To Chaperone or Not To Chaperone?

From the desk of Kim Gough, Program Developer at the Royal BC Museum

Chaperones are critical to school programs at the museum. they are often required to drive the students to the museum and then once here we ask them to help with the education program. But how? Do the chaperones feel comfortable in their role - if they even know what it is?

There have been many studies on how text, labels and exhibition layout can affect learning, but not so many on the the role and effectiveness of chaperones. During my recent preparation for school program training I've read some interesting case studies including one by Elizabeth Wood. Her 2010 article "Defining the Chaperone's Role as Escort, Educator or Parent" suggests that chaperones behave in these three ways. I have often thought of them as escorts but the idea of treating school program groups more like family groups really struck me.

Considering that chaperones with school program groups are often parents or close family relatives, it seems natural that they would want to interact with the students as well as monitor them. If I were in the gallery interacting with a family I would ask the parents and the children questions and I would also answer questions from the adults while still focusing on the children. Why not do that with school groups?

Chaperones in school program groups can sometimes cause distraction by talking amongst themselves, wandering off or answering questions before students have had time to think about an answer. In school program training this year, I am suggesting to the docents that we welcome chaperones early on - not only as escorts but as participants. Instead of reminding them not to interrupt the program, let's invite them to participate - and when they do participate, let's turn it back to the kids. By acknowledging chaperones and inviting them to learn with us, we may be able to reduce some of the distracting behavior that can take place but more importantly we may be able to increase the learning that happens for everyone in the program.

Have you been a chaperone on a school trip or have you worked with school program groups in a museum? Do you think this approach will work?

Kids Discover Emily

From the desk of Kim Gough, Program Developer at the Royal BC Museum

Camp Inside-Out at the Royal BC Museum lets children between the ages of 8 and 10 experience a week at the museum. Kids get to visit with curators, go behind the scenes and go into the galleries early. This year they are also learning about Canada’s greatest woman artist, Emily Carr.

Jessie Jakumeit is one of this year’s camp coordinators. An artist herself, she has loved Emily Carr since she was a young girl. Most of the kids in camp know about Emily Carr, but unlike Jessie, they aren’t all fans of her art – at least when the week starts. They do like to hear stories about her – especially when it includes anecdotes about her pets.

During the camp, Jessie tries to emphasize the process of making art rather than the finished product itself. Although kids like to get their hands dirty, and have big imaginations, they can struggle with knowing where to start. Following the philosophy of John Cage who says “begin anywhere”, Jessie leads the kids in some simple warm up exercises like drawing a straight line down the page and drawing circles that get smaller and smaller as you go.

Once the kids are warmed up they get to experiment with all types of mediums and formats. One of Jessie’s goals is to expose the young campers to a variety of new materials. In addition to crayons and markers, kids try water colours, tempera, charcoal, ink and even making art with rocks.

One thing that surprises Jessie is the amount of direction that they want; she finds that she needs to demonstrate each art activity for them. After a general demonstration, she visits each artist with her own sketchbook so she can answer their questions in a visual way.

Making art and learning about Emily Carr is just part of this year’s camp, and the kids enjoy the variety of activities. The art is highlighted at the end of the week when their parents are invited to the museum and the kids proudly show them their art work displayed in the gallery.

By the end of the week the campers know a lot more about how the museum works and about the people who work there. And if they haven’t all learned to love Emily they have learned to recognize that rather than depicting a realistic scene Emily was depicting feelings and emotions in her art. As Emily once said, “It's all the unwordable things one wants to write about, just as it's all the unformable things one wants to paint – essence.”

Museum Apps

From the desk of Kim Gough, Program Developer, Royal BC Museum

Recently I have been having fun delving into the world of museums and social media, with an eye to developing a Smart Phone app for the Royal BC Museum (stay tuned for more on that soon).

During my research I have come across some cool museum and culture apps that I wanted to share with you. Most of the apps I have seen are for Apple, the few that are for Android I will list with an (A).

American Museum of Natural History – Explorer
This is a site-specific way-finding app. You can look at it from home and get information about a lot of their key objects, but the coolest thing would be to use it onsite and get step by step directions. You’ll never have to ask “Where’s the bathroom?” again.

Victoria and Albert – Search the Collections (A)
Often when I am at a museum like the Victoria and Albert I am so consumed with the artifacts, that I never spend any time with the library or archives. This information rich app that takes their library collection and puts it on your Smart Phone. So now I know what I’ve been missing.

