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Fundamentals of Museum Studies I

MSM 211 – University of Alaska Fairbanks

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  • Course Info
    • Meet the Team
    • Getting Started
    • Syllabus and Schedule
    • FAQ
  • Modules
    • 0. Getting Started
    • 1. History of Museums
    • 2. Types of Museums
    • 3. Museum Jobs
    • 4. Museum Governance, Laws, and Ethics
    • 5. Curation and Collecting – Laws & Ethics
    • 6. Living Collections
    • MIDTERM
    • 7. Collections Management
    • 8. Preventive Conservation
    • 9. Data and Museums
    • 10. Media in Museums
    • 11. Museum Exhibits
    • 12. Museum Controversies
    • 13. Museums in the North
    • 14. Contemporary Museum Issues
    • FINAL
    • Extra Credit Opportunities
  • Discussions
    • Posts Missing a Category
    • Introductions
    • 1. History Discussion
    • 2. Types Discussion
    • 3. Jobs Discussion
    • 4. Governance Discussion
    • 5. Curation Discussion
    • 6. Living Collections Discussion
    • 7. Collections Management Discussion
    • 8. Preventive Conservation Discussion
    • 9. Data and Museums Discussion
    • 10. Media Discussion
    • 11. Exhibits Discussion
    • 12. Controversies Discussion
    • 13. Northern Museums Discussion
    • 14. Contemporary Issues Discussion
    • Extra Credit Discussion
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Author: Martin Gutoski

I'm and old Fairbanksan who's spent 60 years here. I started my UAF attendance in 1966 out of Lathrop High School as an engineering student but had to leave for the Navy until 1971. I returned to start in the Anthropology undergrad program which had recently gotten a divorce from being part of the Geography department to become its own. But my undergrad work was interrupted when the Trans Alaska Pipeline pulled me away in 1974 to work on it surveying from Prudhoe to Valdez until 1984. Finally finished my BA in Anthro in 1994 and MA in 2003. I was director of the Tanana Valley Railroad museum at Pioneer Park in Fairbanks from 2007 to 2017. I am a member of the FNSB Historic Preservation commission at which Angela Linn was chairperson where I met here. The rest is history since my retirement in 2014 after 30 years working in the FNSB Planning Department.
25 Feb 2021

Module 7 Collection management videos

Martin Gutoski7. Collections Management Discussion3 Comments

After viewing the required videos for Module 7 on collection management I was amazed at the amount of work in managing the UAMN artifacts.  Seeing Stefi’s work in squishing plants, field notes and tagging the botanical specimens made me realize I don’t have enough long term organizational and documentational skills to be employed in a…

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20 Feb 2021

Feb 18th Zoom meetup

Martin Gutoski6. Living Collections DiscussionLeave a comment

I watched the recorded Zoom meetup for module 6 discussion.  I found the parallel comments from students very illuminating about their experiences with living history museums and zoos.  It was also good to see a few more classmates faces in the mix this time so my facial recognition needs have been expanded to start to…

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16 Feb 2021

Why collect?

Martin Gutoski5. Curation Discussion3 Comments

Mod-5-why collect I have come across this recent article in the Jan 2021 issue of American Antiquity about employing experimental models to interpret old collections.  The authors open with the reason why curators collect.

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14 Feb 2021

Who owns Native Culture

Martin Gutoski5. Curation DiscussionLeave a comment

After reading the assigned 2003 article of Who Owns Native Culture by Brown, I had recollection of a flap over the Alaska Airlines logo and a tangential aside concerning the popular name designation for a celestial object tagged as the Eskimo Nebula. The flap over the Eskimo face and logo on the tail of AK…

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13 Feb 2021

SAA articles

Martin Gutoski4. Governance Discussion, 5. Curation DiscussionLeave a comment

I have read some of the articles in the latest issue of the Society for American Archaeology (SAA) and noticed it is full of many topics we have been discussing in our module posts.  I have not included all the content in some but did include the full  report from their president, Joe Watkins who…

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12 Feb 2021

Feb 18, meetup video & Mod 5 discussion

Martin Gutoski5. Curation DiscussionLeave a comment

I viewed the recording of our Feb 11, 2021 meetup and always get a giggle out of the transcriptions.  I am aware that casual contemporaneous informational live talks like these are tough for the robot to transcribe on the fly, but some things are just too funny sometimes, sort of like bloopers. My three favorites…

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3 Feb 2021

Museum governance od 4 assignment

Martin Gutoski4. Governance Discussion2 Comments

After reading the assigned reading and videos for Mod 4 governance I saw that we need to investigate a museum to look at one for discussion.  So I have chosen one down the road in Santa Fe in the old palace of the governors.  https://www.nmhistorymuseum.org/about/ I went there last year to see what was displayed. …

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2 Feb 2021

Video The Origin of Everything: The Problem with Museums

Martin Gutoski4. Governance Discussion2 Comments

When I viewed the third assigned video in our module 4, I was so exhausted by the rapid fire presentation by the speaker and rotating hand gestures that I had to block the bottom portion to obscure the captions and her annoying gesticulations.  I was totally distracted by her frenzy of what looked similar to…

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1 Feb 2021

Ethical or legal dilemma for archeologists

Martin Gutoski4. Governance Discussion1 Comment

On another topic of ethical or legal issues regarding collecting artifacts on federal land I offer a most recent question I experienced a few weeks ago in New Mexico.  I am a volunteer member with the Taos Archaeology Society which recently had a request for some obsidian nodules from the administrator of a collection of…

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1 Feb 2021

Module 4 ethics and law

Martin Gutoski4. Governance Discussion1 Comment

I have not viewed all the videos nor the required and optional readings on Module 4 for Governance, but since I had some brain nudges on the subject of NAGPRA and other issues regarding ethics, filming native peoples along with law I couldn’t help but interject before I watch and read the rest.  However, due…

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