Archive

Libraries, Archives, and Museums: An Introduction to Cultural Heritage Institutions through the Ages. Suzanne M. Stauffer, ed. Blue Ridge Summit: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2021. REVIEWED BY KATHRYN PLANK What is the purpose of cultural institutions and what are their roles in society?  Suzanne Stauffer’s book, Libraries, Archives, and Museums: An Introduction to Cultural Heritage …

The Rise and Rise of the Private Art Museum, by Georgina Adam. Lund Humphries in association with Sotheby’s Association of Art, 2021. REVIEWED BY SYD OVERTOOM When considering where to get one’s foot in the door concerning museum work, private museums are usually not at the top of the list. As individuals interested in working …

Idea Colliders: The Future of Science Museums, by Michael John Gorman. Cambridge: MIT Press, 2020. REVIEWED BY MICHAEL CRANICK In Idea Colliders, Michael John Gorman explores the future of science museums. He quotes cellist Yo-Yo Ma about the “edge effect,” a place where spaces are created “to nurture cross-pollination of ideas” (Gorman 2020, 1). Gorman …

Doing Women’s History in Public: A Handbook for Interpretation at Museums and Historic Sites, by Heather Huyck. Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield, 2020. REVIEWED BY SOFIA ANTILA Heather Huyck’s guide to interpreting women’s history, published in 2020, delves into the way women’s history has been, and should be, interpreted through oral, visual, and written sources. This …

Museum Mercenary: A Handbook for Independent Museum Professionals by Rebecca Migdal. Lanham: Rowman and Littlefield, 2020. REVIEWED BY MARISSA HAMM Every aspiring museum professional has heard about the multitude of difficulties they will face when trying to enter the field. In Museum Mercenary, Rebecca Migdal presents her solution to this issue of limited full-time museum …

Museums as Agents of Change: A Guide to Becoming a Changemaker, written by Mike Murawski. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2021. REVIEWED BY PEYTON REICHERTS Mike Murawski’s Museums as Agents of Change: A Guide to Becoming a Changemaker is about how museum workers can become changemakers. Murawski has had many roles in the museum profession. Currently, …

Curating America’s Painful Past, by Tim Gruenewald. Lawrence, Kansas: University of Kansas Press, 2020. REVIEWED BY MADELINE GRIEM The United States is a place of deeply painful pasts. However, there are few prominent spaces in which these subjects are explored where they will contribute to national memory. In his 2020 book, Curating America’s Painful Past: Memory, …

Museum Diplomacy: Transnational Public History and the U.S. Department of State. written by Richard K. Harker. Massachusetts: University of Massachusetts Press. 2020 REVIEWED BY JOHN TERWILLIGER Richard Harker’s Museum Diplomacy: Transnational Public History and the U.S. Department of State gives a detailed critical analysis of the Museums Connect program. Museums Connect, founded in 2008, was …

Museum Objects, Health and Healing, edited by Brenda Cowan, Ross Laird, and Jason McKeown. New York: Routledge, 2020. REVIEWED BY ELISE DAUGHERTY   Humans interact with and value objects in every aspect of our lives. In many interactions, objects hold meaning and power, impacting our health and wellbeing. Brenda Cowan, Ross Laird, and Jason McKeown …

Museum Development in China: Understanding the Building Boom, edited by Gail Lord, Guan Qiang, An Laishun &  Javier Jimenez. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2019. REVIEWED BY CAMILLE COMBAUD This book, compiled by three museum planners with plenty of experience, aims to explore the recent changes in museum development in the country of China: through four …