Rants and raves on the latest trends in the world of museum informatics and technology. An intrepid cast of experts from the Museum Computer Network and AAM's Media & Technology Committee share their insights, observations and tricks of the trade

The mission of the UC Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive is to inspire the imagination and ignite critical dialogue through art and film.

The UC Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive is the visual arts center of the University of California, Berkeley. Through art and film programs, collections and research resources, we aspire to be locally connected and globally relevant, engaging audiences from the campus, community, and beyond.

The Johnson Museum of Art is located on the Cornell campus in Ithaca, New York. It houses Cornell's art collection, which was begun in the 1880s by Cornell's first president, Andrew Dickson White.

In 1973, the Museum moved into its present building, designed by I. M. Pei; it is a small masterpiece, with stunning views of Cayuga Lake, the campus, and Ithaca. An extension, based on Pei's original plans for the Museum, will open in 2011.

Funds for the building were donated by Herbert F. Johnson, a graduate of Cornell's Class of 1922, the late president and chairman of S C Johnson of Racine, Wisconsin.

The Johnson Museum has one of the finest collections of art in Upstate New York State and is recognized as one of the most important university museums in the country. The permanent collection consists of more than 35,000 works of art. Aside from the outstanding Asian collection, its greatest strengths are in graphic arts and photographs ranging from the fifteenth century to the present, modern and contemporary painting and sculpture, European art from ancient times to the present, African sculpture and textiles, and pre-Columbian sculpture and ceramics.

The Johnson receives funding from Cornell University, as well as from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the New York State Council on the Arts, as well as foundations, corporations, businesses, and private donors. The Johnson is accredited by the American Association of Museums.

The official trailer of Kartemquin’s “Typeface” — a film about The Hamilton Wood Type & Printing Museum in Two Rivers, WI. Directed by Justine Nagan.

"Would it be better if viewers stood still and looked more carefully?  My own feeling is both “yes” and “no.”  It seems to me that one of the pleasures of museum-going is to rapidly compare objects with one another.  But yes, it would be nice if viewers sometimes stopped to look at an object very closely—and of course this is what the most gifted art historians do. To do this kind of close looking, however—looking for an hour or more at a single object—often requires a good deal of knowledge about the process of painting and the work of a particular artist.  I suspect it also requires something a bit peculiar: a sort of infatuation."

"Blue Star Museums offers free admission to active duty military, with up to five family members."

Opening tomorrow, May 23: Museum, a new free museum that preserves the often overlooked, unseen, and forgotten treasures from the streets, stores, and people of the world, most prominently New York City. It's located in what was once a freight elevator in the back of a Broadway building in Cortlandt Alley, between Franklin and White Streets. Museum is an immaculate, 80-square-foot space that displays odd collections, hundreds of found and vernacular objects, and items of curiosity from around the world.

"We try to make one really understand each object through its history and context," explains Benny Safdie, one of Museum's three curator-directors. (The others are his brother, Josh Safdie; and Alex Kalman.) "Sometimes barbed wire is just barbed wire, but when it comes from a concentration camp, the whole thing transforms."

"We wanted to create a space that gives respect and shows off what we find beautiful, beauty that is often forgotten or overlooked," Kalman says. "It is a reminder that you can find beauty and magic in the everyday."

Each item is accompanied with a story of its origin and how it has ended up in the Museum. You can read each one in a printed brochure that doubles as a poster, or call a a toll-free phone service, (888) 763-8839. You can punch in any object's number and listen to its stories.

"Giving things a context is what makes anything valuable," Josh Safdie explains. "Diamonds aren't that rare, but everyone talks about them being forever, making them a girl's best friend—and thus they're highly valuable. A handwritten business card advertising a weed service with Jewish stars drawn on it is more valuable than a one-carat SS-V2 diamond."

Read more: A Museum of Things Opens in NYC — Imprint-The Online Community for Graphic Designers
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This collection of actual former spy equipment is fascinating stuff.

The idea of “public engagement with (or ‘in’) science” has multiple origins, and with those origins come different assumptions about what the goals of engagement are, how they can be achieved, and how they can be assessed. Many discussions about public engagement may be unaware of the multiple meanings, losing much of the complexity inherent in the topic.

(including extensive literature review)

@bmcmichael: London Museum App Chronicles Key Moments In Design History http://t.co/rCTc7PwP (via @psfk)

"Pick + Mix is a virtual gallery that allows users to dynamically browse the London Transport Museum’s vast and iconic collection." via Paul