I quite like visiting museums, I love documentation and databases and ultimately am interested in learning about the past through what has been left behind.
I’ve worked in the museum sector since the beginning of 2015. I have had a variety of positions; Curatorial Assistant, Project Officer of Events and Exhibitions, Collections Information Assistant, Project Assistant for a large scale collections audit, maternity cover as a Pathology Museum Officer and as a Curator. But I manage to get PhD funding, so am currently back to being a student with visions of getting back into the museum sector when I graduate. Prior to getting my first paid role I gained experience volunteering in museums and carrying out summer jobs at heritage organisations. In my roles I have worked with a vast range of collection types, from pathology to printed ephemera and archaeology to natural sciences. I’ve run events, assisted with exhibitions, data cleaned thousands of records and I have loved (almost) every second.
My undergraduate is in Archaeology and Ancient History. After a lot of saving up while working in retail I went on to get an MA in Museum Studies and managed to get my first museum role (which started with a one month contract). I have gone on to completed an MSc in Professional Human Osteoarchaeology, which I was able to do part-time alongside working in the museum sector. Clearly, I have been incredibly privileged to be able to save to pay for such study, but I am very hopeful that the sector is changing to be based on experience and transferable skills rather than university qualifications.
In my first Museum Studies lecture we were told that after the course we would never look at museums in the same way again; we would no longer be able to make a visit without thinking about things like text panel font size, lighting and interactives. They were right.
I visit museums to collect ideas and gain inspiration. I used to hand write notes on museum visits to jog my memory about what I saw in each place that stood out. I figured a blog could act as an online notebook for me, with the addition that it has the potential to inform and inspire others.
You can also follow me on Instagram (museum_mutterings) to see snapshots of the museums I’m visiting.
Click on the markers to see my museum blogging trail so far.
Museum Mutterings 