Talks and seminars
Whether you'd like to know more about life at MERL and issues concerning the heritage sector, get a greater insight into some of the MERL archive collections, or hear leading University academics talk about diverse subjects relating to the history of agriculture and the countryside, you are welcome to come along and learn something new at MERL this term.
Admission to all talks and seminars is free and open to all, but we request that you let us know if you are planning to attend in advance by email: merlevents@reading.ac.uk, or by telephone: +44 (0) 118 378 8660.
MERL Lunchtime Network
This series of talks provides interesting insights into a wide range of aspects of the life of MERL and current issues concerning arts, heritage and information services. The informal talks are given by MERL staff and invited guests and are open to anyone with an interest in the sector.
The talks take place on Wednesdays from 1 to 2pm. Why not bring your lunch and stay for a chat and a free guided tour of the Museum afterwards?
It is not essential to book, but we do ask you to please book in advance, so that we can contact you in the event of any changes and to give us an idea of possible numbers.
Programme, Spring 2010
- Decade by decade: collecting 20th century rural cultures
20 January, 1-2pm
Dr Roy Brigden, Keeper of the Museum of English Rural Life, University of Reading
Dr Brigden will show how this major project, which aims to acquire material that builds a picture of the countryside in the twentieth century, has been progressing, and what has been learnt so far. This four year project began in the autumn of 2008 supported by Lottery funding of £95,000.
The purpose is to acquire material that builds, decade by decade, a picture of the countryside in the twentieth century. We are looking for signal items that speak powerfully of their day and illustrate the wider cultural influence of the countryside on English society. These items could range from works of art that somehow express a mood of the time down to everyday objects that instantly connect with a particular era in the countryside.
For more details of the project, see Collecting Rural Cultures
- What's in store: writers, poets and publishers
10 February, 1-2pm
Helen Ainslie, Department of English and American Literature, University of Reading
Helen provides a unique insight into the literary and publishing collections, from children's books to censorship. In recent months, Helen has been delving into the University's collections for a project to maximise the use of the Special Collections in Undergraduate Dissertations. The University has extensive holdings of rare books, publishers' papers and individual author archives whose full potential in undergraduate teaching and research has yet to be realised. The information that Helen gathers will be put on a website, and this will enable students from any University to generate their own dissertation topic, based on collections here.
- Design for distance selling: Sutton’s and Ransomes’ catalogues
3 March, 1-2pm
Paul Stiff, Paul Dobraszczyk and Mike Esbester, Department of Typography and Graphic Communications, University of Reading
An illustrated talk based on two MERL collections: Suttons Seeds and Ransomes agricultural tools and machinery. The speakers will examine the design of trade catalogues from the 1830s to 1914, and consider how customers might have used them. This is a four-year research programme, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) from 2006.
Some of the most inventive designing of the nineteenth century was thrown away. Many of the interactions of everyday life were conducted through, and recorded by, ephemeral printed documents. Their rich and varied configurations and texts made new demands on newly literate audiences. Victorian 'information design' is the most intelligent, but little known, ancestor of today's graphic design. This project aims to reveal and explain what can be learned from it.
For more information visit: www.designinginformation.org
- Conserving the past for the future
28 April, 1-2pm
Sue Hourigan, Senior Conservator, Berkshire Record Office
Sue will talk about the causes of deterioration of archives, such as the environment, pests and packaging. She will also bring along examples of archival quality packaging for collectors to view. Her talk will be illustrated with examples of the work she has conserved and the techniques used to repair paper, parchment and wax items. Sue graduated from Camberwell College of Arts London in 1988 and has twenty three years experience working in the paper conservation field.