Today in cataloguing recent acquisitions: A handy guide to computer terms (from The User's Guide, 1984)
06.02.2026 21:45
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Today in cataloguing recent acquisitions: A handy guide to computer terms (from The User's Guide, 1984)
Happy birthday to the bouncing ball!
In cataloging a collection (I'd say recent acquisition, but it came into the museum in 1996 🫠), I came across an witheringly devastating burn. "You may never have heard of his theory, but you certainly missed nothing."
mitmuseum.mit.edu/collections/...
“This should be a trigger warning— it’s a syllabus” 😂😂😂 @profnoctis.bsky.social at #PAXEast talks about his class Mythos to Logos, which uses Final Fantasy games to teach religious studies.
And the Harvard Museum of Natural History has a sea monster exhibit. Something clearly is in the water….
I’m betting it can be made available in a year or so 😉 It would be very funny, especially since when I was explaining this exhibit, more than one person asked “animal or country?”
I’m at a very fun panel about the MIT Mystery Hunt at #PAXEast. Apparently advice given before the hunt includes “please shower,” which is especially important for the longer hunts… 😂
There’s some Market Basket product placement at #PaxEast 😂
And now, from early modern whales, I’m off to #PAXEast to work my my next exhibition project— computer games! If you’re interested in game history, game preservation, or how do you exhibit a game in a museum, anyway? send me a DM. I’d love to chat!
And I thought, how silly! Narwhals don't have two tusks, you liar.
Except some of them *do*! A month after I saw that, I went to an exhibit about narwhals at the Smithsonian Natural History museum and they had a skull with two tusks! Sorry for doubting you, John Ray's interlocutor...
I once came across a letter to the naturalist John Ray that said something along the lines of-- yeah, unicorns don't exist. The horns [sic] come from these fish up north. I saw one, and it had two tusks, and the one-tusked ones are the "monsters."
And another lovely review in @nautil.us, which points out my favorite fact that I learned during my dissertation research-- that some narwhals actually have two tusks!
nautil.us/thar-be-mons...
It got a very generous review from the @bostonglobe.com. "Something to spout about," indeed! 🐳 💙
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/05/01/a...
After months of posting about Whales! Whales! Whales! the exhibit is finally up!
mitmuseum.mit.edu/collections/...
We're disappointed to see Ben Barres's powerful book "The Autobiography of a Transgender Scientist" among the ~400 titles removed from the Naval Academy Library. Needless to say, we're proud to have published his book and will keep it — and his memory — alive.
A person wearing a brown dress, purple cardigan, and green boots standing next to a narwhal tusk mounted onto a black board.
I don’t think that it was curatorially necessary for me to be around for the mounting of the narwhal tusk, but it sure did make me happy!
I hope people are queuing up some clever, potent counter- programming, guerrilla tours, and pirate guides for all of these obsequious, whitewashed semiquincentennial exhibitions and events
(through gritted teeth) well done, princeton
Ah, the RCA CT-100! Expensive and not very good. A winning combination!
Still remember @flori-p.bsky.social talking about RCA and the whole color tv process at her old job!
It's following me! We have one of these at the MIT Museum
mitmuseum.mit.edu/collections/...
screenshot of a Hubspot request. Text reads "Spoken like a True Academic. / Absolutely Worthless Human Being. Not a DECISION MAKER. A GRUB eating the entrails out of the HOST. Sent from my iPhone"
This was a fun thing to see in the reference queue. What gets me is the 'sent from my iphone' at the end.
Our reference assistant is top notch and definitely not a grub. Be in touch if you want to license any of the MIT Museum's images for your next publication.
mitmuseum.mit.edu/collections/...
What I’ve come to understand about generative AI is that it is ultimately a tool for the redistribution of mediocrity.
I like the delicate medium of sketching translated to the hard marble of a capital. And the drawing is also a little wonky in the best of ways.
The building was likely never constructed... until 2006, that is, when a class recreated the design and 3D-printed models of the front of the palace. And while the drawing isn't on display, you can see some of these blocks on display in "Modeling Everything"
mitmuseum.mit.edu/collections/...
One of my favorites is a perspective drawing of a palace façade (circa 1530) by Baldassarre Peruzzi.
mitmuseum.mit.edu/collections/...
Wild as it may sound, there are some early modern things here at a museum mostly focused on modernity! It helps if you're looking for prints of whales, boats, or buildings though.
And right next to them, two versions of the same 18th century ship, the Great Harry.
Monochrome engraving depicting, in foreground, Jonah upon a shell-strewn beach after having been spat up by the whale, which is behind him, spouting. Jonah is bearded and almost nude, save for some drapery, and the whale has very large fish-like eyes. In the background, the scene of Jonah being thrown off the boat and the whale opening its mouth to receive him is depicted; further back, there is a coastal city with domes and arches. Text at bottom of page reads "152) Jonah cast over board / Jonah 1"
An image of the whale spitting Jonah up onto a shell-covered beach. A sailing ship and a harbor city are visible in the background. The composition bears notable similarity to AF-JX-0209, but is not a direct copy, and the style is different. At the top of the page, in a heart-shape, the number "152" is printed. At the bottom right the engraver's name, P.P. Bouche, is given. Under the image is the following text: "Captaine John Bromhill of Black-wall in the Country of Middlesex Gent, For advancement of this Worke, Contributed this Plate."
Are you heading to Boston for #RSA2025 and find yourself with some time to kill? We have no shortage of museums, but for something a little off the beaten track, you can visit these two delightful early modern whales, currently on display in "Moving Objects" at the MIT Museum in Cambridge.
Yes, please do!