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Tuesday, March 18, 2008

19th Century French medical equipment

In response to a request from someone interested in our General Medical Products Information (GMPI) collection, we recently scanned two "catalogs" put out by M.G. Trouvé in 1869 and 1872. The person who requested them kindly provided a loose translation that suits both of them: "New apparatus for the use of doctors and surgeons, designed and constructed. Extract from the journal les Mondes, 15 July 1869.... All the apparati were presented at the Academy of Medicine by Mr. Béclard, [at the] session of 10 June 1869 [and May 1872]."

It turns out that these aren't really catalogs, but reprints from the journal mentioned above, les Mondes, that tout Trouvé's products in the guise of a scholarly article. There are some nice illustrations that I haven't yet figured out how to isolate from the PDF to post here.

Friday, March 14, 2008

More medical museum excerpts from the AFIP's annual reports

The rest of the Medical Museum Excerpts from the AFIP Annual Reports:

1996

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2006

After 2006, the report went digital.

These are all laid out by the unsung Fran Card. One of them in the oughts got garbled in the printing process, but I don't recall which it is.

Malaysia's opening a medical museum and...

See the story on the new Malaysian museum here.

Meanwhile the University of Copenhagen's Medical Museion scored a cool mechanical heart device, lucky devils.

Another alumnus story

Does my heart proud... Scott was an assistant archivist who was one of our more... agressive... flickr posters. And now he'd putting up favorite pictures at his new job.

The Emilio Segrè Visual Archives has put up an online gallery of some of our favorite images from the collection and we invite everyone to take a look (more info below).

Thanks,
Scott Prouty
photos@aip.org

****
Every picture tells a story. We've picked 63 of our favorites.

Visit our new Favorite Photos gallery featuring the most popular and striking selections from our collection of more than 30,000 images of physicists and astronomers.

The Emilio Segrè Visual Archives (http://photos.aip.org/?em=esva0308) site includes historical photographs, slides, lithographs, engravings, and other visual materials of many of the best known names in physics and astronomy, including Albert Einstein, Niels Bohr, Marie Curie, Isaac Newton, Richard Feynman and Hans Bethe, along with other lesser known figures. All are available as digital downloads or high-quality print reproductions.

We hope that you'll browse through the site and enjoy the pictures.

About the Emilio Segrè Visual Archives (ESVA) The ESVA is a leading resource of digital and print images of scientists and their work. It is part of the Niels Bohr Library & Archives at the American Institute of Physics (http://www.aip.org/?em=esva0308) in College Park, Maryland.

For more information
Call us at (301) 209-3184 or visit online at http://photos.aip.org/?em=esva0308

Thursday, March 13, 2008

Military Working Dogs again

Today I got an email from Mike Lemish about the post I made yesterday. The Military Working Dog website is not his; he just forwarded an email he received from Debbie Kandoll, whose website it IS. Mike also told me, "Also the MWDs may not be Iraq war veteran's. With over four thousand dogs worldwide it may be a bomb/drug detector dog from anywhere in the world but most likely CONUS [continental United States]." Check it out, folks.

Here's another picture from our collection. This is a shot of elevated kennels in Vietnam.
AVCA box 125

Interesting World War 1 article

Our colleagues at the the Office of the Surgeon General's Historian's office have put an article about volunteer Americans' experiences in the British Army on their website. Click here to download Yanks in King's Forces. For those who want more information, Mitch Yockelson, who co-curated The Cost of a Splendid Little War exhibit with me, has a new book on the topic coming out, Borrowed Soldiers: Americans Under British Command, 1918, and will be speaking at the Museum at some point later this year.

Medical museum excerpts from AFIP annual reports

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Alright, this isn't exciting, but where else are you going to find them? These are links to scans of the Medical Museum section of the AFIP Annual reports. There's some interesting bits off and on.

Medical Museum Excerpts from the AFIP Annual Reports of 1947-1991.

Medical Museum Excerpts from the AFIP Annual Reports of 1992.

Medical Museum Excerpts from the AFIP Annual Reports of 1993.

Medical Museum Excerpts from the AFIP Annual Reports of 1994.

Medical Museum Excerpts from the AFIP Annual Reports of 1995.

Medical Museum Excerpts from the AFIP Annual Reports of 1997.

