∴ Meg Dolan ∴

Our brief from the NLS states, “When we put books in cases, we are changing them from literature into exhibit, and in doing so saying something additional to the content of the item itself.”  However, in a simple traditional book display, the viewer is allowed access to only one spread – two pages of information from which to interpret the entire book.  In light of this, I want to consider the following question: can digital display help solve the problems traditionally associated with the display of books? In order to explore two avenues of answers to the above question, I will separate books into two categories: significant books (valued primarily for their contents), and beautiful books (valued primarily for their visual properties), and look at digital display in conjunction with an example of each type. While these are not mutually exclusive classifications, most books will fall more heavily into one category or the other. Loxley et al., state that “an emphasis on showing...

(1) Identify your key responsibilities and list the main areas of work you have been involved in. Briefly highlight the skills and competencies that are relevant to this project/work area. At the onset of this project it was my job to be the communicator with all contacts aside from Sheena.  We chose to do this on the advice of Shona Thomson, who recommended it as a way to maintain clarity.  However, as we moved into Semester 2 the volume of communications grew exponentially, and each of us took on communicating with our own relevant contacts.  This required the ability to remember the new contacts we were making weekly at the Library, and to gather and distill information back and forth for my group. It also required the ability to know when to redistribute this work load to avoid oversaturation. I was responsible for coordinating the Conversation Corner, a role which consisted of identification of and communication with suitable and diverse participants, and scheduling ...

In my entry of December 22 nd , I mentioned that we were planning to use a large x-shaped Octanorm structure in our exhibition.  In January, we received a list of the Library’s available Octanorm pieces, and owing to a lack of compatible parts with our initial design, had to re-design to a t-shaped structure. Due to a lack of communication from the Library’s usual Octanorm printer/assembler, we confirmed two other suppliers in late January: Mackinnon Slater for printing, and Old School Fabrications for assembly. Wednesday the 26th, 8 days before opening, we received an email from Scott at Old School Fabrications saying the pieces on the Library’s Octanorm parts list were not compatible with our design.  We calculated that we had about £1300 to spare in the budget to put towards fixing the situation, and I undertook the coordination of that. I first attempted to rent additional Octanorm pieces from a company, who instead offered to fully reprint and assemble on a non-Octanorm s...

One of the questions posed to us at the January 17 th meeting was from curator Olive Geddes, who asked “How does the Phoebe Anna Traquair manuscript fit in […] the overall theme of ‘advice’?” I would like to address that here. In our meeting with NLS curators on October 4th, we were shown many hand-selected items from the collections which they thought may fit the theme of International Women’s Day, including Phoebe Anna Traquair’s illuminated manuscript of Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s Sonnets from the Portuguese .  We had all been very taken with this piece, and thought it would make a perfect Big Ticket Item to attempt to draw visitors, considering her huge involvement in the Scottish Arts and Crafts movement. Barrett Browning and Traquair were both women working in artistic fields which were, at the time, predominantly populated by men, and we have been considering them as providing Advice by Example. Barrett Browning in particular challenged the societal roles of women at...

One of the points the National Library of Scotland wanted us to consider within the brief we were given at the beginning of our project is the question of authenticity as applied to digital material within their collection, asking: “is authenticity of the original format important?”  As we have been planning our exhibition, this has come up as a troublesome topic, both in whether or not to present this to our audience as a front-facing issue in the exhibition, and in how to gauge the differences in audience interaction with digital vs. physical objects to attempt to respond to this question. I want to delve into the specifics of the term “authenticity,” as it can have several meanings in the context of our project and in relation to any digital artefacts.  Firstly, how does the term authenticity concern the integrity of the material presented within artefacts, and secondly, how does the term authenticity relate to the value of interaction with artefacts? I’d later like to upda...

At the beginning of Semester 2, we were asked to re-present our ideas to a group of NLS staff, including members from Curatorial, Events, Exhibition, Conservation, Digital Learning, IT, Front of House, Public Engagement, and Security. While our Final Pitch in Semester 1 had gone over well, the team at the NLS still had many unanswered questions having to do with logistics of our space, the running of the actual day, our particular objects, IT needs, our social media campaign, and the function of the Conversation Corner. This event caused a lot of stress within the group.  The email we received from Sheena proposing it, while worded perfectly neutrally, was followed up by a long list of copied and pasted questions from various NLS staff, which made us feel very under-the-microscope. At the meeting, we opened with a mini version of our Final Pitch, then touched on all the questions we had been sent, and Melanie showed several Sketch Up models of how we envisioned the room layout....

