we learned together best practices, which have stayed with me to today (and were part of the creation of my most popular blog post,  An Inventory Project in a Small Museum). It even got a couple of pages in a scrapbook I put together a year or so later . . .

Doesn't look like much has changed in
museum storage, eh!

I will forever be indebted to the volunteer coordinator who took the time to talk with me about what I wanted out of my experience, and for the attention that the collections people made to show me carefully (and with confidence) how to document and handle objects in a museum setting. This experience truly made all the difference in what I thought I was capable of doing in museums . . . and how I would dedicate my working life to caring for collections. 💖

The Air Force Reserve article...

My Time at the Tower . . .

Cover of the souvenir booklet

As I continue on with my museum career journey, I come to the making-a-dream-come-true part: Living in London. I had always loved the city and had the opportunity to travel there a couple of times and really, really wanted to live there. So after I getting my undergraduate degree in history, I took it and my British passport (which I got through my father, who was born in Wales) and headed off to the place that captured my imagination so much history in just one place. I packed a HUGE bag - a hockey bag no less, how Canadian! - with a bunch of books, a stereo (!), my photo albums and some clothes in a suitcase . . . I was going to set myself up there and be part of the action!

My Welsh cousin met me at the airport. I do wonder what she thought of me and all my bags . . . and we took the underground subway (tube) to her place in east London. I arrived right around Guy Fawkes Day, and so there were fireworks and everything, I was so excited. I quickly got myself settled best I could and hit the pavement, looking for work.

I remember specifically going to the British Museum and the Imperial War Museum on my trek around town in my new and not-yet-broken-in pumps. Staff there were not overly-excited to see a young eager Canadian university graduate, I have to say! And, ya, as this was the time before easy internet (!!), it was tough to figure out where to look, who to talk to, how to get to work in a cultural organization. But I was not to be deterred! I went an employment agency of sorts and tried to understand the new place I was in. The positions listed there were more for odd-jobs and pubs, and I didn't come all that way to NOT work in a museum-like setting, so I decided to take more resumes to other places in person. My cousin was kind enough to put me up until I found a job, but time was pressing on . . . and that's when I got an interview and then awarded a seasonal position in the Tower of London gift shop!

for more awesome photos, check out here


Yeoman Warder

 

I was ecstatic. I would be taking the tube from Leytonstone to Tower Hill EVERYDAY, be a commuter in my big city. They also provided a uniform, which I later found out was a little bit too much like a school uniform, but that was okay - I would know what to wear. And it was a pretty intense schedule of 6 days on, 1 day off, with every fifth week a three-day break (not necessarily on a weekend, for sure). So I would be getting a LOT of experience working front-of-house at a World Heritage Site.

I learned a whole lot in my time there . . . we had rotating assignments in the main gift shop, a smaller one inside, a booth at the Crown Jewels as well as selling tickets at the front gate. Oh the stress of a balanced till at the end of the day! And all those postcards and sweets and little soldiers and souvenir books. And answering a whole lot of the same questions over and over again . . . . it is true that visitors ALL want to know where they can get a good cup of coffee, where to grab lunch and if there is a public loo anywhere nearby. Oh, and what of these heavy coins, help?! Oh and WHY is everything so expensive? Can they use this ID to get a 'deal'? Also to see the student groups from all over the world as well as the walking tours with a guide who would hold their umbrella up high so they could follow them easily. And what it was like when either or both groups would descend on the gift shop at the same time!

The entry to the Crown Jewels. Once I answered the phone on duty

when at my booth there and it was a person wanting to talk to someone at
his bank branch . . . but he didn't think he was calling THE Bank!

I really liked my co-workers. We were of two sorts - permanent, local East Enders with benefits and temporary, seasonal students and backpackers from places like Australia and Germany. And as mentioned in a previous post, the security and tour guides were Yeoman Warders, which was pretty cool (although I got in trouble with them a few times for accidentally kicking the alarm in the ticket booth. "CANADA! Stop swinging your feet!!" they would say...). I also got in the groove of having a bacon butty and tea on break, and having great conversations . . . made my own accent kind of funny, living with my Welsh cousin and working at the Tower. One visitor actually said to me, "What are you, Irish?!" It was truly an international experience, lol. 

One of the shopgirls was a daughter of a Yeoman Warder, whose family 
lived on the grounds. She invited me to stay overnight once and I
got to sleep in the amazing (but very spooky!) place!

One bonus I had not earlier considered was that being in England also gave me an opportunity to travel easily, and this job situation made it possible to earn money, go on adventure, and return back to work. With the intense full-time schedule, I have to say it was tough to get even just laundry done - work was all I did when I was there, with an odd one-day fun day if my day off landed on a weekend. And so a friend from home and I took trains for a couple of months and we saw almost all of the western countries in continental Europe. It was awesome. It also made me realize that I wanted to do some more travel . . .  maybe I had done all I needed to do in London - for now! - and so another friend and I planned a great return back to Canada via Thailand, Australia, New Zealand and Hawaii. What an experience that was! (I HIGHLY recommend doing something that can combine work and travel, especially when you're young!)