World War 1 volume on Gas Warfare finally posted

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The Medical Department of the United States Army in the World War volume 14: Medical Aspects of Gas Warfare(1926) would discuss the effects of your poison gases like mustard gas. This completes the World War 1 books available for downloading.

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Military Working Dogs

We've had a couple of researchers lately who've looked into our large Veterinary Corps collection. One of them is Mike Lemish. Mike's research has to do with Military Working Dogs from the Vietnam war. Recently he sent me an email announcing a website that promotes adoption of working dogs that have been retired from the Iraq war but are great dogs that still have a lot to give. However, too many of them are euthanized because they don't get adopted and have nowhere to go. As of 2000, civilians have been allowed to adopt these animals (H.R. 5314 on 6 Nov 2000) and Mike's website gives information about how to do so.


AVCA box 163

Another collection digitized

The museum photographer just photographed a scrapbook of photos for us because the book was too fragile to lay flat on the scanner. The scrapbook was given to Miss Frances Pleasants by students of hers, from when she taught wounded soldiers during the Civil War in Germantown, Pennsylvania. This photo caught my eye, as well as the caption that was handwritten underneath it:
Pleasants 84

The caption read "Photograph of three children found in the hands of a dead soldier on the battlefield." It took me a couple of reads to see it meant the photo was found in the dead soldier's hands, not the children. Obvious now, but I sure wondered at the time.

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

New book donation

We're not the Pathology Institute's library and most of what would have been the Museum library left with the National Library of Medicine when it split off from the old Army Medical Museum and Library for good in the 1960s (remind me to post about the split of the photographs and AMML records), but people give us books.

Recently we got 26 books from Dr. Inghram Miller, Newton, Kansas (NMHM Acquisition Number 2007.0038) accompanying a wicker wheelchair. There was also a couple of neat pieces of medical trade literature in the books.

Johnson, Alexander Bryan. Surgical Diagnosis, volumes I, II, and III, 1910

Kelly, Howard A. Operative Gynecology, Volumes I and II, 1898 and 1899

Deaver, John B. Surgical Anatomy, Volumes I, II, and III, 1904 and 1908

Bryant, Joseph and Albert Buck. American Practice of Surgery, Volumes VII and VIII, 1910 -11

International Clinics Vol II, 2nd and 3rd series, 1892 and 1893

Ashton, Willaim Easterly. A Testbook on the Practice of Gynecology. 1906

Flint, Austin. A Treatise on the Principles and Practice of Medicine. 1881

Bartholow, Roberts. A Practical Treatise on Materia, Medica, and Theraputics. 1889

Wood, George B and Franklin Bache. Dispensatory of the United States, 18th ed. By Wood, Remington and Stadtler. 1899

Osler, William. Principles and Practice of Medicine. 1895

Gould, George M. An Illustrated Dictionary of Medicine, Biology and Allied Sciences, 5th ed. 1903

Holt, L. Emmett. Diseases of Infancy and Childhood. 1897

Da Costa, J. M. Medical Diagnosis, 8th ed. 1895

Gray, Henry. Anatomy Descriptive and Surgical. 8th and enlarged ed. 1881 (1878)

Babcock, W. Wayne. A Textbook of Surgery. 1929

Kaltschmidt, J. H. School Dictionary of the Latin Language, Part 1: Latin-English. 1876

Tillmans, Herman. A Textbook of Surgery, Vol II: Regional Surgery. trans from German. 1899

Mathews, Joseph M. A Treatise on Diseases of the Rectum, Anus and Sigmoid Flexure. 1893

Taylor, Alfred Swain. A Manual on Medical Jurisprudence. 11th American ed by Clark Bell. 1892

Museum Linked on Yahoo! Directory Blog Post

Some PR people call it 'current awareness' or 'reputation management' (easier to overbill for the service when the exaggerated amounts are associated with a fancy term, I guess) but I tend to call it what it is - reading or watching the news. In this case, news about the Museum, either in 'traditional' media or elsewhere in the blogosphere.

Thanks to Google, Yahoo!, Topix and Bloglines, and others, it's easy enough to monitor for mention of the Museum out there on the Internet, and it was one of those engines that led me to this blog post on Yahoo! today.

