It’s been noted in recent studies that PCBs and mercury are moving up the ocean’s food chains and settling in high concentrations in the tissues of marine mammals and predatory fish.   A Science Daily article from September 10, 2007 states that orcas (killer whales) are the most PCB-contaminated creatures on Earth.

Creators of the film, The Cove, have been sampling tissue of dolphins caught in Japanese harbors and publishing the results as a means of getting people to stop eating dolphin meat.  The warnings for mercury contamination are similar to warnings here for swordfish and tuna consumption by women of childbearing years.

Personally, I’m not  surprised to read that these animals are contaminated.  However, the levels are shocking and a bit depressing.  A grad school professor once commented that we’ll each die with 10 pounds of pesticides in our bodies.  So, why should it be any different for metals.

A perusal of my music collection will confirm that I’m a fan of heavy metal, but only the kind that is potentially hazardous to my hearing.  This version definitely needs to be turned off.

The Boston Globe article can be found here.

For more about The Great Whales Satellite Telemetry Program, the whales that are currently tagged or those that had been tagged, visit their site at Great Whales Satellite Telemetry Program.

The Adaline H. Perkins Rand Photography Archives is now the Adaline H. Perkins Rand  Photography and Digital Archives; an expanded name for an expanded mission. This name change represents the merger of the existing Photography Department with the new Department of Digital Initiatives. But what is a New Bedford Whaling Museum digital initiative, and why would it need a department of its own? Further, why is the digital archive linked to the photography archive; what is the connection?

Today’s Digital Era, characterized in part by an explosion of media types and applications, leads us to recognize the need for an institutional archive dedicated to electronic files. Linking of the Digital and Photographic Archives began as a result of a shared dependance on and connection to technology.

Within the Photography Archives, the history of photography can be viewed as a series of technological advancements. Arguably, over the last 170 plus years, there has been no greater shift in how photographs are made, or distributed, than what we have experienced recently. Silver based film has given way to electronic capture and digital media, and through the growth of the internet, the computer monitor now challenges for primacy in how people encounter museum collections. Currently there are more online visitors than visitors through our front doors, and this gap will only continue to grow as our web-based content increases along with our ability to create and manage it. The Department of Digital Initiatives recognizes that we must continue to create and sustain compelling content for this growing audience.

A broad definition of a digital initiative would be any project, process, or enterprise that is computer borne, or has migrated to the computer, and that improves access to museum collections, information, programs, or products. Much as Gutenberg’s printing press altered civilization forever, now the computer, through the web, changes how information and knowledge are created and shared. The web, like the printing press before it, substantially increases the distribution of all kinds of information, including access to primary source materials as well as related scholarship.

The Museum got its first computer in the early 1990s.  Within the decade to follow, while there were a few more machines, they were still mostly isolated from one another except through sharing via external media. This disconnection was recognized and addressed by the Museum in 2001, and with the help of an Institute of Museum and Library Sciences grant the Museum’s curatorial and library staff began the process of populating our just installed collections management database. The creation of the Museum’s collections database became the basis for what could be considered our groundbreaking digital initiative: offering an online version of this database. Initially we posted around 25,000 records, a majority with associated image surrogates. Today, we have well over 40,000 discrete records representing a substantial piece of our overall collections. This was a major turning point, and continues to be a growing asset.

Digital content of all varieties is growing exponentially. As we generate more and more, it becomes apparent that special care is required. One could argue that digitized materials, and content that is “born digital,” are in some ways more ‘fragile’ than some historic material. With digital content there is both a blessing and a burden that result from having a machine between us and it. The machine supercharges the distribution of the content, and the ability to organize and share it, but then inevitably machines break, associated software or media become obsolete. The digital age brings to the fore critical issues related to data preservation, integrity, and migration. It is fair to say that for many, paper is still the medium of last resort, a safer haven. When lightning strikes, when electricity fails, paper still works, it is tactile, it is concrete, we can hold it in our hands. It still makes a very nice complement to anything digital.

Digital initiatives tend to be collaborative among staff, volunteers, community members, and consultants. This new department is designed to encourage entrepreneurial thinking, developing a space for ideas to germinate and to encourage interaction. Projects tend to be both structural, in the sense of foundation building, and content driven.

Here are some of our current digital initiatives to be completed in 2010.

Website redesign (www.whalingmuseum.org): the goal is to transition from a static to a dynamic website.

Museum blog (http://whalingmuseumblog.org ): rich with behind the scenes information, timely updates, and articles.

Exhibit audio tours: available from the Frontdesk or our website. The production of these tours has been supported by the National Park Service and by the Melville Society Cultural Project.

Oral History Project: migrating existing recordings to digital formats and creating new ones.

Crewlist Project: creating a public access database for with the names of men who sailed from New Bedford on whaling vessels. This project is in cooperation with the New Bedford Port Society.

Most readers of The Bulletin from Johnny Cake Hill will no doubt find this issue in standard printed form, mailed as a benefit of Museum membership. A small but growing number of readers might have clicked onto it care of Google or Yahoo, or navigated to our website ‘News’ section to find it. Content digitally delivered, like whalers and whaleships that sailed the seven seas, can serve as a link between New Bedford and the world. Wherever you are, sail with us.

Another pre-view of the upcoming photo exhibit from the wall of the Photo Archive

It is not too late to influence what ends in the exhibit. Which images are your favorites? Join our flickr discussion or comment directly on individual flickr photo pages. One needs to have an account (standard accounts are free) to place comments within flickr. If you’d prefer simply view the photos within flickr and tell us what you think via e-mail to photoresearch@whalingmuseum.org.

]]> http://whalingmuseumblog.org/2010/05/17/your-comments-sought-help-to-create-our-%e2%80%9cstandard-times-collection-1895-1925%e2%80%b3-photo-exhibit/feed/ 1 michaellapides http://whalingmuseumblog.org/2010/05/05/may-wallpaper-by-artist-amy-ruppel/ http://whalingmuseumblog.org/2010/05/05/may-wallpaper-by-artist-amy-ruppel/#comments Wed, 05 May 2010 13:40:25 +0000 katemello http://whalingmuseumblog.org/?p=2034 ]]> We always have our eyes out for anything whale-related!  So, you can bet I was very excited to find this May computer desktop wallpaper from artist Amy Ruppel.  Download it for free here!

Notice of Jon’s passing.

Happy Holidays from your friends at the New Bedford Whaling Museum

]]> http://whalingmuseumblog.org/2010/01/08/happy-holidays/feed/ 0 katemello UN.976.1 http://whalingmuseumblog.org/2010/01/04/winter-hours-as-of-1112010/ http://whalingmuseumblog.org/2010/01/04/winter-hours-as-of-1112010/#comments Mon, 04 Jan 2010 21:59:43 +0000 michaellapides http://whalingmuseumblog.org/?p=1451 ]]> Winter hours beginning Mon. 1/11/2010;

*Due to expected snowfall, the museum will be closed on Sunday, Dec 20.*

Please join Senator Paul G. Kirk, Congressman Barney Frank, Mayor Scott W. Lang, New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park Superintendent, Jennifer T. Nersesian and the Trustees of the New Bedford Whaling Museum in celebrating the announcement of $1.5 million in new funding to restore the historic Bourne Building.

Monday, November 30th
10 a.m.
The Bourne Building
New Bedford Whaling Museum
18 Johnny Cake Hill
New Bedford, Massachusetts

R.S.V.P. to (508) 997-0046 x100 or   plowe@whalingmuseum.org