The February-April 2018 Research issue of INSITE has nine articles about research projects in museums and galleries. Below is a list of the issue’s contents and associated links. To get a copy you can contact our office or subscribe to INSITE via our website:
http://mavic.asn.au/resources/publications 

Anne Rowland (page 2)
Provenance Lost: a research story
This is the story of a large bequest made in 1968 to the Art Gallery of Ballarat. Anne Rowland tells how the collection has been retrieved from the archives, its provenance confirmed and the items officially accessioned.
https://artgalleryofballarat.com.au/

Eugenia Pacitti (page 3)
Research and Human Remains
Historical collections of human remains that are held in the interest of science can now come under scrutiny for the manner of their acquisition and display. Eugenia Pacitti shares with INSITE some of her PhD research findings about how specimens were collected, handled and used and how this information can inform their role in museums in the future.

Diane Soumilas (page 4)
The Boyd Women
The Boyd Women exhibition curated by Diane Soumilas had a large loan schedule involving seven public institutions from metropolitan and regional Victoria and NSW and fifteen private collections from Victoria, NSW and the UK. Careful research revealed the legacy of the women in this creative Australian family.
http://www.gleneira.vic.gov.au/Places-and-events/Arts-and-Culture

Alice Cannon (page 5)
PolyMuse and the Problem with Plastics
With many collections holding items made of plastics the issue of their deterioration has prompted research into suitable management strategies. Alice Cannon tells us about the PolyMuse research partnership project.
http://www.polymuse.net.au/

Dr Sarah Edwards (page 6)
The Corridors of Curiosity
Parliament of Victoria’s Heritage Collection contains a mint of curious items that tell the story of our governance. Here, Sarah Edwards describes her investigation of Parliament House and the joys and frustrations of research.
https://bit.ly/1SUKOw6

Carolyn Meehan (page 7)
Getting it Right with Audience Research
Visitor research and evaluation is an instrumental practice that informs exhibition development. Carolyn Meehan takes us through Museums Victoria’s experience with the Inside Out exhibition and its targeting of an identified audience segment.
https://museumsvictoria.com.au/

Amber Evangelista (page 8)
Stories in Their Own Words
As part of her exhibition research for the Agents of Change exhibition at the Accredited Victoria Police Museum, Amber Evangelista recorded some oral histories that proved to be an important resource and a compelling part of the final display.
www.policemuseum.vic.gov.au
https://victoriancollections.net.au

Dr Heather Gaunt (page 9)
Ageing and Wellbeing in Museums
In 2016, the year-long research project ‘Cultural Institutions and Older People’ was undertaken by an interdisciplinary team at the University of Melbourne. Funded through the Hallmark Ageing Research Initiative, the project aimed to explore how cultural institutions can respond to an ageing population.
https://grainger.unimelb.edu.au/news/music-making-memories-at-grainger

Dr Tracy Ireland (page 11)
The Heritage of the Air Research Project
Heritage of the Air is a three year Australian Research Council Linkage project that is investigating how aviation has transformed Australian society over the last 100 years. Here, Dr Tracy Ireland outlines the scope and expected outcomes of the project.
https://heritageoftheair.org.au/

Grant Programs for Research (page 10)
Research is an important part of museum practice, but it takes time and money. Here are some grant sources for you to investigate.
http://www.arc.gov.au/discovery-projects
http://www.arc.gov.au/linkage-projects
https://unimelb.smartygrants.com.au/MEGS2018
https://museumsandcollections.unimelb.edu.au/fellowships_and_awards
https://www.churchilltrust.com.au/
https://www.capstoneediting.com.au/research-grant
http://www.naa.gov.au/about-us/grants
https://research.unimelb.edu.au/partner/mccoy-project
https://www.army.gov.au/our-history/australian-army-history-unit/army-history-research-grants

The 2018 Victorian Museum Awards (page 10)
The 2018 Victorian Museum Awards gala event will be held at Melbourne Museum on Wednesday 29 August. Nominations will close on Friday 29 June. This is your chance to think about a person or project that your organisation would like to nominate for an Award this year.
https://mavic.asn.au/awards

Apps & Online (page 15)

TroveMosaic
TroveMosaic is an experimental interface funded by the State Library of NSW that builds a mosaic from the top 500 records from a Trove picture search. They would like your feedback, and the source code will be available soon.
http://mtchl.net/trovemosaic

Virtual Choir
The Virtual Choir is a user-generated choir of singers that record and upload videos that are then synchronised and combined into a single performance. In response to the idea there is a Central Highlands Virtual Choir performing Paul Kelly’s Meet Me In The Middle of the Air.
https://ericwhitacre.com/the-virtual-choir
https://www.artsatlas.com.au/projects/the-virtual-choir-project

Human Centred Design
If you are interested in Design Thinking or in running a Design Sprint to develop a project plan in your museum you can read about the process here:
https://designthinkingformuseums.net/2017/08/11/join-the-conversation

Internet Archive
Internet Archive is a non-profit library of millions of free books, movies, software, music, and websites.
https://archive.org

The Malware Museum
Is a collection of malware programs, usually viruses, that were distributed in the 1980s and 90s on home computers. They aim to save websites or data that are in danger of being lost.
https://archive.org/details/malwaremuseum

Archive Team
Archive Team is a loose collective of “rogue archivists, programmers, writers and loudmouths dedicated to saving our digital heritage.”
https://www.archiveteam.org

DigiVol
Is a crowdsourcing platform developed by the Australian Museum in collaboration with the Atlas of Living Australia used to combine the efforts of volunteers to digitise their data.
https://volunteer.ala.org.au/about/index#/what-is-digivol

The items included in Apps & Online are information listings and have not been tested or reviewed by MA (Vic).