On Wednesday 13 September 2017, Assistant Curator Lewis Pollard took over the museum’s Twitter account for #AskACurator day. Museums from all over the world joined in and, although we weren’t caught up in any #museumwars like our friends at the Science Museum and Natural History Museum, we had a great time answering questions and chatting with other experts and organisations.
Our curatorial team covered everything from the four things that sum up the role (notepad, pencil, paper mountain and cake); to the strangest task they’ve ever had to do (Learn how to taxidermy transgenic (genetically altered) fish so they can be transported overseas).
Lewis has saved the conversation as a Twitter Moment, but here are his top five questions of the day:
1.
Challenge: storing data
Opportunity: Online platforms that anyone can access like our new Collections Online site:https://t.co/oN9jah05bN— MSI Manchester (@msimanchester) September 13, 2017
2.
Being responsible for what gets acquired. Basically deciding what does and does not get preserved #AskACurator
— MSI Manchester (@msimanchester) September 13, 2017
3.
John Dalton’s eyes. Collections shouldn’t be able to look back at you *shudder* https://t.co/4wNnMTSGO8#AskACurator
— MSI Manchester (@msimanchester) September 13, 2017
4.
I think today proves that curators WANT to be visible and engaging with people as much as possible#AskACurator
— MSI Manchester (@msimanchester) September 13, 2017
5.
This nifty globe radio from 1947! #AskACurator https://t.co/XjvXdtnP8X
— MSI Manchester (@msimanchester) September 13, 2017
If you have any more questions for our curatorial team, you don’t have to wait until next year’s Ask A curator event. Send in your questions to @sim_manchester or pay us a visit and explore the collections we have on display.
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