So I'm drafting the design brief. Woo. I guess I'll email it to him by tomorrow morning, since I bet he'll meet with me tomorrow early afternoon like last week. I wonder if we should just start scheduling things a day before we actually want them to happen? Too crazy? Meh, what do I know.
(Also, can you believe that at PARI, nobody actually knows how to use our 26 meter telescopes? We can move 'em, point 'em, repaint them with highly reflective thermal paint, and they look hella impressive. But can we use them for Reasons Of Science? Less so. There's apparently one guy who knows, and he's at Appalachian State. I'm kind of glad that isn't part of my internship.)
Also, regarding the catalogue...there is, actually, a method for small museums. At least, a museum in Australia has a book on the subject. I'll ask at USSRC and see if they know of any good methods, but this is a 96 page book on how to catalogue crap.
Which we definitely need. I don't know if there is a catalogue, but I wouldn't be at all shocked to learn that we have several unique catalogues for different kinds of things, none of them up to date, none of them consolidated. Such is the nature of PARI, after all; at least the Victoria museum book suggests a pretty extensive list of things to put in the catalogue.
- *Registration Number
- *Object Name
- Title (as in, if describing a book or manual)
- *Description
- *Keywords
- Any inscriptions, markings, or text on object
- *Size
- Maker's Details, if any
- *Where object was made
- *When object was made
- Where object was used
- When object was used
- *Acquisition Details
- Object Condition (Outstanding, Exceeds Expectations, Acceptable, Poor, Dreadful, Troll)
- *Storage Location
- *Current Location
- *Supplementary File (containing more information, history, stories, emails, etc--if any)
- *Usage Restrictions
- Notes
- *Cataloguer's Name
Stars denote the Absolutely Necessary, and I pretty well agree with this list.
It also suggests making a brief backup paper copy in archival ink in a bound book on archival paper. Archival ink I have, archival paper I have not. I'll ask Steve, as soon as I hunt down anyone who might be involved in any other catalogue(s). We have catalogue information for our collection...in the Smithsonian archives, or the KSC archives, that kind of thing. They have their tags and numbers, often on display although I would suggest locating the tags under the objects, if possible, or otherwise somewhere inconspicuous. Because who seriously wants to see Smithsonian archive numbers? Does it make my job easier? Should I use the preexisting numbers or give them PARI numbers?
I don't even know.
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| Example Catalogue Sheet (Partial) |
The manual also suggests literally printing these sheets out--they provide them in their PDF--and filling them out in pencil, as depicted here, and filing them in plastic sleeves in a binder. There are also softwares of a similar function, but Steve requested Excel.
This seems...a little unwieldy for Microsoft Excel. I could make a word document. Or a Pages document. Or maybe we have a system, and I just don't know about it. The people who would know are taking the week off, so far as I can tell, which is just... sigh.
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| A solid assessment. |
On a mostly unrelated note, I still kind of have a headache, don't really know what the heck a design brief even is or how to write them, don't know how to design this museum and morale is kind of low. I need chocolate, and a nap. Mostly a nap.
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