Distance education in collections management

Cultural Resource Management Program
University of Victoria
January 25 - April 30, 1999
Please register by January 5
Fee: $589 (Canadian funds, approximately $390 USD, credit and non
credit options available)

Below is an outline summary of our upcoming distance education
course for museum and heritage professionals, "Collections
Management", offered from January 25 to April 30. Registration is
well underway--you may sign up by e-mail, fax, and by on-line form
from our Web site. Please let us know if we may provide further
information.

Collections Management: Despite significant shifts in approaches to
programming, funding, public access and community partnerships,
collections-and the knowledge they convey-remain the cornerstone of
most museums. This new print and internet-based course addresses
both the roles of collections in the changing museum world, and the
principles and practices which guide their acquisition, management
and use. You will develop your ability to:

    *   understand historic and contemporary factors which shape
        museum collections
    *   define how collections and their management relate to the
        institutional mission and community interests
    *   respect legal and ethical frameworks for collections
        management
    *   understand the policy framework for collections management
    *   undertake a range of registration and documentation
        functions
    *   manage collections information
    *   ensure collection safety in storage, on exhibit, and in
        transit
    *   recognize the special needs of a range of collection types
        and uses
    *   address the range of current issues affecting collections
        and their management including ownership, access, copyright
        and deaccessioning
    *   plan for collections development in response to both
        institutional and community interests and needs

Instructor: Jacqueline Gijssen, Consultant in collections management
and museum planning development and operations. She will be joined
by resource people participating in the discussion of special topics
within the course. Resource people include: Robert Kremer, Executive
Director of the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre, Barbara Hager,
Aboriginal Liaison Officer from the Royal British Columbia Museum,
and Dr. Carol Mayer, Curator of Ceramics at the UBC Museum of
Anthropology. Stephen E. Weil, Emeritus Senior Scholar with the
Centre for Museum Studies, Smithsonian Institution, provides an
audiotaped contribution to the course.

Summary of course units:

Unit 1 - Collecting Passions & The Development of Museums

    *   a passion for collecting through the ages
    *   collecting & museum development in arts, natural and social
        sciences
    *   collections as resources
    *   contemporary perspectives, issues and trends

Unit 2 - Collections Management in Context

    *   role of collections in museums, in communities
    *   organizational frameworks, missions, and policies
    *   ethics and professional and legal responsibilities
    *   factors influencing collection development
    *   development of collections management as a professional
    *   delivering customer services and access

Unit 3 - Acquiring Collections

    *   donation, bequest, purchase, loan--collecting processes in
        action
    *   processing an acquisition: accessioning & documentation
        processes
    *   tax laws and implications for donors and museums
    *   the costs of collecting, impacts on the institution

Unit 4 - Managing Collections and their Information

    *   information and the object-objects and their information
    *   documentation & registration systems for information
        storage, preservation, retrieval and access
    *   management processes: numbering, cataloguing, classification
    *   incoming and outgoing loan management practices

Unit 5 - Selecting a Collections Management System

    *   computerized information management systems
    *   planning, assessing needs, and criteria for software
        selection

Unit 6 - Caring For Collections

    *   preventive conservation: on exhibit, in storage and in
        transit
    *   environmental issues and controls, security, storage
    *   care & handling
    *   preventive conservation, conservation issues and treatments:
        a partnership between collections managers and conservators
    *   risk management: appraisals, insurance, inventories,
        disaster planning

Unit 7 - Collection Issues and Implications

    *   specialized needs and applications for collections managers
    *   overview of range of issues from cultural property to
        firearms legislation
    *   focus on copyright, deaccessioning, repatriation

Unit 8 - Collections Perspectives & Planning for the Future

    *   changing views - changing practices, perspectives on use
    *   assessing resources & needs and planning for the future
    *   what does the future hold for museums, collections, and
        collections managers?

Resources for the course include: "New Museum Registration Methods,"
Ed. Buck, Rebecca A. and Jean Allan Gilmore. Washington: American
Association of Museums, 1998, and the Canadian Heritage Inform ion
Network's new ON-LINE Collections Management Software Selection
training program, along with extracts from a range of journals and
texts.

Please note: the following distance education course is also
available in January for those of you wishing to explore in detail
the management of museum information.

Museum Information Management
Instructor: James Blackaby is Senior Information Systems Analyst,
Walker Art Center and a consultant in information management. Dates:
January 18 - April 23, 1999
Please register by: January 5
Fee: $589  (Canadian funds, approximately $390 USD, credit and non
credit options available)

For more information, please contact:

    Joy Davis, Program Director
    Brenda Weatherston, Program Coordinator
    Cultural Resource Management Program
    Division of Continuing Studies
    University of Victoria
    PO Box 3030 STN CSC
    Victoria, BC CANADA V8W 3N6
    +1 250 721 8462
    Fax: +1 250 721 8774
    joydavis [at] uvcs__uvic__ca
    <URL:http://www.uvcs.uvic.ca/crmp/>

To receive E-mail updates, contact: bweatherston [at] uvcs__uvic__ca

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                  Conservation DistList Instance 12:51
                Distributed: Tuesday, December 15, 1998
                       Message Id: cdl-12-51-034
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