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New Exhibition Resource Kit

In the increasingly corporate world in which cultural institutions find themselves operating, the call on special collection areas to provide displays of material for visiting VIPs has become an important function. There is an enormous responsibility on these areas to display items that will impress upon such visitors the value and worth of the collection, and thus of the institution as a whole. In addition, the increasingly public face of cultural institutions results in requests for behind-the-scene tours by diverse community groups.

This has been the case in the Manuscript Branch of the National Library of Australia, where requests to put together displays from our collection material have increased dramatically over the last few years. It is in response to this increased public profile that the Manuscript Branch has developed its Exhibition Resource Kit. The aim of the Kit is twofold:

  • To reduce the impact that putting together such displays has on our limited time and resources
  • To counter the loss of corporate knowledge about the collection that has occurred with the retirement of several long-serving staff members. The Kit allows anyone, irrespective of their experience in the Branch, to put together a display.

The Exhibition Resource Kit consists of three parts. Part 1 is an alphabetical listing by title of items held in the Manuscript Collection which are considered of interest for display. For each item there is information about its call number, location within the collection and a brief description. Where appropriate, suggestions about other materials to support the display are also included. The following is an example of an entry from the list which provides information about a collection of papers relating to ‘Waltzing Matilda’:

Title: ‘Waltzing Matilda’
Call No.: MS 9065
Location: SR/Bay 5/14

Description: Original music and lyrics for ‘Waltzing Matilda’, in the handwriting of Christina Macpherson, together with related papers
Display with transcription of letter and brochures for MusicAustralia website

Part 2 provides additional background information of relevance to the item. This might be a more detailed description of the item which helps place it in context, especially if it is part of a larger collection; biographical information about the creator of the item; an interesting fact associated with the acquisition of the item; historical information with which the item is connected, and so on.

For the ‘Waltzing Matilda’ example, additional information available includes:

  • A copy of the catalogue entry, which provides more details about the extent of the collection
  • Acquisition details
  • A transcription of Christina MacPherson’s letter
  • Brochures for the MusicAustralia website
  • A copy of an article about the acquisition of the collection which was published in National Library of Australia News.

Part 3 contains a caption for each item that provides the viewer with a brief description. Captions are created using a standard format in order to give uniformity to the display.

Using the Exhibition Resource Kit, makes it easy to quickly identify and select items of relevance for an intended audience, locate them and create a display. In addition, a quick glance through any background material available enables the person presenting the display to talk knowledgeably about the items selected.

The Exhibition Resource Kit has evolved over time and is constantly being updated as new gems in the collection are discovered. It has become an invaluable reource for the Manuscript Branch staff.

Karen Johnson
Manuscript Branch