Owain's Story

This week has given me a lot of experience and in-depth insight into how a museum runs in the background, e.g. restoration and bug hunting.

My favourite activities / experiences this week have been research on the collections because it was exciting to find out the history of the objects that were in my hands, and also Customer Services has been interesting because I was socialising with members of the public who were visiting the Museum.

I also very much enjoyed talking with the Museums Development Manager about the future desires and plans for the Museum here in Carmarthen and the surrounding areas, such as Kidwelly and Pendine, and how they all include different collections and artefacts and teach the public about the history of those specific places.

Conservation Lab and bug hunting

I met the Collections Manager at the Conservation Lab to go on a bug hunting trip to make sure no insects were damaging the collections and artefacts. We saw a fair few spiders, which don't specifically harm the collections and artefacts, but they can be a sign there are insects in the area.

Familiarisation with Museum exhibitions

On Tuesday we had a chance to go around the Museum in our own time. This was exciting because I could learn and see about the collections and artefacts.

Collections management

On Tuesday we walked around the behind-the-scenes areas of the Museum where the visitors aren't allowed to enter. We learnt that there are thousands of collections and artefacts in storage. During the walk around, we visited the stores, where there are thousands upon thousands of collections and artefacts waiting to be put on show.

Assisting the Visitor Services team

We went around the Museum cleaning the windows and shelves from dust, fingerprints, to make it look nice for visitors.

Documentation and research

We went through the Museum's old filing cabinets and photocopied their information of donations to research about them. We had to search the collections and artefacts for their own distinctive number, which would correlate with the information in the folder.

Once we photocopied them all, we did brief research on the collections and artefacts.

Understanding the vision and mission of the service

We met with the Museums and Arts Development Manager, where we discussed and learned about the future of the CofGâr museums. And also she asked us to give ideas of what they should add to the Museum to bring in more visitors.