By Megan Anderson, Manager of Exhibits & Interpretive Planning As we approach the end of March and the sprint towards April, everyone in the museum or institutional field has hit their pandemic anniversary date—the moment when “business as usual” gave …
Chronicling Health and History: HAI’s Decades-Long Collaboration with the NIH
Originally posted on March 13, 2020 By Scott Vierick, Historian For the past few months, HAI has been working with historians at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) on a panel presentation for the Society for History in the Federal …
Unfreezing 1923: How the Reopening of the Public Domain Opens Doors for Museums
This blog was originally posted in February 2019. Since then, works published in 1924 and 1925 have entered the public domain as well. After a 20-year freeze, a flood of new content is now available in the public domain: iconic …
Lean In and Let Go: Creative Team Building in Small Museums
By Dr. Stephanie Fuglaar Statz, Senior Historian My first day as director of a very small museum in a rural town was unlike any first day I had ever had. There was a quick human resources meeting, and I got …
Planning Successful Virtual Interpretive Workshops and Visioning Sessions
By Scott Vierick, Historian While the COVID-19 pandemic has sent shockwaves through the museum world, it has also offered an opportunity for sites to reevaluate programming, exhibits, and major interpretive themes. With many sites closed or operating at reduced capacity, …
Bringing History On Demand Services to Digital Consumers
By Laura Starr, Engagement Strategist, and Jen Giambrone, Historian A Historical Retrospective of On Demand Services Need a ride? Groceries? Beer? A meal from your favorite restaurant? Want to read a new book, watch the latest trending show, or listen …
How to Transform Your Digital Assets to Drive Online Engagement
Guest post by Chris Cummings, Pass It Down Turn history into your greatest storyteller! Our favorite tips for optimizing online engagement with your digital assets. In the first post of our partner series on “Turning History Into Your Greatest Storyteller,” …
Laying the Foundation for Storytelling: Tips for Digital Transformation & Sustainability
By Laura Starr, Certified Archivist, HAI Engagement Strategist & Account Manager This blog was created in conjunction with our friends at Pass It Down, a company with an award-winning digital exhibit builder platform that libraries, museums, universities, and brands have …
Reopenings: The Mob Museum
By Megan Anderson, Manager of Exhibits & Interpretive Planning Our friends at the Mob Museum in Las Vegas, Nevada, reopened their doors to the public at the end of May when state and local authorities lifted restrictions. I chatted with …
Reopenings: Whitesbog Historic Village
By Megan Anderson, Manager of Exhibits & Interpretive Planning Unlike most museums, the Whitesbog Historic Village in Browns Mills, New Jersey, is primarily an outdoor site, so hasn’t faced some of the same challenges as cultural institutions that welcome guests …
Risk, Reward, and Reopening: The Dilemma Facing Cultural Institutions
By Megan Anderson, Manager of Exhibits & Interpretive Planning As we enter August – and our sixth month since COVID-19 turned life in the U.S. upside down– many museums and historical sites are struggling with the question of whether or …
Breaking Ground: The United States Olympic and Paralympic Museum Opens to the Public
By Mimi Eisen, Historian Last week, the United States Olympic and Paralympic Museum (USOPM) in Colorado Springs first opened to the public, and HAI is proud to have worked with design firm Gallagher & Associates on content development for the …