I'm not sure what to make of the Yahoo! blog post; I don't see an 'about' link to tell readers why the stream of posts is being written or published. That notwithstanding, it's great to see a link to the Museum, and the use of one of the Otis Historical Archives' very cool Flickr posts; in this case, a photo from the collections related to the 1918 influenza pandemic.

There is much more about influenza available on the Museum's Web site.

World War 2 booklet


We were asked for a copy of this recently - it's by a pharmaceutical company, but they didn't put too much advertising on it.

Decorations and Medals of the United States of America (1943),John Wyeth
and Brother; reading copy or broadsheet copy.

Monday, March 10, 2008

Batchelor World War 2 venereal disease posters


C.D. Batchelor was a Pulitzer Prize winning editorial cartoonist whose career lasted for almost 50 years in New York. One can see similarities in the 1937 Pulitzer winning cartoon and the anti-venereal disease cartoons reproduced below from the collections of the National Museum of Health and Medicine.

Reeve79101-67
"Warning: these enemies are still lurking around. Syphilis.
Gonorrhea." Cartoon by C..D. Batchelor of the New York Daily News for the American Social Hygiene Association, 1790 Broadway, New York, N.Y. (Reeve79101-67)

Reeve79101-62
"Two girls I know want to meet you in the worst way." C.D. Batchelor, American Social Hygiene Association. (Reeve79101-62)

Reeve79101-52
"The glory of manhood is strength. Keep clean for the heritage of the cleanly is strength." Cartoon by C..D. Batchelor of the New York Daily News for the American Social Hygiene Association, 1790 Broadway, New York, N.Y. (Reeve79101-52)

Reeve79101-11
"Boys your sweetheart, your wife or your parents may never know it if you contract a venereal disease - but I'll know it and I'll suffer from it." Cartoon by C.D. Batchelor of the New York Daily News for the American Social Hygiene Association, 1790 Broadway, New York, N.Y. (Reeve79101-11)

Reeve79101-16
"Enemy agent. U.S. War Effort. Venereal Disease." Cartoon by C.D. Batchelor of the New York Daily News for the American Social Hygiene Association, 1790 Broadway, New York, N.Y. (Reeve79101-16)

Reeve79101-31
"'My boy was wounded in the African landing.' 'Mine was wounded in this country by a street walker.'" Cartoon by C..D. Batchelor of the New York Daily News for the American Social Hygiene Association, 1790 Broadway, New York, N.Y. (Reeve79101-31)

Note the difference in quality between Batchelor's original above, and the Army's copy below:

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"My boy was wounded in the African landing. Mine was wounded in this country by a street walker." World War 2. "Cartoon by C.C. Batchelor of the New York Daily News for the American Social Hygene Asociation, 1790 Broadway, New York, N.Y. Reproduced by Div. S.S.C. for distribution by Surgeon 3rd Armored Div." (Reeve74964-6.jpg)

Collections of his papers are in Witchita State University's Library in THE CARTOON COLLECTION OF C. D. BATCHELOR, MS 90-16 and C. D. Batchelor Papers - An inventory of his papers at Syracuse University.

More downloadable books on Internet Archive

The two newest ones are:

Cantor Lectures: The Microscope (1888). Lectures on the history of the microscope by British collector John Mayall, Jr. excerpted from the Journal of the Society of the Arts, 1885-1888.

A History of the United States Army Medical Museum 1862 to 1917 compiled from the Official Records (1917) by Daniel S. Lamb

For those collecting them, here's the complete list although World War 1 #14 isn't actually working at the moment.

Museum history:

http://www.archive.org/details/TheArmedForcesInstituteOfPathology-ItsFirstCentury - The Armed Forces Institute of Pathology - Its First Century(1962)

http://www.archive.org/details/HISTORYARMYMEDICALMUSEUM - A History of the United States Army Medical Museum 1862 to 1917 compiled from the Official Records (1917) by Daniel S. Lamb

Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion

http://www.archive.org/details/MSHWRMedical1 - The Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion. (1861-1865) Part I. Volume I. Medical History. (1st Medical volume) (1870)

http://www.archive.org/details/MSHWRMedical2 - The Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion. Part II, Volume I. (2nd Medical volume) (1879)

http://www.archive.org/details/MSHWRMedical3 - The Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion. Part III, Volume I. (3rd Medical volume) (1888)

http://www.archive.org/details/MSHWRSurgical1
- The Medical and SurgicalHistory of the War of the Rebellion. (1861-1865.) Part I. Volume II.(1st Surgical volume) (1870)

http://www.archive.org/details/MSHWRSurgical2 - The Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion. (1861-1865.) Part II. Volume II.(2nd Surgical volume) (1876)

http://www.archive.org/details/MSHWRSurgical3 - The Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion. Part III, Volume II. (3rd Surgical volume)

The Medical Department of the United States Army in the World War

http://www.archive.org/details/WW1ArmyMedDeptHistV1 - The Medical Department of the United States Army in the World War volume 1: The Surgeon General's Office (1923)

http://www.archive.org/details/WW1ArmyMedDeptHistV2
- The Medical Department of the United States Army in the World War volume 2: Administration American Expeditionary Forces (1927)

http://www.archive.org/details/WW1ArmyMedDeptHistV3 - The Medical Department of the United States Army in the World War volume 3: Finance and Supply (1928)

http://www.archive.org/details/WW1ArmyMedDeptHistV4
- The Medical Department of the United States Army in the World War volume 4: Activities Concerning Mobilization Camps and Ports of Embarkation (1928)

http://www.archive.org/details/WW1ArmyMedDeptHistV5 - The Medical Department of the United States Army in the World War volume 5: Military Hospitals in the United States (1923)

http://www.archive.org/details/WW1ArmyMedDeptHistV6 - The Medical Department of the United States Army in the World War volume 6: Sanitation (1926)

http://www.archive.org/details/W1ArmyMedDeptHistV7 - The Medical Department of the United States Army in the World War volume 7: Training (1926)

http://www.archive.org/details/WW1ArmyMedDeptHistV8 - The Medical Department of the United States Army in the World War volume 8: Field Operations (1925)

http://www.archive.org/details/WW1ArmyMedDeptHistV9
- The Medical Department of the United States Army in the World War volume 9: Communicable and Other Diseases (1928)

http://www.archive.org/details/WW1ArmyMedDeptHistV10 - The Medical Department of the United States Army in the World War volume 10: Neuropsychiatry (1929)

http://www.archive.org/details/WW1ArmyMedDeptHistV11-1
- The Medical Department of the United States Army in the World War volume 11:Surgery; Part One, General Surgery, Orthopedic Surgery, Neurosurgery (1927)

http://www.archive.org/details/WW1ArmyMedDeptHistV11-2 - The Medical Department of the United States Army in the World War volume 11: Surgery; Part Two (1924)

http://www.archive.org/details/WW1ArmyMedDeptHistV12 - The Medical Department of the United States Army in the World War volume 12: Pathology of the Acute Respiratory Diseases, and of Gas Gangrene Following War Wounds (1929)

http://www.archive.org/details/WW1ArmyMedDeptHistV13 - The Medical Department of the United States Army in the World War volume 13: Part 1, Physical Reconstruction and Vocational Education; Part 2, The Army Nurse Corps (1927)

http://www.archive.org/details/WW1ArmyMedDeptHistV14 - The Medical Department of the United States Army in the World War volume 14: Medical Aspects of Gas Warfare(1926)

http://www.archive.org/details/WW1ArmyMedDeptHistV15-1 - The Medical Department of the United States Army in the World War volume 15: Statistics; Part One Army Anthropology (1921)

http://www.archive.org/details/WW1ArmyMedDeptHistV15-2 - The Medical Department of the United States Army in the World War volume 15: Part 2, Medical and Casualty Statistics (1925)


http://www.archive.org/details/CantorLecuturesTheMicroscope - Cantor Lectures: The Microscope (1888). Lectures on the history of the microscope by British collector John Mayall, Jr. excerpted from the Journal of the Society of the Arts, 1885-1888.

