Evaluation of the Tourist View on Museum

Evaluation of the Tourist View on Museum Critical Evaluation from the visitor/tourist point of view. The NMI: Arts and History Collins Barracks This discursive essay is based on a field trip under took by myself as part of the Heritage Studies Year 3 class at GMIT. This field trip consisted of travelling to Dublin to visit two of Irelands museum attractions the Chester Beatty Library and the National Museum of Ireland: Decorative Arts and History Museum at Collins Barracks. The Decorative Arts and History Museum is the museum that I chose to write the essay on. The essay is intended to be a critical evaluation of the heritage product provided at this museum and also assess its performance at doing this task. The essay shall also examine a number of issues for this museum like best international practice for museums of this type, its Management Philosophy and analyse the visitor experience offered at this site. The essay will begin by looking briefly at some of the heritage of the building and the site that is Collins Barracks, the former barracks that now houses the Decorative Arts and History museum. Collins Barracks itself presents its own unique history and heritage. Collins Barracks is one of the oldest inhabited barracks in Europe and was once one of the largest. It was built originally as an Army barracks for the British armed forces and it was called The Royal Barracks. The building was erected in 1702 and designed by architect Col. Thomas Burgh (1670 1730) in an early Neo-classical style. The building itself appears to be well maintained by the OPW and it is in a good state of repair. A visitor here cannot ignore the magnificence of this structure and the surrounding site and they will hopefully experience the years of history that this place offers. The central square at Collins Barracks, which at one time would have held six entire regiments, is surrounded by arcaded colonnades and blocks linked by walking bridges. In 1922 the barracks was taken over by the Irish Free State and later renamed Collins Barracks after the former leader of the first Irish Provincial Governme nt Michael Collins. In 1988 it was decided to close the barracks and in 1997 it was opened as part of the National Museum of Ireland, specialising in Decorative Arts History exhibits. The original structure was redeveloped to house this museum and in keeping with its previous military history it houses, in addition to its Decorative Arts History exhibits, galleries dedicated to Irelands military history. Nature of the heritage product available at Collins Barracks. Our visit to the Decorative Arts and History museum was much too short. Due to the extensive nature of the building and the time constraints we were under, it was difficult to spend enough time examining all the exhibits that were on display. There are nearly 30 different exhibition galleries spread between four floors and a building beside Collins Barracks houses the Asgard and its exhibition. The many different displays within the galleries ranged from fine examples of silver, ceramics, glassware, furniture, clothing, jewellery, folklife, coins, metals and weaponry. This museum endeavours to offer an overview of Irelands social, economic and military history over the last millennium. I began my visit to the museum by viewing the Asgard and its exhibition. It is a great achievement to have had this iconic yacht restored to its former glory. As one walks around the Asgard one is forced to reflect on those who would have sailed her and the part she and her navigators played in Irelands history. As well as informative information boards on the Asgard and Irelands struggle for Home Rule, there are also a number of interesting artefacts from this period including a number of the Mauser rifles that were part of the 1914 Howth gunrunning. It is quite fitting to have these rifles here as they complement the story of the Asgard. Unfortunately there are no audiovisual displays here and the information blurbs are only written in Irish and English. From the Asgrad exhibition it is a short walk across a paved path to the well signposted reception area of the museum. Here a visitor can pick up a museum floor plan, which is in a number of languages, and this gives a brief description of the different exhibition galleries on the four floors while also showing the services available within the museum. The receptionist here was pleasant and helpful. he military section it is well documented and some of the displays are artistically presented. The history linking the Irish to the wars in Europe, and the rest of the World like the Boar War and US Civil War is very intriguing. The displays and information boards here are easy to follow for even the casual visitor. A downside is the placingto this excellent condition was that information boards and present in the narrow corridors. as was that dealing specifically with Irelands struggle for Home Rule and Independence. The various clothes, weapons of war and