Tate – TRUMPS
I can’t wait to go back to Tate and play a game of TRUMP. This app invites you to walk around the gallery and build your “deck” with art work that you think best fits different modes such as “battle”, “mood” or “collector”. Meet up with your friends and compare your decks to see if your Pollock trumps their Duchamp.

Joslyn Art Museum – SVNG Trek
This is another gaming app that uses the existing SVNG format to set visitors out on different missions through the museum. Kind of like a 2.0 scavenger hunt.

National Museum of the American Indian – Infinity of Nations
An app developed with children and families in mind. Buffy Saint Marie, who I remember fondly from Sesame Street, narrates this audio rich app that invites families to look closely at the artifacts and make discoveries.

Fredricksburg Battlefield - Fredricksburg Battle
Even outdoor Heritage Sites can have great apps. This one takes you onto a Civil War battlefield and offers GPS based tours, historian videos, audio accounts of soldiers, maps, photos and other archival documents that you don’t often get to see in outdoor sites.

Strawberry Banke Museum – Listen to the Landscape
A large living history site uses this app not only to help visitors navigate through the historic community, but also invites them to immerse themselves in the story through voices, sights and sounds from the past.

Some of the above apps make me want to travel to these places to check them out – one that is a deliberate “travel app” is the Android app Museums in NYC . Find out what’s coming up around the corner and get a glimpse of what is inside before you even go in the doors.

So these are some of the apps that I like, what about you? Have you used a museum/culture app? What did you like?

One Year Later

From the desk of Kim Gough, Program Developer at the Royal BC Museum



As I was sitting down to write my blog for this month I realized that I have now been blogging for one year! So I treated myself to some cake and gifts and then, drunk on sugar, I decided to revisit my first post on "Backstage Pass Tours" and give an update.

Here is a quick summary of a typcial Backstage Pass tour. Visitors purchase their museum admission ticket or show their current membership card and then sign up for the tour at the Information Desk. There they receive a backstage pass ticket. They then gather in the lobby and are greeted by their tour leader and assistant. After a brief introduction to the museum they head to the freight elevator and take a trip down to the basement.

Frieght elevator


They learn about the field work of the entomology (insect) department and then stop for a look in the Exhibit Art workshop where they see how things are made.

After that they trek through the tunnel and head up the staff elevator to the sixth floor of the collections tower. They go through the entomology library, past the curator's office and into the laboratory where they see stacks of collection drawers, pinned specimens and maybe even some research associates at work. A quick look out the windows at the amazing view of Victoria's inner harbour and then back downstairs.

A glimpse behind the scenes of Entomology

Our docent tour guides do an amazing job. After training sessions and tours with curators and many practice runs they expertly guide our visitors through the many hallways and collections. On weekdays, visitors are often treated to impromptu visits with curators, research associates, conservators and other staff. Some visitors are downright "star struck" and these interactions are definitely a highlight.

A tour visiting the Exhibit Arts workshop and chatting with staff

We have been running the tours for seven months and took a two month break so the departments could have their spaces back for a little while. We also took advantage of this time to evaluate the program and make some changes - including a new tour of the Exhibit Art workshop and of paleontology.

Backstage Pass Tours will continue to be offered with regular admission twice a week until the end of September as part of our Behind the Scenes exhibition - and hopefully beyond. Find out when they happen by visiting our "What's On" page.

GEMs, RingKlips, Owl Clips and more....

From the desk of Ann ten Cate, Reference Archivist at the Royal B.C. Museum

So what makes an archivist’s heart go pitter patter? It’s not always what you might expect. Sure, there’s a thrill to be had when you come across an unusual record, or manage to hunt down a particularly elusive snippet of information for someone – but sometimes archivists find their rewards in unusual places. My secret pleasure is finding a new example of an antique paper fastener (otherwise known as a paper clip) for the little collection that sits on my desk.

The pins and other attachment devices pictured above have been removed from our paper records because they could rust or tear the documents if left in place. They have served their purpose, and they’ve now been replaced with a stainless steel modern version. The model we now use is a GEM, which has actually been around since 1892! My little collection of antiques also includes an Owl Clip (still being manufactured), a RingKlip, and a brass Clipper Clip, along with some stud fasteners that would have been inserted by a machine. For a fascinating look at the history of the paper clip, and to match up my samples with their names and manufacturing dates, check out The Early Office Museum online. (http://www.officemuseum.com/paper_clips.htm)

You can also look at archival photographs of 19th and 20th century office interiors in British Columbia by accessing the Archives search page and using the keywords [office and interior].

