As part of our ‘Shut, but not shutting up!’ social media campaign to stay in touch during MERL’s closure period, this week we’re launching ‘How many curators…?’, a new behind the scenes vlog channel on Youtube.

Rob Davies, Volunteer Coordinator and budding film director/producer/actor/anchor, will be meeting members of staff and volunteers, talking to them about their jobs and getting a closer look at the fascinating and varied collections they work with. Each episode will present an informal and sometimes quirky insight into the different roles carried out by people working with the amazing variety of objects, archives and books in the University’s collections, at the Museum of English Rural Life, the Special Collections, the Ure Museum of Greek Archaeology, the Cole Museum and more…

The aim is to dispel the myth that the only people who work in museums are curators!  In fact, out of  50+ people at the University’s Museums and Collections, only 6 have ‘curator’ in their job title! So whether you’re thinking of a career in collections or are fascinated by the inner workings of museums, you’ll discover how many curators (and archivists, librarians, conservators, marketers, visitor service assistants, education officers, programme managers…) it takes to run a successful museums and collections service.  This will be a unique opportunity to follow MERL staff and volunteers throughout the process of transforming the museum, as well as getting to see what staff across the collections at the University get up to.

To see the first episode of ‘How many curators…?’ see below!