Well, hello there 2013. I wonder what you have in hold for me? Actually, I have a sneaking suspicion, more than a sneaking suspicion, but keeping a lid on that particular exciting news for now. Watch this space!

In other news, I’ve recently had a paper published in Museum & Society – based on a bit of tangential research I started in 2006. ‘A Trojan Horse? An icon of the anti-establishment at the Victoria and Albert Museum’ looks at an independent, touring exhibition of Che Guevara images and the implications of the V&A’s interpretive input.

Just before Christmas I oversaw a really intensive week of teaching by the Collections Trust for our campus-based Museum Studies and Art Gallery & Museum Studies masters students. A real crash-course in collections management. Fascinating stuff – and very revealing. I’m not sure that museum peeps are always as fully aware as they might be about the central importance of proper collections management in all aspects of the successful execution of an institution’s key mission and goals. It also sounds like an area in which employment opportunities may increase in the future, bucking the general trend in the museum sector job market. Lots of food for thought for our students.

Inspired by this blog post, a couple of days ago I sat down and wrote my research goals for the coming year. A very useful exercise. Have drawn up a list of what I hope are achievable goals encompassing the above mysterious news, a couple of journal papers and, perhaps, the start of a new research project proper.

What else…oh, yes. I’ve set up an ‘official’ Twitter account (@amyjanebarnes). Follow me for museum-y type posts and reflections on academia.

Happy New Year!