Tag Archives: book

Egypt Calling is out!

You might remember that in my New Year’s post I announced that a friend of mine is working on a book with a collections manager as main character, right? Guess what? It is out!

I am low-key proud that me talking about our profession so passionately inspired it. Well, kinda, we were touching the topic every now and then. Like the conversations with him and two friends of us (one writes horror and mystery, the other a fantasy) often go, it derailed completely from how something disappearing from a museum is among a registrar’s worst nightmares to the thought of what would happen if you realize one bright, new, early morning that, well, a whole seven feet high statue has simply disappeared from your well-guarded grounds.

Paul tackled the topic with his usual sense of humor and unusual talent for creating quirky characters. I added some reality check to it while at the same time granting enough artistic license to let it stay a riveting tale instead of becoming a novel about museum policies, loan procedures, and conflict of interest that it probably had become if I had written it. It kept me on the edge of my seat and laughing out loud so I highly recommend it, although my view is of course not really neutral.

Fun fact: While he wrote it, it inspired me to write a few chapters of a spin-off story where another statue, Leonardo, finds himself suddenly alive as a collateral damage of the events in the book. It is written from Leonardo’s point of view and you can imagine that it is quite confusing to find yourself standing on a pedestal in the middle of a museum. Especially if you haven’t been alive before. Ever. And your head is marble. This makes thinking…hard. Leonardo and his friend Betty, barista extraordinaire, even make a guest appearance in Paul’s book.

Anyway, in these dire times I feel we can all use some lighthearted humor and Egypt Calling provides you with plenty of it. If you are up for it, I might even post Leonardo’s story here on the blog.

Egypt Calling is available here and in all bookstores: https://paulkater.com/egypt-calling.html

Managing Previously Unmanaged Collections – Revisited, revised, revamped!

What do you want to see in it?

A calico cat sleeping on a copy of the book Managing Previously Unmanaged Collections
This is important!

It has been seven years since “Managing Previously Unmanaged Collections” first saw the light of day. Rowman & Littlefield kindly asked me if I want to do a new edition and I am inclined to shout: “Heck, yeah!”

But it has been a long while since the first edition and basically, I said all I had to say back then. So, I am handing it over to you: What do you want to see enhanced? What did you miss? What was unnecessary and can be “deaccessioned” in the new edition?

Also, I like to include more of your stories. Has the book helped you tackling a messy collection? Do you like to write a short real-world example? Please, get in contact, I would be delighted.

Have you used the book and it shows because it is dog-eared and full of notes? Please, I want to see those photos of the book in action! I also would very much like to show them on here.

Look into a room with a table leaning upright against a window and some saw horses, indistinct clutter lying about.The world has changed, but some things didn’t. Even after so many years not active here, you can still reach me under angela.kipp AT museumsprojekte.de

With the overtaking of twitter by some people I would rather not be affiliated with, and not making profit of me, I have changed to Mastodon as the friendlier alternative. You can find me there as @registrartrek@glammr.us although I am still in the process of figuring out what and how much I want to do over there.

Ah, yes, the Registrar Trek Blog is its own instance as well, you can get updates by following @admin@world.museumsprojekte.de from your Mastodon account.

Take care and I am looking forward to hearing from you!

Angela