Curator Anthea Gunn talks about her research on the colonial settlement of Hobart and the expansion of Van Diemen’s Land in the early 1800s, as part of her work on the Creating a Country gallery.

Contemporary perspectives on Pacific Islander voyaging, investigating archaeological evidence and museum displays from Pacific scholars Kylie Moloney, Melanie Van Olffen and Matthew Spriggs.

Museum evaluation and learning theory experts Lynn Dierking and John Falk share insights from two current research projects in free-choice learning in museums, at this seminar for museum and gallery professionals.

Curator Jennifer Wilson talks about her research into the fishing port of Robe in South Australia in the late nineteenth century, as an example of a place where people endeavoured to create a just society with equality of opportunity and participation.

Curator and historian Roslyn Russell talks about the work of amateur scientists, including astronomer WJ Macdonnell, in the New South Wales coastal town of Port Macquarie, as part of her research for the Creating a Country gallery.

The development of the Australian pastoral industry at Bowen Downs in central Queensland, one of four places to be featured in the ‘Never enough grass’ module of the National Museum’s Creating a Country gallery, is outlined by curator George Main.

Elspeth Wishart outlines the challenges facing the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery in exhibiting important two-dimensional artefacts. She relates how the museum must balance the needs of visitors with the care of these artefacts, a letter and a flag.

Alison Wishart examines the challenges of displaying rare cookery books in museums. She focuses on Flora Pell’s Our Cookery Book, published in 1916, and suggests display methods to allow better visitor interaction.

Peter Stanley welcomes guests to the 2009 National Museum Collections Symposium and key speaker Howard Morphy delivers ‘Perspectives on exhibiting collections,’ looking at the significance of artefacts and the stories they can tell.

Curator Liz Gillroy discusses the development of exhibitions at volunteer museums in northern New South Wales. She examines methodologies, education, training and support from the wider museum sector.