Venice!

Sydney!

While working as a shopgirl at the Tower was not exactly what I had dreamed for my first museum-y job, it was amazing all the same. The reality of it - and I am grateful to this day for it - is that I gained a deep appreciation for people who sell admission tickets, work in retail, help visitors navigate a good experience at cultural organizations. Some things you need to do yourself to really understand all that needs to go into making a good first impression, be the first good contact, at a place a visitor has invested the time and money to explore. It was my privilege to do so at the Tower of London, and I took this visitor-centred learning and understanding on with me on to my next work adventures.

 There's No Life Like It . . . 

Now before I get all museum-y on my journey down Memory Lane, I need to acknowledge a really amazing experience I had in the working world as a young adult.

You see, when I was still in high school, my older brother joined a band. Now it wasn't *that* kind a band, but one that had - what!? - a prerequisite of going through basic military training for the army reserves. This did not sound so appealing on the outset . . .  until the band part of his job started, where he marched in parades and played in a concert band for mess (official) dinners. This was a part time job?! Paid to play his euphonium? The clincher, though, was when he was approved to go to music school for the summer, away from home. THAT sounded cool and so I got my flute, auditioned for the band and got in as well, at age 17.

Ya first though . . . that basic training part. Oh boi. Uniforms, marching, learning to fire and care for a rifle. There was even rappelling down a wall, for which I did not do too well (that whole heights thing). We also DUG A TRENCH and participated in an overnight exercise. I will be the first to admit I was way more Private Benjamin than GI Jane! But you know, I got through it. I kept telling myself that if it didn't work out, I could fall back on my swimming instructor certificate and do that part time through the rest of high school and into university. But I didn't have to, as I learned discipline, to do a proper uniform kit - including polishing boots! -  and how we all had to work as a unit for us all to succeed, no one left behind.

I spent that first year in the band going to band rehearsals both in the drill hall learning how to play and march, and in a concert room practicing regimental music. Then I also got the opportunity to go to the Canadian Forces School of Music that next summer. In order to get promoted, we had to complete our 'TQs' - Trade Qualification levels - which, for musicians, included scales and technical pieces. The way courses were scheduled though I couldn't do my TQ right away so I chose another course. I decided what I needed was to learn how to be a drum major . . . how to lead the ENTIRE band around the drill square, learn how to hold and then signal with a large mace where we are supposed to go. Gutsy, eh! I have NO idea where I got that gumption, but I did. And this was on top of living in barracks, figuring out how to braid my own hair, getting up early and showing up at the music school on time. But I did it, again with the guidance of instructors but maybe more importantly with the support of my colleagues - from all over Canada - that were soon to become lifelong friends. It was truly a magical summer job.

There were a lot of flutes that first year at the school!

I was encouraged to take a junior leadership course after a couple of years of playing in the band. This was also a part of the requirements for promotion. By this time, I had switched from the army to the air force reserve. The training, though, remained focussed on working together, getting everyone through the challenges put in front of us. There was more tough outside stuff - rope bridges! - and classroom learning. It's a little odd, but I don't really remember the instructors except that they gave space for all the students to take turns leading, and then later evaluating each other. It's a foundation of leadership that has stuck with me - we support each other as we learn to lead.

After five full years of training ME, I was informed it was time to give back . . . I would be teaching basic training to a new bunch of air force reserve candidates. I ain't gonna lie - it was a little overwhelming to think about that! And so when they set me up to be a drill instructor, it my was first "Atten-TION!" where the silent "please" was pretty apparent. Lol. So I was told, Corporal Davies, you will be a classroom teacher. I appreciated that, because that is where my skills would best be put to use, teaching about rank structure and other parts of the Canadian Armed Forces. (And I guess I made an impression as that cohort did a rendition of You've Lost That Loving Feeling, aka Top Gun, at the local pub. THAT was a moment.)

I was in the part-time reserves for the whole time I was doing my undergraduate degree, and it was a wonderful experience. Not only did I get paid to play my flute and learn how to do it better, I learned a lot about life. I learned about discipline and teamwork and leadership. I would think there are a few people who wouldn't like the structure that the military offers, but I believe that there is comfort in knowing what one needs to do to get promoted, to understand hierarchy because it is on everyone's sleeves. And yes there were nuances in the band that may not be in other parts of the military such as a new recruit who is the best musician gets the solos but there was still a feeling of shared ownership of how we show up as a team. What I do, what she does, what he does, it all affects how we get our work done, show up on parade together, play at that Remembrance Day ceremony. We all stand together as one.