Behind the scenes in the Museum's archive I Curator's Corner S3 Ep2

[@maxwlytle]

What a fascinating job you have! Thanks for the giraffe tidbit.

[@bawbtherevelator6445]

Hi! I'm 83, in Los Angeles and unlikely to visit in the future - BUT my age 12 grandson need to know that terrific things happen everywhere in the world!! Thanks so much!

[@rameyzamora1018]

"Everything was listed under A for Antiquities." Great post. Thank you.

[@AntonAngelo]

I do so love these videos.

[@rhijulbec1]

Anton Angelo As do I. So well done.

[@TheYoyozo]

I want to hear more about the pebble. Love the name Camel Leopard. She did great!

[@QueueTheRandom]

I love the witty remarks of this lady !

[@paulstein8854]

I love this series so much. Even the little watched episodes are amazing

[@Splash_of_Freedom]

I'd love more videos about the archives. Francesca did a great job!

[@mreckes9967]

Ahhh what a place to be, never ever be short of reading material

[@miteor]

Thank you for taking the time and trouble to make these they are so intriguing 😊👍😊

[@sleepytabby9113]

Archivist at the British Museum. My dream job ❤

[@phillgreenland2390]

Best Curator’s Corner ever!

[@doggodoggo3000]

MORE ARCHIVES VIDEOS PLEASE!!!!

[@mch12311969]

"Cameleopard", I love that and am going to start using it!

[@spencerjbbran]

This is truly quite fascinating. I had a great chuckle while imagining some 19th century British people walking into The British Museum gasping and then looking at the towering stuffed giraffes like "What the absolute hell are those things????".

[@bobnewmanknott3433]

Great job Great curator perfect match !! Great video thanks

[@zeropointconsciousness]

So interesting. I would love to work in amongst all the antiquities.

[@PeterGaunt]

You have one fascinating job.

[@loriallen7651]

I really enjoyed your video. I'll be looking into your blog next. Curator's Corner is a terrific You Tube series! Very interested in your department! Thanks.

[@SJF15]

I think she knows what shes doing!

[@LH-ro2ot]

Excellent. More please 😁

[@aquaglow1]

Very interesting insight into your role

[@grantbartley483]

Where did Noah keep his bees? In his ark hive

[@Jockeylotforfun]

Did you mention your name is Job? Very impressive display of grace and tenacity madame. I enjoyed your story, thanks.

[@claudiaramosmonteiro]

This is very cool!

[@meijimarts111]

How does she log ang relocate some of those heavier objects? Is she alone on her job? Does she have assistants? Is she secrety Wonder Woman?

[@deborahmelo7993]

Lovely!!!!!

[@melmoland988]

What I wouldn't give to work for the museum

[@PHlophe]

Mel, study get that degree and you could be working in there. Most archivist and curatrix are female, which is a bonus.

[@dajapa]

Lechiffresix six Do you work in a museum? What is your degree? 'o' and is an archivist a branch of conservation??

[@rexcorvorum4262]

One of the best jobs in the world

[@andeace23]

My dream job

[@LordInter]

yep, those books are from 1830 and the museum was already 100 years old by then! 😂

[@lynnblack6493]

Good one. Camel leopards!

[@caseyash4909]

I can imagine a bunch of drunk non-pc zebras abusing the munching giraffes: Hey, you camelopards

[@poshpaul55]

im 56 and i never knew this

[@sapuraagzamova4280]

Hello!

[@doggodoggo3000]

Really the biggest shame is how poorly i can guarantee those stuffed giraffes looked. Probably the hardest to stuff animal on the planet being stuffed by a guy who has probably never actually seen one. I can guarantee they were very off looking. Even after seeing the ones stuffed in the museum these people had no idea what one actually looked like lol (it would have been impressive due to the sheer size and proportions but still. Its not sad they arent there anymore im pretty sure lol)

[@thebatt6183]

er, did any ebbles fly u into the air by themselves just curious

[@SilentGamesBread]

Hello

[@dday1412]

In Afrikaans: Kameelperd.

[@SimonHollandfilms]

camel leopards are about as British as a baguette. Stolen British Stuff Museum?

[@selotmani1]

you are beautiful, just smile

[@petrfrizen6078]

It’s a huge pity that these were the killed creatures… Wooden, carved - molded images would had have been indescribably more appropriate… What about the London Zoo?.. There weren’t any camelopards there?.. Or at those times the London Zoo hadn’t come to fruition yet?..

[@PastPresented]

Transporting live giraffes from Africa to Britain was not easy, and the first success was in 1827 (one year before the establishment of London Zoo, but centuries after the royal family started keeping exotic animals, which were often given them as presents), when a female was given to King George IV. She only survived in Windsor Great Park for a couple of years, but she did get her portrait painted: www.royalcollection.org.uk/collection/404394/the-nubian-giraffe

[@petrfrizen6078]

Very cute and very sweet! Who authored that work of art, of you don’t mind my asking?.. Please, confirm!

