HARBORD VILLAGE PROJECT: ENTRY # 1

COLLABORATION, COMMUNICATION, AND COORDINATION

BY: HILARY WALKER

      The exhibition opening is fast approaching - Mapping Harbord Village: Stories of a Neighbourhood launches in ten days! Although the past week was the Faculty of Information’s Fall Reading Week, the members of our exhibit team came together in multiple meetings to finalize the exhibition text and make plans for the upcoming week and a half. This entire project has greatly stressed the importance of collaboration during exhibit development; although group members have their individual responsibilities, almost all of the key elements of the exhibit have been completed through efficient and effective teamwork. Even when group members have been physically separated from one another - as was the case this week when I went to Ottawa - we have found alternative ways to meet and communicate our progress. Skype proved to be a useful tool during Reading Week, as I was able to video conference with Professor Mihalache and fellow interpretation/education team member Keely Bland. During this meeting we planned to finalize our text for the interactive elements of the exhibit as well as the educational programs that we will be offering to select schools in the neighbourhood. 

Hilary Walker, Professor Irina D. Mihalache, and Keely Bland work on educational programs
for Mapping Harbord Village: Stories of a Neighbourhood. Courtesy of Hilary Walker.

       Planning the exhibit’s educational programs for two local schools and the iSchool has proven to be a great test for our coordination skills. Keely and I have been communicating with staff from Harbord Collegiate Institute and Lord Lansdowne Public School over the past month in order to better understand their programming needs, and we have regularly discussed and developed ideas for an iSchool event with our project team (mark your calendars for December 3rd!). Taking into account stakeholders’ personal schedules, facilities availability, and program requirements, our team has made significant progress in terms of finalizing the programming schedule and developing content for the tours, educational packages, and presentations that will be delivered in the coming weeks.

Many Harbord Village residents have memories of Lord Lansdowne Public School, pictured here in 1924. 

The interpretive/education team is thrilled to be working with the school for one of the exhibit’s 

educational programs. Image courtesy of Arthur Zimmerman. Courtesy of Hilary Walker.