even the poor soldier eating his dry bread while on patrol in the hills add to this bringing alive of the past and of course the somewhat startling skeleton of Dickie Bird, a horse that fought in the Crimean War in 1854 with the 5th Dragoon Guards. One doesnt expect to be faced with a standing live skeleton from 1854 whose bones were found by archaeologists in 2008 at Clancy Barracks in Dublin. The Understanding 1916 exhibition, which chronicles Irelands 1916 Easter Rising, is helpful in trying to understand the background to the 1916   Rising. It is clearly presented but perhaps some audio/visual presentation would reduce the tedium of standing and reading all the details. Visceral memorabilia, such as first-hand accounts of the violence of the Black Tans and post-Rising hunger strikes, the handwritten death certificates of the republican prisoners and their postcards from Holloway prison, bring to life this poignant period of Irish history. On the ground floor is a chain of thematically interconnected galleries, Soldiers and Chiefs, devoted to almost five hundred years of Irish military history. Apart from an array of helmets and weaponry, theres the impressive Stokes tapestry which was created by a British soldier who devoted his spare time to the depiction of contemporary garrison life. Disappointingly the interactive panel that went into detail about the tapestry was blurred and not working. Other exhibits trace the Irish involvement in the US Civil War and one of personal fascination was the information board that listed all the names of the Irish that fought and died with General Custer at the Battle of Little Bighorn in 1876. World War I with later examples of tanks and a de Havilland Vampire fighter plane while, contrastingly, theres the 200-year-old Bantry Boat, captured from the French frigate La Rà ©solue during the abortive invasion of 1796. Decorative arts is a tough thing to get right, especially if you want to offer a broad appeal, but the well-designed displays, interactive multimedia and a dizzying array of disparate artefacts make for an interesting and valiant effort. On the 1st floor is the museums Irish silver collection, one of the largest collections of silver in the world; on the 2nd floor youll find Irish period furniture and scientific instruments, while the 3rd floor has simple and sturdy Irish country furniture. Modern-furniture-and-design lovers will enjoy the exhibition on iconic Irish designer Eileen Gray (1878-1976), one of the museums highlights. One of the most influential designers of the 20th century, Grays life and work are documented in the exhibit, which shows examples of her most famous pieces. The fascinating Way We Wore exhibit displays Irish clothing and jewellery from the past 250 years. An intriguing socio-cultural study, it highlights the symbolism jewellery and clothing had in bestowing messages of mourning, love and identity. Some of the best pieces are gathered in the Curators Choice exhibition, which is a collection of 25 objects hand-picked by different curators, and displayed alongside an account of why they were chosen. The various exhibition galleries are absolutely amazing. There is a very rich collection in each of the categories. One could easily spend a whole morning on any one of them. Coming from one of these, Harry Clarkes The Unhappy Judas provided a startling contrast. The majority of exhibits have clearly written explanations, written in both English and Irish, but some are difficult to read due to the surrounding low light. Unfortunately there did not appear to be any translated into other languages which must make it difficult for some foreign non-English-speaking visitors to understand. It would have been more helpful had they had audio explanations, particularly for those who are visually impaired. I found this most interesting but for the person who wants to linger, browse and read the numerous pieces, it would have been helpful to have sitting down benches, as in the foyer. Speaking to a member of staff afterwards, he explained that the exhibition areas are narrow so that when there are large groups, benches could be an unsafe obstruction. Best international practice for institutions of this type: Edinburgh Museum NMS. Edinburgh is an amalgamation of Royal Scottish Museum and the National Museum of antiquities. It has exhibitions of various types which are similar to Collins Barracks.: see www.nms.ac.uk/national-museum -of-scotland. Collins Barracks website gives very informative overview of its exhibits, so that a visit can be planned in advance. This is also true of Edinburgh Museum. Management Philosophy Refer to Mission Statement on the website Quoting from website..Our philosophy is to uphold the values of : Authenticity: Working in partnership with staff. Excellence in all our activities. Investing in people. In achieving this philosophy, it is dependent on ongoing commitment of all stakeholders, including, in particular, staff of the museum, Dept. of Arts, Sports Tourism, and the O.P.W. if Phase 2 of the development of Collins Barracks is to be completed. The development of the Central storage area requires a lot of money and commitment. Cf. Strategic Plan.   