The Library’s prompt posed a series of questions, including, “what are the alternative possibilities for display and engagement when working with digital cultural heritage?” We have attempted to think of ways to diversify our displays, and to use as much technology as possible. We have designed an x-shaped structure for the centre of the Boardroom with the Library’s Octanorm modular display system, which will be the backbone of the exhibition.  It will break up the space, as well as convey information on its panels. Surrounding it will be different digital displays, all encouraging engagement as follows: Traquair Interactive Display: a touchscreen for exploring images of the Traquair Illuminated Manuscript, which will allow the viewer access to more of the book’s contents, as well as close-up details that would be hard to see by the naked eye. Google Arts and Culture: an interactive slideshow we are creating with the Library’s Google Arts & Culture Intern Lauren McCombe about...

It is important to us that our exhibition move beyond display and include interactive elements.  We had spoken in our October 2 nd class with Jen Ross and Mairi Lafferty about the difference between restricted interaction (still curated by the institution) and full interaction (organic and unplanned), as well as the ethics of co-creation and co-production with an audience while still respecting the hard work of research staff. Our goal is to have a fully interactive portion of the exhibition, with the secondary function of broadening inclusivity by involving a diverse group of women across the spectrums of race, sexuality, and the job sector.  The NLS’s collection sprang from the Advocate’s Library, collected over centuries by and for a white affluent male audience.  As such, we have been struggling to find authentic female voices, and to find diversity within those, and see this as a good way to off-set that. Our original idea was to hold external events at a separate s...

On Friday October 18th we visited the National Library of Scotland's Moving Image Archive at Kelvinhall, and the Glasgow Women's Library. At the MIA, Sheena explained the history of the branch, and showed us how to use the catalogue.  I was interested to learn that the MIA collects home movie footage as well as professionally produced material.  For family archival footage, the NLS will digitise the footage for the donors.  As this is often the most affordable way old footage can be salvaged by families, it is a great incentive to bring people to donate to the Library. We next met with Morag Smith (National Development Worker) and Lauren Kelly (Archival Apprentice) from the Glasgow Women’s Library.  It is an amazing institution that prioritises inclusivity and ease of use.  They don’t require proof of address, don’t charge late-fees, and for their women-only events, they accept every definition of woman across the gender spectrum, including non-binary.  The...

For my case study I’m looking at the Cleveland Museum of Art’s ArtLens Gallery system.  The system contains 4 interactive components: ArtLens Wall, ArtLens Studio, ArtLens Exhibition, and the user-downloadable ArtLens App.  All portions of the ArtLens Gallery interface draw from a centralized database of images containing large high-resolution images (photographed with cameras ranging between 48 and 192 megapixels) of all the works currently on display in the CMA. [1] The ArtLens Wall is a 5 foot by 40 foot touchscreen wall.  According to the description on the CMA’s website, the wall, “is composed of 150 Christie MicroTiles and displays more than 23 million pixels, which is the equivalent of more than twenty-three 720p HDTVs. The Christie iKit multitouch system allows multiple users to interact with the wall, simultaneously opening as many as 20 separate interfaces across the ArtLens Wall to explore the collection.” [2] Visitors can engage with art on the ArtLens Wall or...

  Hi all, My name is Meg Dolan.  That's me on the left there in my Official Back To Uni Again (Again) 2019 photo. I'm in the Collections and Curating Practices research Masters course at the University of Edinburgh, and if you're reading this, you probably are too. I sort of meandered my way towards this programme through my entire academic and professional career so far.  I hold a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Photography from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design (MCAD), worked as a graphic designer at a publishing company for a few years after, then went back to school and attained a Master of Science in History from University of Edinburgh in 2017.  I then went back to MCAD and worked in dual roles as the Photography Media Technology Specialist running the darkrooms, and Media Circulation Coordinator helping students and faculty work with exhibition technology.  Along the way I've served in temporary capacities as the Philosopher in Residence at The Museum of...