We have hundreds of thousands of specimens. Specimens have been used to increase wellbeing for elderly people. They are used out in schools to help support the national curriculum, and at universities to teach about taxonomy. They are used regularly by artists to study the incredible forms of nature. They are relevant to their local audiences (and can even be relevant to national audiences too) local museums will hold collections collected locally so have real things that will mean something to the local people. They have a role to play in society which we are beginning to understand more and more. Or did the stuffed rabbit freak them out?Īlthough there is unlimited potential for research that is not the only thing natural history collections are for. I am very much looking forward to the results to see whether chickens were afraid of a stuffed fox. A stuffed rabbit was used as the control. A wonderful use of some of our taxidermy specimens for research at Plymouth Museum was to test if chickens could learn to spot a fox as a threat. Us curators have researchers visiting our collections: Perhaps to test the DNA of a taxidermy peregrine falcon, or to chemically analyse mineral specimens to see if the chemistry can illuminate the locality (important for many museum collections, where, through the ravages of time, labels have been lost). We look after all these specimens, but what for? What’s the use? But I DO NOT own a pair of those rather short jean shorts. (Incidental I do own a pair of sandals just like these in this photo. We take off those socks and wave them triumphantly as if they are freed from the stereotype ‘museum curator’. The Age before will become a myth.įarewell times of old. A thousand years from now they will talk of this new sockless curator. No more! The museum curator of the 21 st century wants to burst forth from the store rooms waving their socks in the air, free from the stigmas of old, and ready with a smile to talk about the collections to real people! The time of the Socks Under Sandals is over. Hiding away working with a researcher, or by themselves, talking in technical jargon than no one else understands. Or months adding dreaded ‘temporary numbers’ on thousands of specimens (something which is taking years to rectify today). Curators, with their socks and sandals, could be squirrelled away in their offices or store rooms, and spend days looking at one specimen. (I wrote about what museum curators do in more detail here.)Ģ0 years ago this was fine. We get to write about a few of our sexy specimens for displays or exhibitions. Some curators carry out conservation on the specimens (fixing them if they are broke using specialist training). The bulk of the work a curator does is documentation (matching specimens to their information, and updating the database, and hunting for the right number). From teeny tiny wasps that lay their eggs inside living caterpillars, to enormous fossils providing a glimpse of a world long past, our store rooms are packed with information about the beautiful natural world around us.Ĭurators across the world care for these collections so they are safe for future generations to use and enjoy. Museums are home to millions of incredible specimens.
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