Real-Life Communication
Curators are responsible for acquiring objects to display in their
museums. Curators can't just pick out the objects they think are important,
however. They have to follow the museum's mandate -- a statement that tells
what the purpose of the museum is supposed to be -- very closely.
It
takes a lot of work to maintain each artifact, and museums have a limited
amount of space. So, curators can't accept every artifact that comes their
way.
You have just been hired as the curator of a small local museum.
A resident comes to you and offers to give the museum a number of objects
for display. You must consider the museum's mandate and decide which objects
to accept, and which to turn down.
The mandate and the list of items
follow. Based on the mandate, write down which items you would keep and which
ones you would reject. State the reasons for your decisions.
Mandate
This
museum will provide the community with a sense of its own history. It will
demonstrate the people's long-standing commitment to family, hard work and
community.
It will profile past community members who have made a difference
to the standard of living and the rich culture of the region, as well as those
industries that have made the region economically strong.
It will look
at the impact of national and historical events on the community and on the
individuals within it.
Items
- The wedding suit of the town's first mayor
- The overalls of a local laborer from the same period
- A first-edition copy of Treasure Island, purchased at a local auction
10 years ago
- An old piano used for many years by a local piano teacher
- A number of arrowheads -- prehistoric
- A 19th-century fur pelt and a woven basket prepared by the native tribe
of the region
- A series of photographs of soldiers going off to the Second World War
- A series of letters sent by a Second World War soldier to his family in
the town
- An old shovel found buried at the entrance to the town mine
- A manual plow used by early farmers from the region
- A photograph of the town Christmas pageant from 1956
- A photograph of a celebrity who moved into the town two years ago