An interview with Amy Ellsworth, Digital Media Developer, University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology
Could you tell us a little bit about yourself - your education, interests, past work experiences?
I was a typical English major in New York with a million interests, an embattled idea of the 9-5 office life, and a lot of rent to pay. After a few stints working for Sesame Street, then moving on to two of the big publishing houses, my conscience led me to the non-profit sector. I would find myself meditatively languishing around the galleries of the Metropolitan Museum searching for the answer to the question What am I going to do with my life? I didn't hear the museum echo the answer back to me until after I bounced around the country for a while. I worked for the San Francisco Urban Institute at SF State University and toyed with the idea of a teaching certificate. I thought my resume was a dissonant patchwork of unrelated vocations that betrayed my own lack of direction. But a pattern emerged from the chaos when I discovered Museum Studies. I received a Masters in Museum Education from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. After several internships at the American Philosophical Society and the Philadelphia Museum of Art, I realized that I was most interested in informational design, making content accessible to different audiences. I am extremely fortunate to have found my job at the Penn Museum that speaks to my interests in education, graphic design, and storytelling.
Who are among your greatest influences (both in education/museum world as well as outside)?
I always look to the wonderfully creative team at the Brooklyn Museum for inspiration and ideas on how to enhance our online presence and creative ways to bring more dynamic content to our global audience.
The Director of the University of the Arts Museum Studies Program, Anne El-Omami, who is now Director of Programs at the Joselyn Art Museum in Nebraska, was also a great inspiration to me throughout my studies and in reconciling my interests with my resume. My day-to-day influences are my amazing colleagues at the Museum who are always there to support me (and each other) as sounding board, fomenter of ideas, and ventilation system. They remind me every day that our business is to bring joy to peoples' lives through telling the stories of humanity. In order to do our jobs, we have to have a certain amount of joy at work. They are a big part of what motivates and inspires me to try to do a good job.
What is a typical day at work like?
A typical day involves detangling, plugging and un-plugging a lot of power cords, logging in to the many different content management systems for the many different websites that need constant updating, and trying to balance the big picture with the picayune details of day to day toil. But no day is ever typical at the Penn Museum.
What advice would you give to someone interested pursing a career in your profession?
Always keep learning. The best part about working in a Museum is that everything you do informs your work. No new knowledge is wasted. Learn to play the guitar and you might cultivate a better understanding of the string instruments in the collection. Watch cooking shows and you might suddenly understand why the cannibal forks in the Polynesia Gallery have four prongs…traveling, gardening, generally participating in life will improve your job performance. Getting an idea of how people process information, observing different learning styles and the context in which your audience is receiving your content helps you better speak to them. (This is how I justify reading Us Weekly when I should be reading Harpers. Pop culture is a relevant force with which we all must contend.)
Museology is about concentrated life. And you will always be on the clock for better and for worse.
What are the biggest challenges you face in your position?
My biggest challenge is time management. Before I undertake any project I have to make a cost-benefit analysis to ensure that the investment of time is worth the impact it will have on the Museum.
What is your favorite part about your job?
My favorite part about my job is the opportunity to learn about archaeology and anthropology without having to write a complicated dissertation. I often feel like my job is to uncomplicate things. When building a website or just writing a Facebook status, the first step is to distill the most compelling and relevant kernel of meaning and present it in a way that appeals to our primary audience.
I recently had the opportunity to film an excavation in Laos by the Middle Mekong Archaeological Project. I was able to ask all the obvious questions without worrying about sounding like a complete dolt (even though I didn't look too professional teetering on top of that elephant.) This experience proved to me that archaeologists really are adventurers. Digging in the dirt and flicking the leeches off my hiking boots and being immersed in the vocabulary, I got an empirical education of what it really takes. Blogging was the perfect format for portraying this experience as it allowed me to illustrate the scientific process with personal experience. This was an extremely fun and edifying exercise in learning what parts of the archaeological experience appeal to our audience.
One of the main goals of the MMAP project is to train Lao archaeologists and prepare them for work in the field. Another important directive is to support infrastructure for tourism. Having begun my career in community development, I am grateful to be involved with an institution that understands the value of capacity building and community outreach.
Jason Stefaniuk
What does the future hold for you - any exciting plans, developments?
My colleague, Jason Stefaniuk, was the magician behind the re-design of the Museum's new website launched in August 2009. Jason passed away in October 2009. His spirited, joyful presence is very much missed by all of his colleagues and friends at the Museum. As an active member of the deaf community, he was dedicated to producing multimedia programming for the deaf at the Museum. To honor his memory, we are working on video iPod Touch tours for the deaf and hard of hearing. This technology is just starting to catch on in Museums and we expect a big learning curve, but hopefully it will be a sustainable upgrade from the more traditional, analog audio tours.
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