What’s been happening?
It’s not often during a museum activity I had imagined a child asking: ‘Did my grandmother use this flat iron?’, not ‘one like it’, but that same object, now laid out in their own hands, with every expectation that they will get a real answer to this very specific question?
Here, on Lismore, of course, such conversations have been part of everyday life for the longest time. And it is these shared memories, stories and associations - the intangible heritage - that flow from such conversations, that will bring to life the objects and archives in the CELM Collection.
The process of writing this, and other researched information, down and entering it onto a searchable, digital database, along with images of each item and references and links for further study, has already begun.
This week, 4 people who are beginning to work as part of the Documentation Programme, spent an afternoon learning how, together, we will:
Catalogue the 500+ objects and archives: gathering information on their previous ownership, production, particular associations with Lismore and much, much more
Securely mark each item with a unique identifier
Assess the condition of objects and archives and suggest conservation action.
Next month, 3 of these folk will be joining me to learn how to put these records onto an ADLIB database - a digital tool that will be available for all those who are interested to search, exploring images, records and further files - much of it gathered from the information that so many of you shared at the ‘CELM Open Days’ in the Public Hall in February.
Have you donated an item to the CELM collection?
BUT, WE NEED MORE INFO - Many items have been generously given to the CELM, since the opening of the school house exhibition and it is important now that we collect essential information from those of you who have contributed in this way, in order that we can:
Find out if the item is a donation for the new museum and heritage centre and be sure we record the owner’s permission for this
Collect the ‘intangible heritage’ associated with each item
Acknowledge the contribution, attach a biography to each item and ensure they receive appropriate care.
Here’s how you can help ... If you know that you have donated, or loaned, items to the CELM, it would be really good to hear from you, so that we can check if we need to get some more information from you and to arrange a time to meet and do this. You can call Cait on (01631) 760 346 or Email: lismore-museum@btconnect.com to make a time to do this at the school house with one of the Documentation Team.
Not just any old Number!
The CELM Collection has just received its very own unique identifier from the Museums Documentation Association, the national association who register those tiny digits some of you might have seen marked in china ink, on objects in museums - you do need to look up close!
Our identifier is: LISDD - the ‘LIS’ bit being for, yes; you guessed it - and ‘DD’ standing for ‘Dùthchas agus Dualchas - a people and their place.
Next Steps...
Still Collecting
The photographer, Margaret MacKichan has offered any and all of her images of Lismore - its people and their place - for
the collections and displays in the new museum and heritage centre.
Do you have any prints of images taken by Maggie? It would be great to see them and to discuss how we might include them as part of either the exhibition or research collections. You can either send the prints to Cait at the school house, along with your name and number, or send them as scans in tiff format, by email.
It would also be good to have more information, collected memories, images and /or objects on the following topics:
Maritime history and traditions associated with Lismore, especially the Effie and Mary, the Lady Margaret, other Lismore Smacks and their crews.
The linen industry on Lismore
Wartime Lismore
Weddings on Lismore.
Visitors and events on the island, during the Glasgow Fair Fortnight, particularly in the 1950s
Travelling Families & Lismore Willow Baskets - made on the island by travelling families such as the Johnstons and the Gibsons
Peat cutting - on Lismore and in Benderloch
Former Liosach occupations: including tailors, smiths, horse-training-trading, etc.
20th Century home life - before electricity
Rhymes and songs of a Liosach child
All things natural...
A small group of volunteers has been meeting to research and share information about the island’s natural history, the environment today and the way that people on Lismore have been interacting with and using natural resources for millennia.
Do you have any specimens, images or knowledge about the flora, fauna, land and sea features of Lismore? It would be great to hear from you.
‘Mapping Lismore’
Following on from the Oral History collection that began in February, Julian and Carol, Pauline and Stuart, Davie, Gill, Tess, Josie and Ruairidh, Barbara and Jennifer and Tony have offered to welcome others for an evening of ‘ceilidhing’ at each of their homes, over the summer months - sharing memories, pictures, place-names, songs and stories about your home, place of birth, farmland, township, fishing and sailing waters, arrival on Lismore, etc. More details to follow.
If you would like to host a similar evening do get in touch.
For more information on the Museum Development Project, or to discuss collecting, preserving, researching and sharing Lismore's heritage, contact :
Cait McCullagh - Tel. 01631 760346
Email. lismore-museum@btconnect.com
