This is the third post of a five part series in celebration of the Master of Museum Studies program at the University of Toronto's 50th anniversary (MMSt50). To reflect on Musings' past, present, and future, we invited all previous Editors-in-Chief to return to Musings to write special Letter from the Editor posts. These articles will highlight the significance of Musings both within the MMSt program, and for writers' professional careers. Natania Sherman was the third Editor-in-Chief of Musings from 2016-2017.
It’s been a few minutes Lovely Musings’ Readers! I bet you weren’t expecting to see me here again! I am honoured to contribute an article for MMSt50. Aaaaaand a little intimidated to be following two amazing former EIC’s (who just happen to be two of my #GLAM industry girl-crushes). I hope I can do Madeline and Jaime proud by sharing some of my experiences during and after my time as the 2016-2017 Musings' Editor-in-Chief.
I knew I wanted to write for Musings as early as my orientation at the iSchool. But I didn’t know what I was getting into when I ran for Musings EIC, until I was suddenly standing in front of a room of 21 expectant student writers all looking to me to train and support them. No pressure, right?
In 2016, the blog was at the crossroads between being an upstart student blog and a professional industry platform. The number of contributing editors had quadrupled, and the blog was gaining attention from industry professionals both locally and internationally. The increased attention meant that editing was a constant pressure! Correcting spelling and grammar is hard enough. I also responded to external copyright questions, scheduled a variety of museological content, and coached writers on how to get the most impact with each article.
Balancing the blog, school, and my 3 jobs, meant that I was always juggling different priorities. With a team of 21 contributing editors, I was reliant on Musings’ roster of volunteers. I was so grateful that my cohort committed to producing exciting content. Editing Musings taught me that a group of people with a passion for what they do can produce something much greater than what I could do on my own.
Some of my proudest moments as Musings’ EIC were attending the Ontario Museum Association (OMA) Conference in 2016, sharing an article recapping the experience, and leading our own panel discussion about Musings at the iSchool Conference in 2017. These experiences highlighted how writing for Musings could develop connections between students and professionals. The iConference opened up lots of interesting discussions about the future of Musings. Imagine a Musings podcast or Youtube channel, more press opportunities, more outreach to industry professionals. Your academic workload is your only limit, future EIC’s!
I’m also extremely proud of a column I created called She’s My Muse dedicated to women in museums. This project gave me an outlet for my feminist values and it’s been exciting to see that after I graduated some students have chosen to re-interpret the byline. Many writers in my cohort were able to push the boundaries of their chosen bylines in very creative ways ranging from developing an interactive conservation flowchart to writing a three part series examining the conservation issues around the Dakota Access Pipeline. I’m glad I was able to foster an environment where writers could be their most creative selves, and I gained so much knowledge on a range of subjects by reading their work. I hope that you, Lovely Readers, feel the same!
Since graduating from the iSchool, I have have worked in collections management, first at the McMichael Canadian Art Collection and currently, as Collections and Services Manager at the TIFF Film Reference Library where I manage library operations and over-85 special collections. Unlike my Musings predecessors, I no longer write for social media professionally. However, the skills I gained from Musings have helped my career. Editing Musings was a crash course in writing for an audience. Although I rarely use social media at work, I do write annual reports, prepare project pitches, publish artifact descriptions to the web, and correspond with my colleagues. Musings has a niche audience of graduate students and museum professionals, and I spent most of 2016-2017 thinking about what kind of writing voice could best engage that audience. After a year of focusing on writing for the Musings’ audience, it became much easier to engage with different “audiences” such as senior staff and board members in the workplace.
Becoming the Editor-in-Chief for Musings also prepared me for taking on management positions in cultural organizations. At Musings, I had the difficult role of being in a mentorship position with my peers while also learning “on the job” myself. Turns out, coaching Musings writers was the ideal practice for coaching interns and direct reports in the workplace. When I made the transition to leadership, I already had some experience knowing when to ask my colleagues the hard questions and when a strategic coffee outing was necessary (answer: always, coffee is essential). I learned that management is not about already knowing the answers, but about learning as you go and being willing to listen to your colleagues.
