Social Networks and the Creation of the Pitt Rivers Museum

Bibliographic Data

ID2390897
AuthorsFrances Larson (The Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford, UK, corresponding author), Alison Petch (The Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford, UK, corresponding author), D Zeitlyn (0000-0001-5853-7351, University of Kent, corresponding author)
Year2007
Volume12
Issue3
Pages211-239
Publication date2007-11-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Material Culture (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1359-1835 • E-ISSN: 1460-3586
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/1359183507081886
OpenAlexW2005320296
LanguageEN
Citations received24
References cited20

We consider how far different `networks of connection' have structured the relationships between curators, collectors and objects at the Pitt Rivers Museum at Oxford University. Museum collections are generated through complicated, fluctuating circulations of people and things that are literally endless and, when there is a high standard of computerized documentation, network analysis can be a stimulating and revealing methodological tool. Network analysis can reveal patterns in sets of social relationships that are too large to process or analyse mentally, and it can be a spur to more in-depth, nuanced research. An introduction to network theory and a consideration of `network' as a metaphor for social and material interactions more broadly is followed by a discussion of our research into the history of the Pitt Rivers Museum and an assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of network analysis as a research tool in the museum context

Archaeology · Art · Context (archaeology · Documentation · Epistemology · Linguistics · Metaphor · Process (computing · Social media · Social network (sociolinguistics · Social network analysis · Sociology · Strengths and weaknesses · Visual arts · World Wide Web · Computer Science · Creativity in Education and Neuroscience · History · Museums and Cultural Heritage · Social and Cultural Dynamics