Onsite exhibitions
There are five three display cases in the Loeb Music Library's Richard F. French Gallery: two large, deep wall cases, and three shallow cases in the second-floor foyerone shallow case. Almost anyone is welcome to curate an exhibit, but it exhibition. It is the KeeperCurator of the Isham Memorial Library's responsibility to ensure that there is at least two one major exhibitions exhibition per year, one in the fall and one in the spring. Ideally there would be three per year, with one curated in January by a Wintersession group; however, this is dependent on student enrollment.and to work with curators to realize the exhibitions they envision.
Planning
A calendar of upcoming exhibitions is maintained in the H: driveMusic Library's Exhibits folder on SharePoint.
Help
Isham staff may be called upon to help others put on exhibitions, and can assist with every aspect from planning to labels to deinstalling. Another option to consider is student help. Pforzheimer Fellowships and provostial funding are both useful resources for exhibition help.
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Ideally, your labels should address two fundamental questions: What is this object? Why is it significant? They must include a complete citation, as well as the call number. For examples, please see documentation for previous exhibitions in the H: drivein SharePoint.
If you are looking for guidance, the Australian Museum has condensed useful information on exhibition label writing at its website: http://australianmuseum.net.au/writing-text-and-labels. While geared towards a museum environment, the “Writing Text and Labels That Work” section applies just as well to our exhibition space.
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See here for instructions on adding events to the Harvard Library calendar.
Include the following text at the bottom of the page:
Please note: For the most up-to-date access policies and visitor guidance, please visit Harvard Library Visitor Access.
Persons with disabilities who would like to request accommodations or have questions about physical access, please contact Loeb Music Library Administrative Coordinator Patricia O’Brien, obrien2@fas.harvard.edu, 617-998-5314.
Prior to composing social media content, review the Music Library's instructions, and reach out to the Digital Programs and Reference Librarian to discuss guidelines.
Press inquiries
If a journalist wishes to do a piece on the exhibition, follow this workflow.
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Before your exhibition is removed from the cases, take photographs of the cases and check that you have kept PDF copies of the labels and other information, as well as Word versions of same. Maintain enough supporting and production documentation that we could reproduce the exhibition as it first appeared. Do not retain any physical artifacts: the relevant section of the General Record Schedule, Exhibition Records (5440), is format neutral, meaning that retaining a digital file is sufficient.
Return collection materials to their normal storage locales as soon as possible, finish Aeon requests and adjust Alma records as necessary, and close the Aeon event for the exhibition.
Offsite exhibitions
Music Library materials occasionally travel to be exhibited outside the building. Each step outlined below can take more time than the workflow for onsite exhibitions, therefore it is best to begin planning for offsite exhibitions even further in advance.
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The receiving registrar must also complete and return the General Facility Report.
Flash-curating a Wintersession exhibition
The Music Library has twice flash-curated an exhibition during Wintersession: I Am Proud to Play a Pipe (2020) and Harvard Haggadot (2023). These curatorial experiences are valuable to students who are interested in museum work, preservation or the subject, or who are just hoping to learn something new.
- The Undergraduate Experience Librarian is a potential liaison in the design of the exhibition.
- When conceiving the theme, consider libraries and collections which don't have their own exhibition spaces: they may be eager to collaborate. Also, upcoming events could inspire topics.
- Start the design process early in the week. Have a student take responsibility for this.
- The cost of printing for the 2023 exhibition was $173 and including one large wall placard and five small case placards. In future, consider printing just one large placard and putting all of the text on a QR-accessed site.