[@petrfrizen6078]

I mean, that the portrait was painted… not that the creatures perished…

[@PastPresented]

The painting was by this guy: www.jacques-laurent-agasse.org/

[@doggodoggo3000]

I disagree. The point of museums at that time was to show people the wonders of the natural world. Paintings and stuff already existed. Ill admit its sad to kill an animal just to put it on display. But that is a modern consequence. At the time this was the best way. And alot of these those old museum samples have alot of relevance even today. The way we documented these animals, sometime with reckless abandon, Is kind of what we are preserving now. Human Nature. My favorite museum exhibit i have ever been in is a collection at the History Museum in Downtown Charleston SC. Its the "old museum" collection. A series of poorly stuffed extinct and endangered animals from the late 1800s. in short. It would be more appropriate in today's day and age. But not back then. I really was just different. But not really. When studying insects and other animals even today in places they set TRAPS and identify the remains. And not just like a few. You havent discovered a new species without first collecting many specimen samples and comparing them to other closely related species.

[@barrykent9877]

No gloves? Please - don't do this anymore... It gaves me shivers... I understand your hands are clean and so on, but we cannot know what heat or water or any bacteria on our hands can do to ancient paper... Please, never do it again!

[@PastPresented]

We can know what handling with desensitized fingers can do to fragile paper though (paper being, particularly since the 19th century, often its own worst enemy), so it's very much a "lesser of two evils" choice.

[@fastauntie]

It's great that you want to be sure these important objects are being handled carefully. Please be assured that in this case they are. Professional book and paper conservators , who spend a lot of their time looking at damaged old paper and determining the causes, recommend handling most books and papers, even very old and rare ones, with clean bare hands as being safer for the objects than using gloves. Two experienced conservators published a very thorough investigation of the question in International Preservation News, which you can read at www.ifla.org/VI/4/news/ipnn37.pdf. Here's a summary of the important points: There is no scientific evidence that skin chemicals damage paper; basic hand-washing is enough to remove any dirt or other substances that might be transferred to the objects. The article doesn't mention bacteria, but if you're washing your hands in the way that public health experts recommend we always do, you'll get rid of enough of them. (Don't apply hand sanitizer afterward, by the way--those will leave gooey residues that can damage paper.) The authors do point out that most old books and papers have been extensively handled over decades and centuries, often in dirty, smoky environments and by people whose sanitary practices were "less-than-ideal," and yet show very little evidence of it. Gloves easily pick up dirt and other substances from anything you touch--oil and makeup from your face and hair, bits of dirt or polish from the edges of furniture, debris from disintegrating leather bindings--and transfer them to the paper. You can keep changing gloves, but it's easier and cheaper just to rewash your hands if they get to look or feel dirty. The biggest problem with gloves is that they reduce the touch sensitivity you need to handle paper, especially fragile paper, safely. Try this at home: take an old magazine or a beat-up paperback you don't care about, put on a pair of cotton gloves, and page through it. Now imagine you're doing this with something very rare and valuable. Still sure that's the safest way? Gloves are appropriate for certain other materials, like photos, metals, and fine textiles. It was only in the 1990s that many librarians and archivists, seeing them in supply catalogs, seem to have got the idea that they were the standard of care for all special materials. It never became the standard in most places, but this coincided with the rise of shows like Antiques Roadshow, History Detectives, and so on, where most people got their first look at people handling rare materials in libraries and archives, so gloves became part of the popular image. TV crews like them because they help things look more important and special, and I've known crews to try to make curators and archivists wear them for a shoot even after being told it is against their policy for all the reasons given above. In short, it's always important to handle rare objects carefully. But what constitutes proper care varies with the type of object.

[@dajapa]

Elizabeth Fuller wow. That's a great information! Are you a conservator by any chance? Btw, I can't see the link :(

[@Markle2k]

@@fastauntie There is also a video here featuring several curators on this very subject. People tend to invest objects, including plain cotton gloves, with magical properties, not bothering to stop and think about whether it makes any sense.

[@analiemartinez-panizales8821]

Calm down and dont be dramatic. They use clean jands instead so they can feel wether the paper is ripping or not. Its better and less risk of damage. They do use gloves on objects and sometimes pictures. But on paper its a big no no

[@ChrisPeck-niganma]

I love all these videos. Many of the curators lack charisma but their passion for their subject smolders under their stodgy exteriors and their expertise shins bright regardless. Ms Hiller is undoubtedly an unsung hero, I'm glad I saw her.