Cf statement of chairman J. OMahony July 2008. Heritage Product, Visitor Facilities and Marketing. Visitor facilities: Restaurant, good and reasonable in price. Toilets, clean and bright. Shop, ok. There is a need for more seating in all areas, to make it a more relaxing as well as an educational   experience. There is a need to be more aware of people with specific needs, eg. Website said thatthere were objects that could be touched, for visually impaired people. On enquiring, the staff member did not know anything about this. As previously mentioned, the need for audio aids for visually impaired people. Marketing: Collins Barracks is a wonderful place with so much to see, but I have passed it so many times in the Luas as well as walking past but never knew that there were so many treasures there. Is this due to poor marketing? Visitor experience: Cf. Trip Advisor, Facebook Twitter Great museum, so many interesting exhibitions. Asgard, great. I would be very happy to go there again. Entrance from Luas stop, with all the ascending steps could be a problem for older people. There is a need for clearer marking of alternative entrance via car park. Heritage product: My favourite was the Eileen Gray furniture exhibition but I would have been happy spending more time on any of the other exhibitions, had time permitted. I intend going there soon again. Visitor profile; Speaking to a staff member, he told me that during the summer they have many foreign visitors and visitors with Irish ancestry. They see people of all age groups. Approx.. 60,000 a month during the summer holiday months. In October 2013, they had 20,164 visitors. They get many families when they have special events on. It is also popular for school groups. There are often book launches etc held at the museum. Listen to interview with Pat Wallace on Marian Finucane on RTE radio 1 on Sunday November 2nd. Well worth listening to, on the lack of funding to the museums. Overall impression? The site is being well run and cared for with helpful friendly staff on every level. The cafà © could be improved on. Fewer and better meals on offer and better ventilation in the kitchen to prevent the pervasive smell of cooking oil wafting through to the dining area. The shop offered a wide range of souvenirs and goods produced in Ireland. Service was again friendly and helpful. As an observer the visitor profile varied from school groups, to guests from the U.S. Africa and China to one day city trippers. A place well worth a return visit and one to watch for exhibitions, events as shown on their website. West of Smithfield on Benburb Street is the National Museums Decorative Arts Collection,. Unquestionably, the best of these is Curators Choice, on the first floor of the west block, which is selected by museum curators from all over Ireland. Among its draws are a medieval oak carving of St Molaise; the extravagant cabinet presented by Oliver Cromwell to his daughter Bridget in 1652; and the remarkable fourteenth-century Chinese porcelain Fonthill Vase. The Out of Storage section is another highlight, bringing together everything from decorative glassware to a seventeenth-century suit of Samurai armour, while others focus on Celtic art, coinage, silverware, period furniture, costumes and scientific instruments, and there are usually plenty of temporary exhibits. Read more: http://www.roughguides.com/destinations/europe/ireland/dublin/collins-barracks/#ixzz3KJp4qIAX All of these displayed with imagination in innovative and contemporary galleries, which entice you to go further, look harder and examine more closely. In the Curators Choice exhibition there is amongst other treasures, an ancient Japanese ceremonial bell, which dates back over 2000 years. Explore the histories of soldiers and their families in Soldiers Chiefs: The Irish at War at Home and Abroad since 1550. Examine the decade of disturbance between 1913 and 1923, from the Dublin Lockout, through the Easter Rising to the end of the Civil War in The Easter Rising: Understanding 1916. Included are artefacts such as Etruscan vases, gauntlets worn by King William at Battle of the Boyne, a life belt and oar salvaged from the wreck of the RMS Lusitania and a pocket book carried by Wolfe Tone whilst imprisoned in the Barracks. Read more: http://www.lonelyplanet.com/ireland/dublin/sights/museums-galleries/national-museum-ireland-decorative-arts-history#ixzz3KJfM23cI Museums and galleries are vital to the educational and cultural health of society. This, however, is not always either seen or understood, and as long as this is the case, the continued existence of museums will be tenuous. Lang, Caroline, Reeve, John, and Woollard, Vicky, eds. Responsive Museum : Working with Audiences in the Twenty-First Century. Abingdon, Oxon, GBR: Ashgate Publishing Ltd, 2006. ProQuest ebrary. Web. 24 November 2014.

