Service Learning for Rural Heritage Institutions: Rural 3.0

neobjavljeni prilog sa skupa

neobjavljeni prilog sa skupa

Service Learning for Rural Heritage Institutions: Rural 3.0

Vrsta prilog sa skupa (neobjavljen)
Tip neobjavljeni prilog sa skupa
Godina 2021
Status neobjavljeno

Sažetak

The purpose of this paper is to present the results of the RURASL Knowledge Alliances project in
Croatia that brought together students and teachers of higher education institution (University of
Zagreb), a rural partner (LAG5) and two cultural heritage institutions (Korčula Town Museum and
Archive collection center Korčula-Lastovo, which is a branch of the State Archive in Dubrovnik) to
implement Service-Learning (SL) in a rural (island) community. Although according to Eurostat
urban/rural typology, majority of the population in Croatia (79,1%) live in predominantly rural and
intermediate rural regions (Eurostat, 2018), the first documented rural service-learning experiences
have been reported as part of the RURASL project. Graduate students of information sciences
(museum and archive studies) have spent a week (40 hours) implementing their service-learning
solutions in cultural heritage institutions on an island in a summer school format. Both students were
performing service in a very dynamic setting, in an extremely demanding and delicate situation.
The student who did service in Korčula Town Museum had the opportunity not only to participate in
arranging and describing museum collections, but also to see a whole range of tasks that curators
usually perform, which are almost unknown to the average visitor and the general public. He worked
in a museum with only three members of professional staff who curate 25 different collections,
publish museum publications and prepare exhibitions. Additionaly, he had a chance to face all
problems that a museum on an island that is temporary relocated due to the refurbishment might
deal with (like the lack of electrical installations, lightning and unresolved property-legal relations).
But, apart from facing these challenges, he had an opportunity to participate in the equipment-
acquisition process of the museum which is to be redeveloped.
The student in Archive collection center has arranged, described, digitized and stored district court
records from the 1930s with parcels and the name of the owner. These records are most in demand
by clients in a rural area which is still very unorganized in terms of land registration. He also arranged
the material of one municipality from the Second World War, which was completely unorganized,
mixed, torn, in very poor condition and barely survived the war. Doing this service, ha faced all
possible and impossible situations which the archivist may encounter in his work, but he also learned
about the significance of an archive in today's society when it is important to get information as soon
as possible. He learned through this rural SL experience that an organized archive able to provide
relevant and current information to a user represents the foundation of a well-organized society.
The impact of service-learning on students and rural heritage institutions was collected via interviews
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qiz03ogk5q0). The results have shown that service-learning
can have a substantial positive impact on the rural and remote communities through activities that
are accessible to all, results oriented, and responsive to rural needs.

Ključne riječi

rural service learning, museums, archives, cultural heritage