∴ Meg Dolan ∴

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...