About this episode

Dr. Simge Erdogan-O'Connor discusses the unique dynamics and challenges faced by small museums and what larger institutions can learn from them.

The Murney Tower Museum in Kingston, Ontario, Canada is a small museum. Open for only four months of the year and featuring only one full-time staff member, the museum is representative of the many small institutions that make up the majority of museums. With only a fraction of the resources of large institutions, this long tail distribution of small museums offers the full range of museum services: collection management, public programs, and curated exhibits. Dr. Simge Erdogan-O'Connor has dedicated her studies to understanding the unique dynamics and challenges faced by small museums, and is also the Murney Tower Museum’s sole full-time employee. In this episode, Dr. Erdogan-O'Connor describes the operation of The Murney Tower Museum, discusses the economic models of small museums, and muses on what small museums can teach larger ones. Image: Murney Tower Museum Topics and Notes 00:00 Intro 00:15 Understanding the Landscape of Small Museums 02:38 Dr. Simge Erdogan-O'Connor 03:00 Murney Tower Museum 08:29 Overcoming Challenges with Digital Solutions 09:46 What Big Institutions Can Learn from Small Museums 09:54 The Power of Local Connections in Small Museums 13:20 Outro | Join…

People in this episode

Host: Ian Elsner

Guest: Dr. Simge Erdogan-O'Connor

Topics covered

• small museums
• large institutions
• museum services
• economic models
• local connections

Keywords

• small museums
• Murney Tower Museum
• museum services
• economic models
• digital solutions
• local connections

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Murney Tower Museum

Places: Kingston, Ontario, Canada

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