Laura Rincon Rodriguez
Museum Specialist
Education
Master’s degree in museum studies, University of Florida, April 2022
Library and Information Science, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, October 2013
Research Interests
Laura Alejandra Rincón Rodriguez was born in Bogotá, Colombia. She earned her undergraduate in Information Science-Librarianship from Pontificia Universidad Javeriana in 2013. Upon graduating with her bachelor’s degree, Laura lived in New York City in 2014 to study English to pursue her dream to do a master’s degree in a second language. She later returned to Bogotá, where she had held a variety of jobs, to discover her professional interests.
After having working experience, Laura started her master’s in 2019 where she had the opportunity to explore her interests focusing on Active Collections. Laura chose to write a manual that contextualizes and analyzes concepts gleaned from several sources, including: The Active Collections book by Rainey Tisdale, Trevor Jones, and Elizabeth Wood, other authors and institutions with various proposals and projects, her experience as a Latina woman with a non-natural science background, discussions during her digital initiative called Collections lit club, conversations with professors and mentor, and her time as an international museum studies student working in the Fish collection at the Florida Museum of Natural History (FLMNH).
Active collections are places where knowledge is generated in which collections staff can reimagine and put into practice ideas, practices, and new models of collections work that can represent the collections professionals of the twenty-first century and the current societal trends. Therefore, Laura created 9 aspects that invite collections professionals to transform, guide, inspire, and take action on the opinions, thoughts, and projects to transform collections into active spaces. Laura wants to continue providing a professional resource for museum studies professionals, current and future collections staff (students, volunteers, and professionals with various academic backgrounds), and collections managers with extensive experience in the field who are eager to promote active, inclusive, and diverse natural history collections for all.
The handbook is a living document since she expects to include colleagues’ feedback and publish her handbook next year. So, feel free to send her your opinions. Also, she expects to restart her Collections Lit Club where people from all around the world gather to discuss monthly to share ideas and ask questions about a specific topic in collections management. One of the club’s goals is to learn more about collections management from the cutting-edge literature. This is her blog and Twitter handle: @LauRincon222 where you can follow her next meetups.
Laura would like to be a professional where as a Spanish native speaker, together with her international experience, can contribute to the sharing and strengthening of collections. She wants to bring a breath of fresh air and be a game-changer in the field. She is looking forward to continuing learning from natural history collections, and meeting colleagues with her same interests to create collaborative projects.
Feel free to contact her to: [email protected]
Publications
Publications:
Peñaloza L.G., Navarro P.E., Parra J., Parra de Moya J.G., et. al (2016). La Biblioterapia: "Medicina literaria para el cuerpo y alma". Aprendizajes, desaprendizajes y experiencias en torno al mundo de la información. Relatos informacionales (pp. 11-163). Bogotá, Colombia: Editorial Universidad Javeriana. https://issuu.com/mercadeoepuj/docs/aprendizajes_y_desaprendizajes_-_sa/8
Flemming, A., & Rincón, L. (2021). In a pickle- How museums preserve wet specimens. In Girls Do Science (pp. 22–23). Florida Museum of Natural History, Alachua County Library District. https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/36/2021/01/2020-NEA[1]BigRead-Girls-Do-Science-Activity-Book-lowres.pdf
Presentations:
Gray, J. A., Stanley, E., Sheehy, C., Randall, Z., Rincón Rodriguez, L. A., & Blackburn, D. C. (2023, August 1). No scalpel required: Using diffusible iodine-based contrast-enhanced Computed Tomography for high-throughput imaging of the anatomy of natural history specimens in 3D [Conference presentation]. International Society for Vertebrate Morphology. https://www.xcdsystem.com/icvm/program/1oO8WgX/index.cfm?pgid=697
Rincón Rodriguez, L. A. (2022, June 7). Creating active collections in natural history museums [Conference presentation]. Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections (SPNHC). https://collectionslitclub.wordpress.com/2023/04/12/handbook-to-create-active-collections-in-natural-history-museums/?fbclid=IwAR0JMsDR8TGltO6s0H61d4N0NZObMs0Kp1Yx7npZ2409tFMszoNeBD-Ecow. See presentation: https://portalapp.inconference.eventsair.com/VirtualAttendeePortal/spnhc-2022/spnhcvirtual/login