Death Of A Planet Essay -- essays research papers fc

Death of a Planet Air pollution is a very big problem in the United States. A large part of air pollution comes from cars. The Environmental Protection Agency says, "The most polluting activity an average person does everyday is drive their car"(1 factsheet OMS-5). Most people probably aren't aware that they are polluting the environment. Maybe if everyone knew how serious this pollution problem is, they would find ways to reduce the pollution. Most pollution that is released by cars comes from the exhaust, mainly in the form of hydrocarbons(1 factsheet, OMS-5). Hydrocarbons are organic compounds ,a combination of two or more elements, that contain only carbon and hydrogen (2 factsheet, OMS-5). Hydrocarbons are released when fuel in the engine burns partially. When hydrocarbons come in contact with sunlight they form ground level ozone. Ground level ozone is a major ingredient in the formation of smog. Ground level ozone is responsible for irritating eyes, damaging lungs, and it complicating respiratory problems. Hydrocarbons aren't the only pollutants released through car exhaust. Two more pollutants released through car exhaust are carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxide. The first reduces the flow of oxygen to the bloodstream, and could harm people with heart disease. Nitrogen oxide is formed when a car engine gets hot. It contains chemicals that aid in the formation of ground level ozone as well as acid rain (2 factsheet, OMS-5). Acid rain destroys the outsides of buildings, statues, etc. Acid rain can also contaminate drinking water, damage vegetation, and destroy sealife. These two pollutants are two of the most dangerous pollutants released through car exhaust. If these two pollutants were cut down just a little bit our planet would be a safer place to live. Carbon dioxide is another gas released through exhaust emissions. It isn't dangerous directly to humans, but it is considered to be a "green house gas." A "greenhouse gas" is a gas that is associated with global warming. Global warming is the gradual increase of temperature due to human activity. Certain gases, such as carbon dioxide, methane, and ozone allow radiation from the sun to break through the atmosphere and go to the earth's surface. Global w... ... recognized sooner than regular testing, done year by year. If the remote sensing devices are used people don't have to worry about their car being tested. They just have to get their car repaired when the device says it's polluting the environment. Air pollution caused by cars is a serious problem that can be reduced by average everyday people. If the citizens of earth don't act fast, and reduce the amount of pollution caused world wide, earth will be a horrible place to live. If something isn't done soon there might not be a place to live at all. Works Cited Brown, Lester R. The World Watch Reader: On Environmental Issues. NewYurk:Norton, 1991. 97-105. The Environmental Protection Agency. Automobiles and Ozone: Factsheet OMS-4. http://www.epa.gov/OMS WWW/04-ozone.htm. 1993. 4. The Environmental Protection Agency. Automobile Emission: An overiew: Factsheet OMS-5. http://www.epa.gov/OMS www/05-autos.htm. 1994. 1-5. The Environmental Protection Agency. Remote Sensing: A Supplemental Tool for Vehicle Emission Control: Factsheet OMS-15. http://www.epa.gov/OMS www/ 15- -remot.htm. 1993. 1-2.

Project Life cycle

Project management plays an important role in achieving a successful project as it manage the project according the schedule and budget. According to Schwalbe (201 1), project life cycle defined as a collection of project phases, development, implementation and close-out. There are five important steps in developing project life cycle namely defining project goal, planning project, executing project, closing project and lastly, evaluating the project (refer to Figure 1 in Appendix). Firstly, project manager define the project goal.Project goal is the first step as it set the objectives and purposes of the project. The goal focus on provide business value to the organisation. The goal should give a clear focus and drives the other phases for the project team. Moreover, in this phase, project manager identify the business problem and define a solution regarding it. According to Westland (2006), business case includes a detailed description of the problem, the availability of alternativ es solutions, analysis of business benefits, costs, risks and issues, a preferred solution and an implementation's summarized plan.Then, a feasibility study is run to assess each alternative solution option and its benefits, also reasonable forecast cost, risks nd identified issues are discussed. After approval of previous task, term of references are created and established. It define the vision, objectives, scope, and deliverables of the project and identify any risks, issues, assumptions and constraints. Then the project team is decided. This task is important as a successful project rely on the project team.Project manager plays role by creates a detailed Job description and choose project team based on their skills and knowledge. From the project goal, a project can be determined its success based on given time, money and resources invested. After defining the project goal, project manager plan the project. Project planning is crucial as the performance throughout the project i s based on it. First, a project plan is created based on work breakdown structure (WBS). In WBS, the resources are allocated, provide detailed project scheduled and sequence the activities and tasks.After the project team has been decided, the team discuss the project based on things to do, how to make the project runs smoothly, cost assumption, type of resources need and time taken to complete the project. After that, deliverables, tasks resources, and time of completion of each tasks for each hase are defined. During planning phase, project team must agree upon the list of scope, schedule and budget. The team then create a resource plan to identify the labour, equipment, materials, software and hardware use in the project.To achieve a successful project, financial plan is important as it need to be within the budget given and enables the project manager measures the forecast spend of the project. At