During Spring 2020 the Block Museum staff and students continue to connect online and advance the Museum’s teaching and learning mission. This week, we check in on student worker Amelia Mylvaganam who serves as a Curatorial Research Aide. In addition to contributing to The Block, Amelia is freshman in the School of Communication, majoring in Radio/Television/Film.

I work as the Curatorial Research Aide at The Block Museum. My projects are all on the back end of the museum database, mostly consisting of finding and fixing errors in the data. This sometimes creates mini research projects where I, for example, search for the accurate spelling of an artist’s name that has variations among different sources, or take a look at a work itself in hopes of finding a date for an undated object.

Currently, I’m living in Vancouver. I miss being in the space of The Block, specifically the library where I spent most of my shifts. I didn’t realize what I had until it was gone! Now, the space where I spend my shifts is shared with class projects, cooking experiments, and tuning in to virtual lectures. Despite missing the physical space, I’m glad I’ve been able to continue my job remotely. Not only is it relieving to continue working during the remote quarter, but also a nice break from class to do something outside of myself.

The work I do in the Block database is to prepare for the eMuseum Collections launch this fall, which will allow artworks at the museum to be accessed virtually from the website. It’s really exciting to be a part of opening the Block’s digital doors, especially at a time like this, where virtual access is both the language of the everyday and a valuable educational tool.