Laura-Edythe

S. Coleman
http://www.lauraedythe.com
lcolem24@jhu.edu

RESEARCH EXPERIENCE
Johns Hopkins University

Johns Hopkins University, Krieger School of Arts & Sciences, Advanced Academic Programs,
Museums Studies (2017-Present)
As a Researcher,

I design, develop and explore research topics concerning the role of museums and cultural
heritage institutions in society. I study the ways in which museums and libraries impact society
through information provision and access. My research area is Museum Informatics: the apex
of museums, information, people and technology. I work with museums and their communities
to understand their role in creating a more just society. My current research project through
Johns Hopkins University: Coleman, L.-E., & Phillips, A. (2017-2019) Understanding
Empathy in the Profession: A Comparative Study of American Museum Professionals and
American Librarians.

Florida State University

Florida State University, School of Information (2012-2016)

Coleman, L-E. (2016). The Socially Inclusive Role of Curatorial Voice: A Qualitative

Comparative Study of the Use of Gatekeeping Mechanisms and the Co-Creation of

Identity in Museums. Florida State University.

Museums, and museum professionals engage in a significant role within society. This
dissertation was a qualitative exploratory study of the ways in which museum professionals
promote or hinder the social inclusivity of a museum through curatorial voice. Through a series
of exhibit evaluations and intensive interviews, the researcher investigated the mechanisms
used to craft curatorial voice within museums handling contested subject material. This research
broadens the understanding of curatorial voice, as viewed through the theoretical lenses of
gatekeeper theory and co-creation of identity, with the explicit purpose of aiding in the
development of professional guidance to help make museums more socially inclusive.

Coleman, L.-E., Moore, P., & Paquet-Kinsley, R. (2014-2015). Museum Professionals

and Inclusion: A Study in Practitioner Perception. Florida State University.

Building on the momentum of the 2014 American Alliance of Museum’s Diversity and
Inclusion policy statement has created in the museum field, the goal of this exploratory study

 was to describe the landscape of how museum professionals in the United States understand
inclusion. This study was a collaboration between three doctoral students: Rose Paquet-Kinsley,
University of Washington; Porchia Moore, University of South Carolina; Laura-Edythe
Coleman, Florida State University.

Coleman, L.-E. (2015). Curators of Conflict: The Gatekeeping Mechanisms of Curatorial

Voice. Florida State University.

Beginning in 2014, I conducted a series of curatorial interviews to explore the gatekeeping role
of curators within museums. Based upon current literature, a Curatorial Voice Gatekeeping
Mechanisms Chart was developed. In a pilot test, curators of a small regional museum in the
southeastern United States, reviewed this chart and participated in semi-structured interviews.
The results of the pilot study informed the revision of the Curatorial Voice Gatekeeping
Mechanisms Chart. This chart provides a robust theoretical background for museum curators to
articulate the gatekeeping mechanisms used to craft curatorial voice within their museum
exhibits.

Urban, R., Coleman, L.-E., & Marty, P. (2014). LAM at Universities: Convergence in

Graduate Education, Florida State University.

This research study was a one-year project to study the convergence of Library and Information
Studies, Archival Studies, and Museum Studies (LAM) education in ALA-accredited graduate
programs in North America. This mixed-methods study resulted in a survey of graduate
programs, and a series of interviews with key knowledgeable persons within those programs.
Initial results reveal a tension between the desire to formalize ties among LAM graduate
programs at universities and the desire to adhere to the inherent cultures of Libraries, Archives,
and Museums. I served as research assistant, performing data collection with survey and
interview methods. I provided data coding and thematic content analysis.

Information Institute, Florida State University

Research Assistant, (2013)
As a Research Assistant, I was responsible for data collection (quantitative and qualitative),
research design, website design, and grant writing activities. I participated in several successful
grant proposals and gained both field and office research skills.

Spears, L., Mardis, M., Coleman, L.-E., McClure, C., & Lee, J. (2014). Assessing

Information Technology Educational Pathways that Promote Deployment and Use of

Rural Broadband. (NSF), Information Institute, Florida State University.

A multi-year project that was prompted by the growth of broadband use in all industries resulting
in a significant workforce need for IT/broadband workers. The project’s research focused on the
educational and career pathways of individuals working as information technology (IT)
technicians who support broadband deployment in nonmetropolitan communities in Northwest
Florida. The project team identified the workplace roles of broadband technicians; the education
needed to develop skills to be successful in these roles; and the processes to sustain partnerships
between educational and industry stakeholders. I served as research assistant, performed data
collection and coding, provided grant writing, and developed the project website:
http://broadbandpathways.cci.fsu.edu/.

FUTURE RESEARCH AGENDA

YEARS GOALS THEMES TITLE
2019-2020 Preparing the Profession Inclusive Practice Understanding Inclusive Museum
Practice: A Mixed-Methods Study
of American Museum Professionals
and Their Perceptions of Inclusive
Professional Practice
2019-2021 Evaluating Institutions; Creating Community Information Gatekeeping
Spurring Systemic Change in Connections; Information Mechanisms and
Society Gatekeeping Mechanisms Community Co-Curation of
of Museum Professionals; Exhibits: An
Inclusive Practice; Ethnographic study of the
Designing for Diversity Community
Based Exhibition Model of the
Wing Luke
Museum of the Asian Pacific
American
Experience.

2019-2022 Evaluating Institutions Significance of Space in The Museum as Place: A

Knowledge Creation & Qualitative
Transfer Study of the Applications of
Nonaka's
SECI-ba in American Museums

2020-2022 Preparing the Profession; Encouraging Empathy in Equipping with Empathy: A

Evaluating Institutions the Profession Quantitative
Study of Graduate Museum Studies
Programs and the Teaching of
Professional
Empathy.