An Cosantóir

An Cosantóir September 2017 www.dfmagazine.ie 22 | conservator public history in Hol- land's National Military Museum (NMM), which opened in 2015 and is a purpose-built museum situated on a former air force base at Soesterberg. The NMM houses a combination of collections from the Military Aviation Museum in Soesterberg and the Army Museum in Delft. Dirk's presentation of the NMM as a modern military museum was top class, and the museum looked amaz- ing. He told the course that the NMM represents "real people, real stories that really happened." Each ticket contains the name of an individual incorporated within the museum's display, which helps visitors to relate to the personal stories as they navigate through the museum. Claudia Kohler, education, com- munity and outreach officer for Kerry County Museum spoke about Educa- tion and Access. Claudia had a wealth of knowledge about outreach and education, subjects that often gets overlooked when thinking of museums (but are key to defining what a muse- um is). "Education in museums enables lifelong learning while respecting the autonomy of the individual," Claudia explained. "Education is a bridge be- tween museums and its visitors." She also spoke about how to engage the local community with a museum, be they young or old, "as you must try cater for all age groups". "Most importantly," Claudia said, "is recording the demographic of your visitors on entry or by using an exit poll. It's good to know your audience by col- lating visitor information at year's end, as these statistics will be required if you seek external funding or grants." She finished by saying we must change the perception that museums are boring, silent and dusty and that they can be fun, friendly and engaging. Aoife Ruane from the Highlanes Municipal Art Gallery in Drogheda spoke about External Communi- cations. Highlanes is located in a historic Franciscan church known locally as the 'high lane church' to which one student, Pte Peter Mc- Guinness, had a connection as his uncle was a clergyman there in the 60s, 70s and 80s. Aoife explained that because of their gallery's location they had used famous paintings of Drogheda and the Boyne Valley to link into the local- ity and connect with local residents. How their gallery connected with local residents by looking at their location. Aoife spoke about social media options and print and advertising, telling the students: "Reputation is everything in this business." ACOS Brig Gen Peter O'Halloran visited the course and addressed the students, organisers and lecturers. He thanked Gina O'Kelly from the IMA for facilitating the course, and Comdt Mac Eoin for having the vision for it. He also thanked the speakers and said that Comdt Lar Joye was "the Defence Forces' 'jewel in the crown' with his knowledge of museums". He said he was impressed with the level of information being dis- seminated and said it was some- thing the Defence Forces can build on. He also said that "barracks museums allow the Defence Forces to outreach to the public". On Wednesday 5th July the bud- ding DF museum curators were dispatched with their certificates, folders, and newly acquired knowledge, to their respective museums. They will be meeting up again soon to form syndicates that will then look all each of the eight modules studied, with a view to putting them into practice so that all museums within the Defence Forces operate uniformly, and, eventually, will be able to achieve the level set by the Mu- seum Standards Programme. An Cosantóir plans to visit each barracks/post museum/visitors cen- tre over the next 12 months to see how they are getting on. A display image from Holland's National Military Museum. Photo: NMM.nl Students and instructors pictured with Gina O'Kelly of IMA and Dirk Staat from NMM centre. Ronnie Daly (McKee Bks) and Comdt Mac Eoin explaining display cases. An example of a military related items handed into the Defence Forces Cpl Michael Whelan, curator of the Air Corps Museum & Heritage Project showing Ronnie Daly (McKee Bks) and Sgt Riccardo Lucchesi (27 Inf Bn) Air Corps related archive files that he was involved with. Sgt Philip 'Sid' Allen, 6 Inf Bn (Athlone) receiving his certificate from Comdt Lar Joye, RDF 2 Bde HQ

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