Blumberg Collection:

http://www.archive.org/details/KennedyAutopsyReportWarrenCommissionReport - Autopsy of President Kennedy (February 01, 1965) by Pierre Finck, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology


General Medical Products Information (GMPI) Collection:

http://www.archive.org/details/CatalogueOfSurgeonsInstrumentsAirAndWaterBedsPillowsAndCushions - A Catalogue of Surgeons' Instruments, Air and Water Beds, Pillows, and Cushions, Bandages, Trusses, Elastic Stockings, Inhalers, Galvanic Apparatus, and Other Appliances Used by the Medical Profession, Maw and Son, 1866

http://www.archive.org/details/AnIllustratedDescriptionOfFirst-classAchromaticMicroscopesApparatus - An Illustrated Description of First-Class Achromatic Microscopes, Apparatus, Specimens, etc., Miller Brothers, 1879

Vorwald Collection:

http://www.archive.org/details/AMedicalSurveyOfTheBituminous-coalIndustry - A Medical Survey of the Bituminous-Coal Industry (1947), Coal Mines Administration, US Department of the Interior

the military's medical school

Our colleagues in Bethesda at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences made it into the Post today - see "Today's Lesson: Major Disaster - Military Medical School Simulates Chaotic Situations," By Jackie Spinner, Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, March 10, 2008; Page B04. Interestingly enough, the moulage techniques being used in this picture were developed by an Army Medical Museum staffer, Sgt. Cortizas. We've got some historical moulage kits as well as photographs and papers on the development of them including this collection:

OHA 334

* Training Aids Section Files, 1955-1963

* 3.5 cubic feet, 7 boxes.
* No finding aid, part arranged, inactive, unrestricted.
* Records of a defunct AFIP division concerned with medical training, which grew out of work done at the Museum. Includes material on films, moulages, manikins, and other training aids. Many of the products are in Historical Collections.

Creativity, music and neurology article

Museum alum Jenn Heilman passed along this article as being appropriate as the Museum sponsors Brain Awareness Week - "Creativity Jazzes Your Brain," By LAURAN NEERGAARD
The Associated Press, Monday, March 10, 2008.

Jen's now Director of Communications for the non-profit group Prevention of Blindness Society of Metropolitan Washington.

Another museum alum sighting

Jeff Reznick has a book review of Meade and Serlin's edited volume Radical History Review 94: Disability and History in the new issue of the Bulletin of the History of Medicine, v. 82.

European Association of Museums in the History of the Health Sciences meeting announcement

14th Congress of the European Association of Museums of the History of Medical Sciences, Edinburgh, Scotland
17 - 21 September 2008

The Body: Simulacra and Simulation - models, prosthetics and interventions

Models in wax or plastic, wood or metal, plaster or papier- mache are held in almost every medical museum in the world; while the development of surgical interventions and prosthetics has also led to a range of materials being used to replicate and imitate external and internal parts and movements of the body. Congress 2008 will explore aspects of the use, culture, history, art and manufacture of models, prosthetics and surgical interventions. It is hoped that the conference will be the catalyst for the development of a European-wide electronic database of models and prosthetics held in medical collections.

Call for Abstract Submissions
Curators, scholars and collectors in any relevant discipline are invited to submit abstracts that explore the following strands:
Deadline: 15 April 2008 (approx. 250 words and 150 word biog).

Sessions:
* Models
* Prosthetics
* Interventions
* Medical Museums for the 21st Century
Special session Friday 19th September:Invited speakers include, Ken Arnold (Head of Public Programmes, Wellcome Trust) and Thomas Soderqvist (Medical Museion, University of Copenhagen)

Submission Guidelines:

There will be 4 sessions on the main Simulacra and Simulation, topics. Each session will have a moderated discussion.
An abstract (250 words max) and a short bio (150 words max) should be submitted by 15 April 2008, via email to d.kemp@rcsed.ac.uk. Papers should be 20 minutes long.

Due to limited speaker slots, a poster session will also take place during the Congress. Please indicate on your application if a poster presentation is acceptable.

Submissions accepted and presented at the conference may be published, subject to copyright, in a publication of EAMHMS Congress proceedings, the EAMHMS website and/or the Scotland & Medicine website - www.scotland&medicine.co.uk . Please indicate if you do not want your presentation to be published in this way.

Email: d.kemp@rcsed.ac.uk
Tel contact, Dawn Kemp: +44 (0)131 527 1649

Congress Delegate and Accompanying Guest Fees:
The number of delegate places is limited to 150, a waiting list will be drawn up if the Congress sessions are oversubscribed.
Delegates may bring a guest to take part in all social aspects of the programme but please note, guests will not be able to attend sessions unless there is available space on the day.

