Harvard museums tackle database updates, improvements
In the days since the pandemic sent Harvard’s museums online, many have been sharing their offerings with the public through virtual tours, talks, and gallery displays. But behind the scenes, staff members across the network have pivoted from their normal duties in curation, collections management, and conservation to the enormous task of updating, adding, and editing data for millions of items housed in University collections, efforts that will prove invaluable for those doing research in them. “This is where the work that’s been going on for so many years to digitize museum collections and records is really paying off,” said Jane Pickering, William and Muriel Seabury Howells Director of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnography, noting that the Peabody and other institutions such as the Harvard Art Museums and the Harvard Museum of the Near East have recorded lectures, conducted digital programming, and made images of artifacts available to the public...