Today we started our Research Week. Our professor is making sure we're all up to speed on our research skills. We had a quick project where each team was given a historic question. My group was asked to track the problems of prison systems and the changes that were enacted in the 19th Century. Our job was to find a primary source for each member of the group, six of us, to develop a thesis that would lead to further research, and to present our findings to the class. My particular source was the second annual report of the New York Prison Association, which was formed in 1845 to help bring about needed reforms in the state's prison systems. Our group's winning source went to Maria, who found an Ohio tour book put together by a prison warden to advertise how well kept his particular prison was.
Our other excercise, and one which was extremely interesting, was wandering through the stacks to pick out remarkable titles. There were some pretty awesome ones; mine was something like Zohlan on Sculpture, by William Zohlan. The last name is probably incorrect there, but you get the point. Our professors goal with this exercise was to talk about the importance of picking a good title. For someone just browsing the stacks, that's all they'll see, and if it isn't interesting enough there is no reason for them to pick up your book. I highly recommend the idea of browsing through the sections of your library now to check out some of the horribly wonderful titles. You'll know what I mean if you do.
The biggest shocks today were that, first, the library already has space on its shelves for our theses. How terrifying is that? Secondly, we are both encourage and almost expected to submit some of the papers we will write over the next two years for publication. They kept telling us today that we are professionals now, something which it seems I had never processed before. I promise though that I will do my best to place my work here for you to read it, and to help me critique it first! Soon to come, a list of ideas for my thesis.
31 August, 2009
30 August, 2009
Craft of Resarch, 1-4
Starting tomorrow, we will begin our first Research Week. We will be conducting research projects, and I believe making sure our research skills are up to graduate level speed. We also have times scheduled as Research Challenges; it will be interesting to see what those turn out to be.
In preparation, we were asked to read the first four chapters of "The Craft of Research" by Wayne C. Booth, Gregory G. Colomb and Joseph M. Williams. The main point of the first chapters is trying to teach writers how to frame their writing in a way that actually interests readers. It is very, very similar to what I read at Wartburg in the Turabian manual. It always fascinates me, and I know that I am as guilty of this as any, how unreadable we make ourselves. Both Turabian and the Craft of Research stress the importance of finding the answer to the questions "so what?" Without that answer, readers won't care, and readers who don't care won't waste their time on what you have written.
That being said, here is my "so what." I'm writing this blog to tell you, my reader, about my life as a student here at CGP? To that, we'll put the question. So what? So, my classmates and I are the future of museums. We will go on, like those before us, to become directors of national associations, to run museums around the world from the ground up, and to educate the public about the importance of the past. This is to show you how all of that starts. I hope that is a good enough so what for you.
In preparation, we were asked to read the first four chapters of "The Craft of Research" by Wayne C. Booth, Gregory G. Colomb and Joseph M. Williams. The main point of the first chapters is trying to teach writers how to frame their writing in a way that actually interests readers. It is very, very similar to what I read at Wartburg in the Turabian manual. It always fascinates me, and I know that I am as guilty of this as any, how unreadable we make ourselves. Both Turabian and the Craft of Research stress the importance of finding the answer to the questions "so what?" Without that answer, readers won't care, and readers who don't care won't waste their time on what you have written.
That being said, here is my "so what." I'm writing this blog to tell you, my reader, about my life as a student here at CGP? To that, we'll put the question. So what? So, my classmates and I are the future of museums. We will go on, like those before us, to become directors of national associations, to run museums around the world from the ground up, and to educate the public about the importance of the past. This is to show you how all of that starts. I hope that is a good enough so what for you.
Orientation Week
The Cooperstown Graduate program in Cooperstown, New York, began training "creative, entrepreneurial museum professionals committed to programs for the public good" in 1964. (http://www.oneonta.edu/academics/cgp/about/history.html) My class, to graduate in 2011, consists of fourteen women and three men all working to become those entrepreneurial professionals. Interests of the group range from Dutch immigrant history to solving the problems caused by No Child Left Behind for museum education programs. We will spend the next two years challenging ourselves to learn everything there is to know about museums, about ourselves, and about this place we're calling home until graduation.
We spent the last week going through the process of orientation and getting settled into our homes. After unfortunately having our fourth roommate put off coming to the program due to illness, my house is composed of two other girls. Mandy, from Minnesota and Ginny from Virginia. Mandy is very interested in bringing history and museums to the Web. Ginny's interests lie in textiles, especially clothing from the Civil War era. For myself, I love living history, and am hoping to find out how to do it well. We were in temporary housing until Thursday, displaced by the Glimmerglass Opera Company. We finally got moved in, and have spent what free time we've had sorting our spices into alphabetical order, organizing the junk drawers and moving ourselves into our rooms. We're finally settled, and are now able to turn our attentions to the reason we're here.
Last week we did a tremendous amount of work learning about the program, expectations, team building, conflict resolution and many other things. A lot of what we did was learning how we, as a group of seventeen, will work together. We're just a smidge too small to have representatives attend council meetings on behalf of their classmates, but too big to have everyone have all of their opinions be heard in an orderly manner. We worked very hard over the course of several days to record class bylaws to help us maintain order throughout the course of our next two years.
Of all the sessions we attended, the most interesting one discussed the changing role of technology in museums. We were introduced to Google Reader, as well as the currents uses of blogs and Twitter in museums. As a result of that session, I have decided to keep a blog for my time here. My primary goal will be to record my thoughts on our readings, our professional seminars and the impact that the program is having on my goals as a museum professional.
We spent the last week going through the process of orientation and getting settled into our homes. After unfortunately having our fourth roommate put off coming to the program due to illness, my house is composed of two other girls. Mandy, from Minnesota and Ginny from Virginia. Mandy is very interested in bringing history and museums to the Web. Ginny's interests lie in textiles, especially clothing from the Civil War era. For myself, I love living history, and am hoping to find out how to do it well. We were in temporary housing until Thursday, displaced by the Glimmerglass Opera Company. We finally got moved in, and have spent what free time we've had sorting our spices into alphabetical order, organizing the junk drawers and moving ourselves into our rooms. We're finally settled, and are now able to turn our attentions to the reason we're here.
Last week we did a tremendous amount of work learning about the program, expectations, team building, conflict resolution and many other things. A lot of what we did was learning how we, as a group of seventeen, will work together. We're just a smidge too small to have representatives attend council meetings on behalf of their classmates, but too big to have everyone have all of their opinions be heard in an orderly manner. We worked very hard over the course of several days to record class bylaws to help us maintain order throughout the course of our next two years.
Of all the sessions we attended, the most interesting one discussed the changing role of technology in museums. We were introduced to Google Reader, as well as the currents uses of blogs and Twitter in museums. As a result of that session, I have decided to keep a blog for my time here. My primary goal will be to record my thoughts on our readings, our professional seminars and the impact that the program is having on my goals as a museum professional.
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