Congress Fees, include the social and tour programme as detailed (the programme may be subject to change, if necessary) EAMHMS Congress rates:

Before 16 May 2008
Delegate Member 270 Euro
Guest of Member (social and tour programme only) 240 Euro
Non Member 300 Euro

After 16 May 2008
Delegate Member 300 Euro
Guest of Member (social and tour programme only) 270 Euro
Non Member 300 Euro


Congress Accommodation in Edinburgh:

Delegates must make their own accommodation arrangements but group arrangements have been made with the following hotels and guest houses, all within walking distance of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh and in the heart of historic Edinburgh. Breakfast is included in the price of the hotels:

MacDonald Holyrood Hotel ****
www.macdonald-hotels.co.uk/holyrood/
Situated next to the Scottish Parliament and the historic royal residence, Holyrood Palace this hotel is less than a 10 minute walk from the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. We recommend you book early to secure a room.

Price per night, bed and breakfast, Congress rate: £99single/£109double
Tel: +44 (131) 5288281
quote group code: EURO170908

10 Hill Square ***
www.tenhillplace.com

The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh's very own lodge style hotel, situated next to Surgeons' Hall. There are a number of rooms reserved for Congress delegates and guests. We recommend you book early to secure a room.
Price per night, bed and breakfast, Congress rate: £77single/£95 double
Tel: +44 (131) 662 2080
Email:
quote group code: M091029

Edinburgh Best Western ***
www.edinburghcityhotel.com
A ten minute walk from Surgeons' Hall, situated in an area steeped in Edinburgh's medical heritage, the hotel was formerly the Simpson Memorial Hospital, first opened in the 1860s. The hotel is also close to Edinburgh's Old Royal Infirmary and the Edinburgh College of Art.

Price per night, bed and breakfast: £85single/ £95 double
Tel: +44 (131) 6227979
quote group code: 410200/Royal College of Surgeons

Salisbury Green Hotel
University of Edinburgh Hotel
www.salisburygreen.com

In the spectacular surroundings of the Royal Park in the shadow of Arthurs Seat, the imposing volcanic plug which dominates Edinburgh's skyline there is a range of accommodation available in this hotel and residency complex.

Price per night, bed and breakfast: £94 or 104 single/£109 or 119 double
Tel: +44 (131) 662 2000
These rooms can not be held under a group booking and your are advised to reserve a room as soon as possible.

Minto House Hotel
www.edinburghmintohotel.co.uk

Less than five minutes walk from Surgeons' Hall close to the beautiful Royal Park and Arthurs Seat.

Price per night, bed and breakfast: £69/74 single /£109/120 double
Tel: +44 (131) 668 1234

Guest Houses/economy accommodation:
Thrums Hotel, Minto Street

www.thrumshotel.com

Less than five minutes walk from Surgeons' Hall close to the beautiful Royal Park and Arthurs Seat

Price per night, bed and breakfast, Congress rate: £34.5 per person
Tel: +44 (131) 677 5545
quote group: Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh


These are just some of the hotels and guest houses close to Surgeons' Hall, they are all situated in central Edinburgh, close to the historic Royal Mile in the Old Town of Edinburgh information about other hotels in the area is available from:
http://www.visitscotland.com/sitewide/bookedinburgh

Please note that many of these hotels work with web agents and you may be able to book directly through general hotel accommodation websites.

Saturday, March 8, 2008

"So big and exciting and new and scary..."

Musematic's author wrote at length today about an interesting topic, something I've heard once or twice around the table at meetings but not in such detail as presented here. The topic is serious and wide-ranging, and almost always a moving target: how to interact and engage with the public, or how to allow our audiences to engage with our collections: clearly, not a new topic for museums but with the rapid changes in technology, something that is increasingly on everyone's minds.

I think about this all the time: it's the job of any marketing or communications professional to engage an institutions' audiences, and the change in the public's attention span in recent years, coupled with the myriad of ways that audiences want to be engaged, has made this task so much more complicated and challenging (and fun, honestly.)

I don't have any silver bullet answers at the moment, though you never know where inspiration lies or where providence leads us next, but I thought the post was an interesting examination by someone clearly very enmeshed in this debate personally. Read on.