I want to end my article by thanking the faculty and staff at the iSchool. Musings was my outlet and my community during the 2 years of my graduate degree and I’m so grateful that the iSchool fostered student initiatives like Musings. Here’s to another 50 years of the MMSt program!
It’s been a few minutes Lovely Musings’ Readers! I bet you weren’t expecting to see me here again! I am honoured to contribute an article for MMSt50. Aaaaaand a little intimidated to be following two amazing former EIC’s (who just happen to be two of my #GLAM industry girl-crushes). I hope I can do Madeline and Jaime proud by sharing some of my experiences during and after my time as the 2016-2017 Musings' Editor-in-Chief.
 |
| The Musings Panel at the 2017 iSchool Conference. L to R: Musings writers Kristen McLaughlin, Erika Robertson, Natania Sherman, and Chris Wai. Photo courtesy of Anja Hamilton. |
I knew I wanted to write for Musings as early as my orientation at the iSchool. But I didn’t know what I was getting into when I ran for Musings EIC, until I was suddenly standing in front of a room of 21 expectant student writers all looking to me to train and support them. No pressure, right?
In 2016, the blog was at the crossroads between being an upstart student blog and a professional industry platform. The number of contributing editors had quadrupled, and the blog was gaining attention from industry professionals both locally and internationally. The increased attention meant that editing was a constant pressure! Correcting spelling and grammar is hard enough. I also responded to external copyright questions, scheduled a variety of museological content, and coached writers on how to get the most impact with each article.
 |
| OMA Conference Selfies, L-R: Anja Hamilton, Kate Seally, Natania Sherman and Emily Berg. Photo courtesy of Natania Sherman. |
Balancing the blog, school, and my 3 jobs, meant that I was always juggling different priorities. With a team of 21 contributing editors, I was reliant on Musings’ roster of volunteers. I was so grateful that my cohort committed to producing exciting content. Editing Musings taught me that a group of people with a passion for what they do can produce something much greater than what I could do on my own.
Some of my proudest moments as Musings’ EIC were attending the Ontario Museum Association (OMA) Conference in 2016, sharing an article recapping the experience, and leading our own panel discussion about Musings at the iSchool Conference in 2017. These experiences highlighted how writing for Musings could develop connections between students and professionals. The iConference opened up lots of interesting discussions about the future of Musings. Imagine a Musings podcast or Youtube channel, more press opportunities, more outreach to industry professionals. Your academic workload is your only limit, future EIC’s!
I’m also extremely proud of a column I created called She’s My Muse dedicated to women in museums. This project gave me an outlet for my feminist values and it’s been exciting to see that after I graduated some students have chosen to re-interpret the byline. Many writers in my cohort were able to push the boundaries of their chosen bylines in very creative ways ranging from developing an interactive conservation flowchart to writing a three part series examining the conservation issues around the Dakota Access Pipeline. I’m glad I was able to foster an environment where writers could be their most creative selves, and I gained so much knowledge on a range of subjects by reading their work. I hope that you, Lovely Readers, feel the same!
Since graduating from the iSchool, I have have worked in collections management, first at the McMichael Canadian Art Collection and currently, as Collections and Services Manager at the TIFF Film Reference Library where I manage library operations and over-85 special collections. Unlike my Musings predecessors, I no longer write for social media professionally. However, the skills I gained from Musings have helped my career. Editing Musings was a crash course in writing for an audience. Although I rarely use social media at work, I do write annual reports, prepare project pitches, publish artifact descriptions to the web, and correspond with my colleagues. Musings has a niche audience of graduate students and museum professionals, and I spent most of 2016-2017 thinking about what kind of writing voice could best engage that audience. After a year of focusing on writing for the Musings’ audience, it became much easier to engage with different “audiences” such as senior staff and board members in the workplace.
Becoming the Editor-in-Chief for Musings also prepared me for taking on management positions in cultural organizations. At Musings, I had the difficult role of being in a mentorship position with my peers while also learning “on the job” myself. Turns out, coaching Musings writers was the ideal practice for coaching interns and direct reports in the workplace. When I made the transition to leadership, I already had some experience knowing when to ask my colleagues the hard questions and when a strategic coffee outing was necessary (answer: always, coffee is essential). I learned that management is not about already knowing the answers, but about learning as you go and being willing to listen to your colleagues.
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