Interior of the Brackman-Ker Milling Company office, Rossland, B.C. 1904. BCA B-07702

My collection of paper fasteners isn’t large and it will never end up in a museum, but for me it represents a hundred and fifty years of society’s struggle with paper records. How to organize them, how to control them – always a challenge in a paper-based office. It’s also the essence of an archivist’s job – capturing, holding together and managing the important bits of information that we’ll need in the future. I feel a certain affinity with the humble paper clip.

And I think we’ll need them for a long time to come. Although for efficiency and for the sake of the environment, we are supposed to be working towards a paperless office, I can’t actually see a day anytime soon when we’ll be able to give up our useful little friend, the paper clip.

Bear - an Exercise in Meaning Making

From the desk of Kim Gough, Program Developer, Royal BC Museum

Fellow blogger, Tim Willis, recently posted about the renewal of our forest diorama in the natural history exhibition. Along with many visitors, I am looking forward to the striking grizzly bear mount returning to his place by the stream. It got me thinking about the bear's story and how people connect to him. Is it with fear, fascination or indifference?

About two years ago, my partner and I were camping at William A. Switzer Provincial Park in the Alberta foothills. As soon as we arrived we noticed all the bear warning signs and heeded them accordingly. We kept our campsite clean, made noise while hiking and watched for scat and other bear signs.

Later that week we took our canoe out on Gregg Lake. We were paddling along the shore approaching a narrowing, quietly enjoying the sights and sounds of the lake when I heard a loud "Whoomph!" I turned to my left and saw a cinnamon coloured grizzly bear staring at us from the rushes. He must have been foraging when we startled him. In the time it took me to call out "Bear!" he charged towards the shore - bringing him within 5 meters of our canoe. I thought to myself "He will run away" when he stood on his hind legs. I raised my paddle and started hollering out while my partner deftly turned the canoe towards the middle of the lake. Then the bear got into the water and started swimming towards us!! We started paddling like crazy and I looked over my shoulder to see the bear swim across the narrow and get out on the shore on the other side of the lake. He then tracked us along the shore watching until we were well into the centre of the lake. We lost sight of him after about 10 minutes, but we didn't forget. That night I barely slept (pun intended) and in the morning we packed up and left a day early.

I learned a few things - bears are huge, they are fast and they SWIM!! Most importantly I learned that you have to bear aware even when you are canoeing - especially if you are close to the shore.

We won't ever know our bear's full story, but I'm hoping he can certainly inspire some of you to tell yours. I'd love to hear about your bear encounter.

Artifact or Artifiction

From the desk of Kim Gough, Program Developer, Royal BC Museum

One of the most popular features on our Facebook site is the online version of our signature fundraising event “Artifact or Artifiction”. In our online Facebook version we post an image and a statement and ask folks if it is true or false. I propose we try another version of the game. Below I have posted a picture of an artifact, but instead of me posting a statement that may be true or false; I want you, gentle reader, to provide the statement. You don’t have to be accurate; in fact it’s more fun if you aren’t! Have fun and let the creative juices flow.

Craft Time

From the desk of Kim Gough, Program Developer, Royal BC Museum


We hear our “Old Fashioned Christmas” event at Helmcken House has been missed this year, as the house is closed while we make improvements to the fire suppression system and security.

The dining room table at Helmcken House, set for a Christmas feast.


Every year, Helmcken House has been decked with Victorian decorations, and for visitors touring it, there has always been a holiday craft to try. I was thinking that now that you’ve had a chance to play with all your new toys, why not pick up the scissors and try making one of your own?

When people had a hankering for animated fun in the Victorian age, one of their choices was a Thaumatrope or “Wonder Turner”. The Thaumatrope takes two images and blends them together using the principle of persistence of vision. Give it a try by following the simple steps below.

What you need:
A printer*
2 pieces of regular paper
1 piece of card, or other heavy weight paper
Scissors
Glue
Crayons
String
A hole punch (or you can use your scissors if you are really careful).

What to do:
Print the house image and the Santa image on a piece of regular paper. *(If you don’t have a printer, try drawing your own – see the suggestions below).
Colour the images (don’t colour the sky) and cut them out
Cut out a blank circle from a piece of card stock or heavy paper
Glue the Santa image on one side and then glue the house image, upside down, on the reverse side
Punch a hole on the left and right side
Tie a string through each hole

To Spin the disc:
Hold one string in each hand, make a few big circles to wind the string
Gently pull on the strings to ensure that the disc continues to wind and unwind
When the card spins around the two pictures look like one image

Design your own:
Try designing your own Thaumatrope. Some ideas include:
A bird in a cage
A man on a horse
A vase with some flowers

If you tried it – let me know how it worked. If you came up with your own neat design, share it here.