<html><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div>Alex Hidalgo,</div><div><br></div><div>I think you need to distinguish between best practices to follow concerning </div><div>the physical object (physical condition of the artifact, matting, framing, </div><div>lighting, environmental conditions, security, etc.) and those concerning </div><div>the content of the document (panels, captions, etc.).</div><div><br></div><div>Doing the right thing as far as the physical object is concerned will require </div><div>that you deal with the extensive conservation literature which exists (and </div><div>not only the "recent literature," since these matters have been written about </div><div>for eons).</div><div><br></div><div>Perhaps begin with a visit to the website of the American Institute for </div><div>Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works:</div><div><br></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; widows: 2; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; widows: 2; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; widows: 2; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>> <a href="http://www.conservation-us.org/">http://www.conservation-us.org/</a></div></div><div><br></div><div>Another step would be to visit active professional conservators, all of whom </div><div>would be knowledgeable about matters relating to exhibitions.</div><div><br></div><div>Perhaps at the Harry Ransom Center at the <span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px; ">University of Texas at Austin?</span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; widows: 2; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; widows: 2; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; widows: 2; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div></div></div></span></div></span></div></span><div><br></div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>> <a href="http://www.hrc.utexas.edu/">http://www.hrc.utexas.edu/</a></div></div></span></div></span></div></span><div><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><div>All the best,</div><div> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-size: medium; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-size: medium; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; widows: 2; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-size: medium; "><div><div><div><div> Ed<br></div><div><br></div><div>P.S. I notice that you say the maps you will be exhibiting are "historic." </div><div>I have never curated an exhibition which featured only such maps, but </div><div>several which included both "historic" and "just historical."</div><div><br></div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div>Ed Dahl, 720, chemin Fogarty, Val-des-Monts (Québec) J8N 7S9, CANADA<br> TEL: (819) 671-9721 FAX: (819) 671-9722</div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre; "> </span><a href="mailto:ed.dahl@sympatico.ca">ed.dahl@sympatico.ca</a></div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre; "> </span> </div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></span></div></span></div></span> </div><div><br><div>Begin forwarded message:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font face="Helvetica" size="5" color="#000000" style="font: 18.0px Helvetica; color: #000000"><b>From: </b></font><font face="Helvetica" size="5" style="font: 18.0px Helvetica">Matthew Edney <<a href="mailto:edney@usm.maine.edu">edney@usm.maine.edu</a>></font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font face="Helvetica" size="5" color="#000000" style="font: 18.0px Helvetica; color: #000000"><b>Date: </b></font><font face="Helvetica" size="5" style="font: 18.0px Helvetica">April 6, 2014 10:41:37 AM GMT-04:00</font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font face="Helvetica" size="5" color="#000000" style="font: 18.0px Helvetica; color: #000000"><b>To: </b></font><font face="Helvetica" size="5" style="font: 18.0px Helvetica">"<a href="mailto:ishm@lazarus.elte.hu">ishm@lazarus.elte.hu</a>" <<a href="mailto:ISHM@lazarus.elte.hu">ISHM@lazarus.elte.hu</a>></font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font face="Helvetica" size="5" color="#000000" style="font: 18.0px Helvetica; color: #000000"><b>Subject: </b></font><font face="Helvetica" size="5" style="font: 18.0px Helvetica"><b>Re: [ISHMap-List] Recent Literature on Curating A Map Exhibit</b></font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; min-height: 14px; "><br></div> </div><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=windows-1252"><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; ">Dear All:<div><br></div><div>Alex raises an interesting question. I don't know of any literature about best practices in displaying maps in exhibitions - is there any?</div><div><br></div><div>There is, of course, a large literature about museums and exhibitions practice generally; my wife, who teaches museum practice (among other things) and who recently worked with students to prepare a successful art exhibition, introduced me to a great book on the preparation of labels that has much of interest in making one think about the exhibition as a whole:</div><div><br></div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Serrell, Beverly. <i>Exhibit Labels: An Interpretive Approach</i>. Walnut Creek, Calif.: Altamira, 1996.<br><br></div><div>But she has not found much literature about leading students in the design process; her own approach was always to frame student activities so that they had to take the lead while she served only as an advisor. As she says, if the exhibition was a success (and it was), then it was because of the students, but if it failed, it was because of her!</div><div><br></div><div>Several things that she did that might be of interest:</div><div><br></div><div>a) she had each student select two items from the collections that they could put into conversation with each other . . . even if one of the items did not make it into the final exhibition, this process helps stimulate ideas for the labels</div><div><br></div><div>b) each student should write the first draft of each label, but then the students should work communally to edit them … the instructor should not do the editing!</div><div><br></div><div>c) the students should examine the gallery space themselves, measuring its dimensions, and consider the placement and therefore selection of objects.</div><div><br></div><div>And so on.</div><div><br></div><div>Hope this helps . . .</div><div><br></div><div>Matthew</div><div><br></div><div><div><br></div><div><br><div><div>On Apr 6, 2014, at 6:02 AM, "Hidalgo, Alexander" <<a href="mailto:a.hidalgo@tcu.edu">a.hidalgo@tcu.edu</a>> wrote:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><blockquote type="cite"> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=Windows-1252"><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; font-size: 14px; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; "><div>Folks,</div><div><br></div><div>The following academic year, I will be working with graduate students on curating a map exhibit based on a small collection of historic maps held in my university’s special collections.</div><div><br></div><div>Could you recommend any recent (or classic) literature on best practices for such an endeavor?</div><div><br></div><div>Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.</div><div><br></div><div>Warm regards,</div><div><br></div><div>Alex</div><div><br></div><div><div><div>-- </div><div>Alex Hidalgo, PhD</div></div><div>Assistant Professor of History</div><div>Texas Christian University</div><div>Fort Worth, TX </div></div></div> ______________</blockquote></div></div></div></div></div></body></html>