Hey, hey, hey, it's Mrs. Loehe, Seventh Graders, and I have a message for you about this Wednesday's assignment...
On Wednesday, September 16th, we will be participating in Ask a Curator Day on Twitter. My students have been participating in this event the last three years, and they have loved it! Ask a Curator Day is a worldwide event, on Twitter, in which 963 (Yes, you read that right.) museums, from 49 countries, take the opportunity to answer your questions about what goes on in the their museum, via Twitter.
What I ask of you, is that you read the information about Ask a Curator Day, from their website, below and then formulate ONE question for ONE of the museums listed. I recommend doing some museum background information online before creating your question.
When you come to class on Wednesday, you may either tweet your questions directly on your device including
@Baysidescience6 (my Twitter handle) and
#AskaCurator. If you do not have a device or a Twitter, then submit your question to me, handwritten, in the bin by Lucille or on Google Classroom the night before. This question will count as your Wednesday Science Starter and also gets a few homework points too.
I look forward to seeing your museum questions!
Mrs. Loehe
What is Ask a Curator? (from http://www.mardixon.com/wordpress/askacurator-day/)
It’s a way to talk to curators and people who work in cultural venues you normally don’t have access to. #Askacurator is open to everyone: Museums, galleries, National Trust, Theatres, and more. You can ask anything that you’re curious about or want more information on.
- What’s it’ like to be a curator?
- How do you decide what to display?
- What is the most unique object in your collection?
As some curators won’t know *all* the answers straight away, it might be they have to get back to you if it is a specific question about the museum/gallery. However, if it is a general question, you might find another museum’s curator could answer it.
How to get involved?
Use the hashtag #AskaCurator on Twitter. You can ask questions to specific museums using the @MUSEUMNAME or you can ask general questions using #AskaCurator.
Museums/Galleries
Please fill out this
simple form which will export your information to a spreadsheet to share. On the day you can schedule the time you are going to be there or you can dip in and out and answer questions when you get them. Others also decide to spend the day asking questions not just to their Museum but the general questions that are asked.
In other words, curators spend as much or as little time as they want.
It’s also a good idea to let your followers know you’re taking part. Some curators will write a blog or tweet they are taking part in #askacurator.
Audience/Visitors
Just come to twitter on the day and ask the questions. What I like to do is keep an eye on the countries and museums taking part and find a few unique ones that I want to know more about. You can set yourself a goal of asking a question to every country even!
Who can get involved?
EVERYONE! You just need to sign up for Twitter account if you haven’t yet. Curators can answer questions to other museums and/or general questions (how to questions, etc). Everyone is allowed to interrupt – this is Twitter after all!
Where
Go to Twitter and search for #AskACurator
I find using Tweetdeck or HootSuite makes following the conversation easier.
Hope this write up helps with some of the questions about what Ask A Curator is. If you still have questions please ask away or you can tweet using the tag
List of US Museums, Parks and Trusts for the #AskaCurator Day
| American Museum of Natural History | @AMNH | Natural History |
| California Academy of Sciences | @calacademy | Green museum/ Local museum/ Natural History/ Science center/ Science museum/ Aquarium/ planetarium/ four-story rainforest |
| Cape Fear Museum | @capefearmuseum | History/ Local museum/ Science center/ Science museum/ county owned museum |
| Cleveland Museum of Natural History | @gocmnh | Geology museum/ Natural History/ Science museum |
| Dinosaur Journey | @DinosaurJourney | Geology museum/ Natural History/ Science museum/ Paleontology |
| Discovery Place | @discoveryplace | Science museum |
| Dittrick Museum of Medical History | @dittrickmuseum | History/ Science museum/ University museum/ Medical |
| Everhart Museum of Natural History | @everhartmuseum | General Museum/Science & Art |
| National Museum of Health and Medicine | @medicalmuseum | Military Medicine/History of Medicine |
| New Richland Museum of Natural History | @NewRichlandMuse | Botanical/ Cabinet of curiosities/ Geology museum/ History/ Local museum/ Natural History |
| North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences | @NatSciLearn | Natural History/ Science museum |
| North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences | @naturalsciences | Natural History/ Science center |
| Peabody Museum/ Harvard University | @peabodymuseum | University museum/ Anthropology |
| Roosevelt-Vanderbilt National Historic Sites | @NPS_HydePark | Botanical/ Geology museum/ National museums/ Natural History |
| MIT Museum | @MITMuseum | Science museum/ Technology museum |
| SFO Museum | @SFOMuseum | Aviation museum/ Children's museum/ Collection (artwork)/ Design museum/ Fashion museum/ History/ Natural History/ Science museum/ Technology museum |
| Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum | @airandspace | Aviation museum/ History/ Spaceflight Museum |
| The Children's Museum of Indianapolis | @TCMIndy | Children's museum/ History/ Natural History/ Science museum/ Toy museum |
| The Tech Museum of Innovation | @thetechmuseum | Technology museum |
| The Tech Museum of Innovation – Health and Biotech | @bioforged | Design museum/ Science center/ Technology museum/ Innovation |
| Thomas Edison National Historical Park | @ThomasEdisonNHP | History/ National museums/ Technology museum |
| University of Iowa Museum of Natural History | @IowaMNH | Natural History/ Science museum/ University museum |
| University of Wisconsin Geology Museum | @UWGeologyMuseum | Geology museum/ University museum |
| Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History/ Department of Anthropology | @archaeologylab | Natural History/ Anthropology |
Go to Twitter and search for #AskACurator