Volunteers' Voice #4: Summer Volunteers
written by Rob Davies, Volunteer Coordinator. It’s summer and for us at MERL it is a very busy time for us. Our varied host of family activities means that we are very busy with a large footfall of visitors who would otherwise be at school. This is an excellent opportunity for younger visitors to explore […]
Pinterest & MERL
written by Adam Koszary, Project Officer for Our Country Lives. Everybody – regardless of whether they use them or not – is aware of social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook. There are also the professional sites such as Yammer and LinkedIn. However, one site which you may not have heard of – and which […]
What's your favourite?
Jonathan Brown, guest curator of our current exhibition of photography by John Tarlton, asks why we are compelled to pick a favourite. (I (Alison) have chosen mine to illlustrate his post!) What’s your favourite? One of the striking things about the exhibition of John Tarlton photographs we have on this summer is how quickly everybody […]
Volunteers' Voice #3 – Visitor research
by Rob Davies, Volunteer Co-ordinator Last week we launched our first wave of visitor research at the Museum of English Rural Life as part of the Our Country Lives project. Each wave of visitor research will last for a week, during different parts of the national calendar and we are attempting to capture the museum […]
Our Country Lives: Supporting You Day
written by Adam Koszary, Project Officer for Our Country Lives. My mind has been focused on one particular question since arriving at MERL: how do you display rural life? Other equally pertinent questions for us are: Who is our audience? How can we appeal to wider groups? What is the core message of the Museum […]
5 minutes with… Rhi Smith
Rhi Smith is the Director of Museum Studies. She teaches our new undergraduate degree course, which students can combine with Classics or Archaeology, starting at Reading this Autumn. Find out about what she’s being doing this week in the run up to the University’s Open Days…. What have you been doing this week? I’ve just […]
Volunteers' Voice #2: National Volunteers Week
written by Rob Davies, Volunteer Coordinator. The year has swung round once again and it is already National Volunteers Week. Every year from 1st – 7th June organisations who work with, involve or are entirely volunteer-run, celebrate all the hard work, dedication, enthusiasm and laughter that volunteers bring. I believe it is important to recognise […]
5 minutes with… Stuart McKie
Written by Alison Hilton, MERL Marketing Officer This week I have managed to catch Stuart McKie, our Admin and Operations Assistant, on a rare moment when he’s not running around the museum preparing for an event or showing visitors round. Stuart has only been in this particular role for two months, but he’s been involved […]
5 mins with…Judith Moon
written by Alison Hilton, Marketing Officer This weekly series of interviews with MERL staff will focus on the day to day work of everyone involved in one way or another with the Our Country Lives project. As the project picks up momentum, more and more of what goes on behind the scenes will be about […]
Volunteers' Voice #1 – Introducing Rob and the MERL volunteers!
written by Rob Davies, Volunteer Coordinator. Hello and welcome to my first post. I’m Rob Davies, Volunteer Coordinator at MERL. I have been working with volunteers for the past four years in various organisations, from community radio stations to museums. I work with volunteers across UMASCS (University of Reading’s Museums and Special Collections Service) which consists […]