There are five display cases in the Loeb Music Library: two large, deep wall cases, and three shallow cases in the second-floor foyer. Almost anyone is welcome to curate an exhibit, but it is the Keeper's responsibility to ensure that there is at least one major exhibition per year.
Planning
A calendar of upcoming exhibitions is maintained in the H: drive.
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.
Selecting
First, create an Event in Aeon. Add yourself and any co-curators as Users. Begin choosing materials. The capacity of the cases, and the conservation needs of the materials you've chosen, will both be important factors.
Page your selections, or ask Isham staff to page them if they are special collections items. Flag the opening you wish to display. Exhibition selections can go on hold in the Merritt Room under a cabinet for conservation review, flagged at the opening desired for the exhibition except when they are to be displayed closed.
Conservation review
Materials chosen for an exhibition must be evaluated by a member of the Weissman Preservation Center staff to see whether the item can be displayed, whether it requires conservation treatment prior to display and how it should be displayed.
Labels
Ideally, your labels should address two fundamental questions: What is this object, and, Why is it significant.
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.
Press inquiries
If a journalist wishes to do a piece on the exhibition, follow this workflow.
- Put them in contact with the curator.
- If they would like to take pictures, record, or film within Harvard Library or Harvard College Library, invite them to complete the required Photography, Filming, and Recording request form.
Deinstalling
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.