Collecting And Exhibiting Computer-​Based Technology: Expert Curation At The Museums Of The Smithsonian Institution

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Computer technology has transformed modern society, yet curators wishing to reflect those changes face difficult challenges in terms of both collecting and exhibiting. Collecting and Exhibiting Computer-Based Technologyexamines how curators at the history and technology museums of the Smithsonian Institution have met these challenges. Focusing on the curatorial process, the book explores the ways in which curators at the institution have approached the accession and display of technological artifacts. Such collections often have comparatively few precedents, and can pose unique dilemmas. In analysing the Smithsonian’s approach, Foti takes in diverse collection case studies ranging from DNA analyzers to Herbie Hancock’s music synthesizers, from iPods to born-digital photographs, from the laptop used during the filming of the television program Sex and the City to "Stanley" the self-driving car. Using her proposed model of "expert curation", she synthesizes her findings into a more universal framework for undertanding the curatorial methods associated with computer technology and reflects on what it means to be a curator in a postdigital world. Collecting and Exhibiting Computer-Based Technology offers a detailed analysis of curatorial practice in a relatively new field that is set to grow exponentially. It will be useful reading for curators, scholars, and students alike.

Author(s): Petrina Foti
Series: Routledge Research In Museum Studies
Edition: 1
Publisher: Routledge
Year: 2019

Language: English
Commentary: TruePDF
Pages: 177
Tags: Smithsonian Institution; Computers: Collectors And Collecting; Museums: Collection Management: United States

Cover
Half Title
Series Information
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Table of contents
Acknowledgments
1 What is computer-based technology?
A familiar technology, an unfamiliar artifact
Scope and research context
Meet the Smithsonian
Narrative of this book
Notes
2 Curating the unprecedented
Introduction
Contemporary collecting at the Smithsonian Museums
Collecting without precedent
“Everything becoming ones and zeroes”
The inscrutability of black boxes
Conclusion
Notes
3 Adaptive, distributed, and transmitted
The expert curation in action
Introduction
Adaptive expertise
Transmitted expertise
Distributive expertise
Expert curation
Conclusion
Notes
4 Dealing with the digital
Computer technology in the collection
Introduction
“For physical looks alone”
Beyond the Computers Collections
The Digitally Born
Conclusion
Notes
5 “The black box conundrum”
Computer technology on exhibit
Introduction
At the cutting edge of technology
Recording history as it occurs
Reintroducing the familiar
Conclusion
Notes
6 Internal processing
The methods of curating computer-based technology
Introduction
Documenting method
Operating method
Representing method
The established tradition of computer curation
Conclusion
Notes
7 The ever-evolving future
Notes
Bibliography
Index