-------- Original Message --------
Subject: RE: "I fought the war museum" (error on globe)
Date: Wed, 28 Nov 2007 09:05:58 -0800
From: Diaz, Carlos <[log in to unmask]>
To: Maps, Air Photo & Geospatial Systems Forum <[log in to unmask]>
So why does anyone think the museum is so reluctant to make the correction?
Carlos A. Diaz
Government Documents/Maps
The Evergreen State College
Olympia, Washington
[log in to unmask]
-----Original Message-----
From: Maps, Air Photo & Geospatial Systems Forum
[mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Maps-L
Sent: Wednesday, November 28, 2007 6:31 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: "I fought the war museum" (error on globe)
Interesting story ... forwarded by Angie from CARTA-L
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: "I fought the war museum" (error on globe)
Date: Tue, 27 Nov 2007 17:17:01 -0500
From: Ed Dahl <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: CARTA-L : Canadian Map & GIS Libraries and Archives
<[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Apparently, the globe has now been
removed from the exhibition. Ed Dahl
*****
http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/opinion/story.html?id=ccc63d95-9d75-4526-b932-32ff30926158&k=74618
<http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/opinion/story.html?id=ccc63d95-9d75-4526-b932-32ff30926158&k=74618>
*Bill Schroeder: I fought the war museum*
How my effort to fix a small inaccuracy in the Boer War exhibit
became a two-and-a-half-year odyssey
Bill Schroeder
Citizen Special
Monday, November 26, 2007
Earlier this year a human interest story appeared in the press about a
boy who noticed a mistake in a display at the Ontario Science Centre in
Toronto and duly pointed it out to someone in charge. Young Parker got
his picture in the paper, the museum got some free publicity, and we all
could feel warm and fuzzy about a precocious kid doing the right thing.
I have had less success in my ongoing battle with the Canadian War
Museum in Ottawa. In their Boer War section, on a large globe titled
"The Bonds of Empire," a shaded region in southern Africa is incorrectly
labelled. A territory that clearly corresponds to what was then known as
Rhodesia (current Zimbabwe) is mistakenly identified as Northern
Rhodesia (current Zambia).
This is a quibble to be sure, and the museum has had to deal with a
number of much more contentious issues since its opening, most notably
the well-publicized controversy surrounding a panel describing the
Allied bombing of civilian targets in Germany in the Second World War.
Still, a factual error in a national museum is clearly unacceptable as I
remarked in a letter sent to the museum following my first visit to the
facility a week after it opened in May 2005. In due course a reply came,
commending me for my keen eye and promising to "make the changes at the
earliest moment." I did not expect my picture in the paper; a
complimentary ticket would have been nice, but at least I had the
satisfaction of helping out in a small way.
My next visit to the museum was a year and a half later. While I agree
with reviews that suggest the war museum is one of the finest museums in
Canada, I was again drawn to the Boer War section. I imagined myself
closely examining "The Bonds of Empire." I wondered if I would be able
to detect a slight difference in paint hue where the word "Northern"
would be painted over. I promised myself I would not tell. It be could
our little secret -- a museum and a concerned citizen, bonded by the
resolute desire to get it right.
But much to my chagrin, nothing had changed on the globe. My
understanding of the concept "earliest moment" is something less than 18
months and the second letter I sent was a little more pointed. I waited
a few months but there was no reply.
On my third visit I again headed straight for the globe and this time
was not surprised to see the word "Northern" still boldly identifying
the wrong place. More letters to various museum officials followed.
In spring the CEO resigned so I sent a letter to the new acting
director. I sent letters to the Canadian Museums Association, the
Zambian high commissioner and even the federal minister of heritage but
received no reply from any of these offices.
During one of my visits two reporters happened to be in the building and
I tried to interest them in my concern. I showed them the display; they
seemed interested, took my particulars, and asked if I could send more
details in writing, which I did. But the article that appeared in their
paper a few days later focused only on what kids were doing during the
March Break.
I gradually realized that the sheer inconsequentiality of my concern
mitigates against its resolution. While the tour guides and security
guards on the museum floor who have heard my ever-more-polished
mini-presentation have offered encouragement and surprise that my
persistent campaign has not been successful, they are obviously not
authorized to get some masking tape and correct the mistake themselves.
Higher ranking museum officials evidently have weightier issues to deal
with than such a mundane concern. It is probably for the best that our
federal cabinet has more important files to address. And the notion that
a foreign diplomat might use an inaccurate representation of his country
in a Canadian museum to foment an international dispute is similarly
farfetched.
Still, while the issue may seem minor, it is disturbing on a number of
levels.
First, it is an example of the unresponsiveness of institutional
bureaucracies that detracts from the fine work the museum does. The
public relations optics are horrible. It simply should not take two and
a half years, and counting, for a simple matter to be confirmed and
corrected.
Admittedly the frequently changing names of obscure African outposts is
an example of the type of arcane geographic awareness that even the
learned experts at the museum may initially miss, but in this google era
facts can easily be verified. I am not a trained cartographer but I have
lived in the region and the mistake is immediately apparent to anyone
with a reasonable familiarity with the area.
Is there no one on the war museum's staff whose job description includes
fact checking?
Secondly, the persistence of incorrect information impacts the
credibility of a facility for which factual accuracy is an obvious
priority. A mislabelled map is not a complex matter of interpretation,
such as the debate over the Allied civilian bombing campaign, for which
a wide spectrum of opinions can be plausibly argued. As I peruse the
many engaging exhibits, how can I be confident that the information is
accurate when I know of one example where an error endures?
In late August 2007 I made one more visit to the museum, this time armed
with a few props -- my own globe, an encyclopedia and a souvenir T-shirt
from Africa with a map of the continent on its front.
I approached the information desk and asked to see the acting director.
I was told that I could not go up to the administrative floor without a
specific appointment and when I said I would like to try anyway they
directed me to the security office. A security guard behind the glass
listened to my request and, perhaps sensing the potential for
institutional embarrassment, made a phone call upstairs and asked me to
wait.
About a half-hour later, following several more calls, an administrative
assistant to the acting director came down to meet me. She was
apologetic and mentioned that she had perused the expanding file of my
correspondence.
We went straight to the "Bonds of Empire" display and I quickly made my
presentation: pointing out the incorrect Northern Rhodesia label which
was easy to cross-reference with my own accurate globe and an entry in
the encyclopedia I had with me. I pointed out where in Zimbabwe I lived
and showed her my T-shirt, which she complimented me on.
The assistant could only sheepishly acknowledge the obvious and she
assured me that the acting director was being informed of the issue and
that I would receive a reply promptly. It is now mid-November and I
still have not heard from them.
In the meantime my quixotic crusade has become fodder for staff-room
barbs at the school where I teach and I have become the laughingstock of
the family dinner table.
"Still haven't heard from the museum? Better send another letter Dad,"
the children mock. My youngest daughter has shown some empathy however.
Snuggling in the recliner early one Saturday morning, a comfortable spot
from where the deep mysteries of life are sometimes broached, she asked
me, "Why doesn't the museum fix the globe?"
It was then that I was struck with an idea for a new strategy.
"Do you want to go ask them next time we are in Ottawa?" I asked and she
enthusiastically agreed. The Canadian War Museum may not be interested
in the concerns of a crusty middle-aged cynic, but perhaps they will
listen to an eight-year-old.
Bill Schroeder is a high school teacher in Barry's Bay, Ont. In the
1980s he spent six years living in Zimbabwe, previously known as
Rhodesia and Southern Rhodesia but never as Northern Rhodesia.
© The Ottawa Citizen 2007
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