this point, potential risks and actions need to be taken in risk plan to avoid any error and solve a problem later in the next phase. Furthermore, the project must meet user requirements to gain user acceptance. To inform the stakeholders progress of the project, team member need to decide communication in communication plan and for each of the team member to distribute information.Lastly, a contract with suppliers is a need for having a clear idea of suppliers' role and delivery expectation. The third stage in developing project is to execute the project plan. During this stage, work out the project in accord to the gran ed t task and activities in earlier stage. According to Schwalbe (201 1), the output of project such as product or services are produced and presented to the customer for sign off and the xecution phase is typically the longest phase in the project as it consumes the most effort and most resources.A good project is aimed at achieving the project aims and need, on time and within budget. Thus, aspects such as scope, schedule, budget and resources are properly handled throughout the phase. In the interim of plan execution, the project manager need to carry out a range of management processes such as identified the change management, risks management and issues management, assured the deliverable quality and measuring all the deliverable produced against the listed criteria (Westland, 2006). Subsequently, established the comparison of the product and baseline plan in earlier stage.After that, document the information and handed the report to the project manager through the regular team meetings. With these steps finished, a phase review is undertaken where the reported information are analysed carefully by the project manager. This is a checkpoint to make sure the product and services has achieved the goals and customer need before proceeds to next stage. The fourth step in developing project is to close the project. This stage includes a formally documentation and implementation of a project close report. Before the project closure, project checking is carry out as an extra insured.Westland (2006) stated that the, project close out is include ensuring all the project completion criteria have met and identified any outstanding project activities, task, risks or issues. Next, present the products to the sponsor and obtains formally acknowledge of acceptance on the delivered product or services. Finally, the project checking is completed. Based on the report, the project manager need to create the project closure report which consist of specifically document on all undertaken activities and delivered to the clients for approval Schwalbe, 2011).Once, the activities stated in the report are approved, the granted activities are execute. The project closure report is ended only when all the propose activities are fully implemented. Finally, the project closure stage ended when the project manager hand over the project documentation to the business, cancelling all suppliers' contracts, releasing staff, equipme nt and resources, and lastly inform the closure of the project to all stakeholders and interested parties.In the final stage, the project is evaluated. After the project has been close, post-mortem is conducted to evaluate the overall project. The projects are evaluated in two categories: project team evaluation and project evaluation. The project team evaluation is performed by passing a team and peer evaluation form to the team member and each of them are required to Judge the other team member. The rate are based on the overall attitude and contribution of the member in the project.The evaluation result will be used as a revised is used as a revised of payroll. On the contrary, Schwalbe (2011) stated that the project is evaluated based on how well the product or services performed against the stated objectives and conformed to the management processes outlined in the lanning phase. Lastly, Novartis Foundation for Sustainable Development (2005) suggested that a review of on the pr oject should be conduct to reflect the mistake and identify impact and lessons learnt for future projects.

Is It Safe to Reboil Water

Reboiling water is when you boil it, allow it to cool below the boiling point, and then boil it again. Have you ever wondered what happens to water chemistry when you reboil water? Is it still safe to drink? What Happens When You Reboil Water If you have perfectly pure, distilled and deionized water, nothing will happen if you reboil it. However, ordinary water contains dissolved gases and minerals. The chemistry of the water changes when you boil it because this drives off the volatile compounds and dissolved gases. There are many cases in which this is desirable. However, if you boil the water too long or reboil it, you risk concentrating certain undesirable chemicals that may be in your water. Examples of chemicals that become more concentrated include nitrates, arsenic, and fluoride. Does Reboiled Water Cause Cancer? There is a concern that reboiled water may lead a person to develop cancer. This concern is not unfounded. While the boiled water is fine, increasing the concentration of toxic substances may put you at risk for certain illnesses, including cancer. For example, excessive intake of nitrates has been linked to methemoglobinemia and certain types of cancer. Arsenic exposure may produce symptoms of arsenic toxicity, plus it has been associated with some forms of cancer. Even healthy minerals may become concentrated to dangerous levels. For example, excessive intake of calcium salt, commonly found in drinking water and mineral water, can lead to kidney stones, hardening of the arteries, arthritis, and gallstones. The Bottom Line Generally, boiling water, allowing it to cool and then reboiling it does not present much of a health risk. For example, if you keep water in a tea kettle, boil it, and add water when the level gets low, you arent likely to endanger your health. Its best if you dont let water boil down, which concentrates minerals and contaminants and if you reboil water, its better to do it once or twice, rather than make it your standard practice. Pregnant women and persons at risk for certain illnesses may wish to avoid reboiling water rather than risk concentrating hazardous chemicals in the water.