MetroCascade Victoria

David Alexander

Vaaaaa … cation!
David Alexander on Sat 04 Sep 2010 at 10:33 AM
I'm on for vacation for the next couple of weeks so enjoy the silence.  I'll leave you with a little promo piece the feds did on the project I am currently working on for the Royal BC Museum (thanks D
It's all about me
Topics: arts

Don't Forget …
David Alexander on Wed 01 Sep 2010 at 11:16 AM
It's Ask a Curator Day!  Curators all over the world are standing by, waiting for your tweet.
Museums, Ask a Curator Day, museum
Topics: arts

When you Rent a DVD, Who Do you Think of First?
David Alexander on Mon 30 Aug 2010 at 3:36 PM
Libraries!  At least according to a US study commissioned by OCLC, a nonprofit library co-operative and research organization.  They found that, on average, 2.1 million videos are borrowed from libra
libraries, blockbuster, dvd rentals, netflix
Topics: arts

Camden, NJ Preparing to Close Libraries
David Alexander on Fri 27 Aug 2010 at 3:49 PM
These headlines are always  heartbreaking because I imagine as difficult as it is to close a library system, it must be even more difficult to open one.  Plus, if you are having to close libraries -
libraries, public library closure
Topics: arts

Ask a Curator Day
David Alexander on Tue 17 Aug 2010 at 5:46 PM
Awesome idea - Ask a Curator Day on September 1, 2010.  The line up of participating museums is decent as well - big players like the Museum of Civilization, the Guggenheim, the Tate, the British Muse
Culture, Museums, Ask a Curator Day, Vancouver Police Museum
Topics: arts

New Library CEO
David Alexander on Wed 04 Aug 2010 at 7:55 AM
This is for the local readers - the rest of you can go back to doing something more worthwhile … The Greater Victoria Public Library has a brand spanking new CEO who, as does just about everyone in V
libraries, Greater Victoria Public Library
Topics: arts

Historypin
David Alexander on Fri 30 Jul 2010 at 7:05 AM
I've been spending time with a new site that I ran across a few weeks ago called Historypin.  Historypin is a social media site that allows users to upload photos and 'attach' them to an area in the U
Culture, internet, social media, google, historypin ...all
Topics: arts

Waxing Poetic
David Alexander on Tue 27 Jul 2010 at 4:41 PM
There is something really compelling about a tacky museum.  I'm ashamed to admit, I've seen far too many.  Spending three years in Japan, travelling around South East Asia and being a museum freak, I
Culture, It's all about me, tacky museums, Victoria, wax museum
Topics: arts

Cupcakes then Libraries
David Alexander on Thu 22 Jul 2010 at 7:39 AM
I've had a few people send me this NPR article - a tongue in cheek on why libraries are the next pop culture phenomenon: Why The Next Big Pop-Culture Wave After Cupcakes Might Be Libraries.  The best
Uncategorized, cupcakes, libaries, NPR
Topics: arts

Sparking Library Design
David Alexander on Thu 15 Jul 2010 at 10:54 AM
The CBC radio trend and technology program Spark (very very cool radio show if you don't know about it) did a really interesting piece on the future of library design last month.  You can check it out
libraries, cbc, future, spark
Topics: arts

Authenticity
David Alexander on Tue 13 Jul 2010 at 4:17 PM
I did a mini road trip this morning; about 4 hours in the car up and down part of my island.  To kill the time, I listened to old podcasts in my (now quite lengthy) iTunes queue.  One of my favourite
Museums, authenticity, cbc, foodies, jian ghomeshi ...all
Topics: arts

Metadata Infographica
David Alexander on Wed 07 Jul 2010 at 9:26 AM
Some of you may find this a little like watching paint dry, but Indiana University has put together a really good (and quite pretty) visualization of metadata standards in the cultural heritage sector.
Culture, metadata
Topics: arts

Library Tales from the Vault
David Alexander on Mon 05 Jul 2010 at 11:22 AM
I've been an avid reader of the Greater Victoria Public Library's Tales from the Vault for the past couple of years.  Victoria has a fairly unique and sometimes pretty insane history, and Stephen Rutt
internet, libraries, BC, Greater Victoria Public Library, Tales from the Vault ...all
Topics: arts

Behind the Scenes
David Alexander on Mon 21 Jun 2010 at 8:12 AM
The Royal BC Museum is opening their new exhibit this week - Behind the Scenes.   This exhibit deals with natural history and runs for a year with a similar exhibit focusing on human history to open
Museums, Behind the Scenes, Royal BC Museum, Victoria, Victoria Children's Museum
Topics: arts

What Does Canada Mean to You?
David Alexander on Fri 18 Jun 2010 at 8:39 AM
In the lead up to Canada Day, the CBC is running a photo contest on what Canada visually means to you.  It's an interesting exploration - this is a huge country with many, many different perspectives
internet, Random, social media
Topics: arts

Surrey's City Centre Library
David Alexander on Wed 16 Jun 2010 at 9:39 AM
A few sneak peaks of the new Surrey City Centre Library surfaced last week:  a photo of a 3-D model of the library with Bing Thom and Michael Heeney from Bing Thom Architects and an interior rendition
libraries, bing thom, Surrey
Topics: arts

The Third Place
David Alexander on Wed 09 Jun 2010 at 3:13 PM
Nina Simon (my museum geek crush) has an ongoing series of blog posts on museums as the third place.  She's riffing off of the Great Good Place by Ray Oldenburg.  If you haven't heard the expression
business, Culture, Random, Museums, third place
Topics: arts

BC Books Online
David Alexander on Fri 04 Jun 2010 at 9:49 AM
BC Books Online launched last month at a handful of BC public, college and university libraries.  It's an entirely non-fiction selection at this point but with a really good BC focus - from the press
internet, libraries, books online, library
Topics: arts

Canada's Got Treasure
David Alexander on Fri 28 May 2010 at 1:40 PM
A great new site launched from the Virtual Museum of Canada lab.   Canada's Got Treasure is a step into the social media world for CHIN - museums from around the country can post their treasures and
Culture, internet, social media, Museums, canada heritage information network ...all
Topics: arts

The Raven's Call
David Alexander on Fri 14 May 2010 at 3:17 PM
The Bill Reid Gallery and the team at 7th Floor Media - one of my favourite museum digital design houses - have launched a new virtual exhibition on the west coast native artist Bill Reid.  The Raven'
Museums
Topics: arts

Kelowna's Creative Classes
David Alexander on Tue 11 May 2010 at 7:40 AM
An economic impact study led by a geography professor at UBC's Okanagan campus has found that Kelowna, BC's creative sector generates an annual economic impact of $143.8 million.    The study looked
Culture, libraries, Museums, economic impact, Kelowna ...all
Topics: arts