Online classes at Northern States Conservation Center

Northern States Conservation Center announces 11 online museum
courses being held over the Internet in October. The courses cover
topics on exhibits, collection care, security, and collections
management. For more information on these courses, go to

    <URL:http://www.museumclasses.org>

On Monday, October 5, eight courses will start:

    MS 108: Fundamentals of Museum Volunteer Programs
    MS 224: Care of Leather and Skin Materials
    MS 210: Integrated Pest Management for Museums, Libraries and
            Archives
    MS 106: Exhibit Fundamentals: Ideas to Installation
    MS 222: Care of Photographs
    MS 243: Making Museum Quality Mannequins
    MS 002: Collection Protection: Are you Prepared

On Monday, October 12, two courses will start:

    MS 209: Collections Management Policies for Museums and Related
            Institutions
    MS 010: Condition Assessments

On  Monday, October 19, the final two courses of the month will
start:

    MS 214: Collection Management Databases
    MS 107: Introduction to Museum Security

Below is a brief summary of each course description:

MS 108: Fundamentals of Museum Volunteer Programs
Dates: Oct. 5-30, 2009
Price: $475
Instructor: Karin Hostetter

    Volunteers are essential for most non-profit institutions. But
    good volunteers aren't born--they are made. Even though they
    don't get paychecks, it takes time and money to have effective
    volunteers. Fundamentals of Museum Volunteer Programs teaches
    the basics of a strong volunteer program. Topics include
    recruiting, training and rewarding volunteers, as well as
    preparing staff. Instruction continues through firing and
    liabilities. Participants will end up with custom forms tailored
    to their institutions, an understanding of liability issues and
    a nine-step process to troubleshoot an existing volunteer
    program or create the best one for a particular institution.

MS224: Care of Leather and Skin Materials
Dates: Oct. 5 through Oct. 30, 2009
Price: $475
Instructor: Helen Alten

    Prior to the invention of plastics, skin materials were the
    flexible covering used for most objects--from bellows to books,
    carriages to desktops. Furs and skins are in almost every
    museum's collection, be it Natural History, History or Art.
    Caring for leather and skin materials demands an understanding
    of how and why they deteriorate. Care of Leather and Skin
    Materials offers a simplified explanation of the origin,
    chemistry and structure of leathers and skins. Students learn to
    identify leathers and surface finishes, determine their extent
    of deterioration, write condition reports, and understand the
    agents of deterioration that are harmful to leather and skins
    both in storage and on exhibit. Topics include preparing hide
    and skin materials for storage and exhibit, the use of archival
    materials and which ones might harm skin proteins, housekeeping
    techniques for large objects or books on open display, and
    three-dimensional supports for leather and skin to keep them
    from distorting. Integrated pest management and historical
    treatments will be covered, with a unit on hazardous materials
    applied to older skins and leather that might prove a danger to
    staff.

MS210: Integrated Pest Management for Museums, Libraries
and Archives
Dates: Oct. 5 through Nov. 20, 2009
Price: $475
Instructor: Gretchen Anderson

    Participants in Integrated Pest Management for Museums,
    Libraries and Archives learn low-toxicity methods of controlling
    infestations. IPM is the standard method for treating incoming
    items and monitoring holdings. Integrated Pest Management for
    Museums, Libraries and Archives discusses how infestations
    occur, helps identify risks, provides feasible mitigation
    strategies, discusses the different techniques of treating
    infested materials, and helps you complete an IPM plan and
    monitoring schedule for your institution. The course covers pest
    identification, insects, rodent, birds, bats, other mammals and
    mold infestations, as well as other problems raised by
    participants.

MS 106: Exhibit Fundamentals: Ideas to Installation
Dates: Oct. 5 through Nov. 13, 2009
Price: $475
Instructor: Lin Nelson-Mayson

    Nearly every museum develops exhibits, but how can we improve
    communication with visitors while taking care of our objects?
    Exhibit Fundamentals explores exhibits from idea to final
    installation in a variety of settings. Topics include exhibit
    theory, the role of the museum's mission, creating a timeline,
    accessibility and script writing. Also covered are design
    elements, installation techniques, object safety and security,
    visitor safety and evaluations. Each student develops an exhibit
    plan for his or her museum.

MS222: Care of Photographs
Dates: Oct. 5 through Nov. 27, 2009
Price: $475
Instructor: Gawain Weaver

    Photographic materials cover a diverse range, everything from
    the daguerreotypes and wet plate negatives of the 19th century
    to the gelatin silver, chromogenic and inkjet prints of the 20th
    and now 21st century. Care of Photographs offers a broad
    introduction to the history, technology, identification, and
    care of these and other photographic materials. Topics include
    environmental monitoring, the effects of temperature and
    relative humidity, and the importance of cold storage for
    certain photographic materials. It is intended to help those
    caring for photographic materials to gain a better understanding
    of their collections and how to care for them. Each student
    receives two sample sets of photographs. Course fees cover the
    $50 cost of these samples.

MS 243: Making Museum Quality Mannequins
Dates: Oct. 5 through Oct. 30, 2009
Price: $475
Instructor: Helen Alten

    A good mannequin makes an exhibit look professional.
    Unfortunately, most museum staff do not know how to make a
    costume look good on a mannequin. The result is that costumes
    look flat, provide incorrect information or are being damaged.
    Buying an expensive "museum quality mannequin" is not the
    solution--garments rarely fit without alterations to the
    mannequin. Learn how to measure garments and transfer that
    information to construct a new form or alter an old form so that
    it accurately fits the garment, creating an accurate and safe
    display. Learn about the materials that will and won't damage
    the textile. Making Museum Quality Mannequins provides an
    overview of all of the materials used to construct mannequins in
    today's museums. Learn inexpensive mannequin solutions and how
    different materials may use the same additive or subtractive
    construction technique. Fabrication methods for many mannequin
    styles are described. Finishing touches - casting and molding,
    hair, arms, legs, stands and base, undergarments--are discussed
    with examples of how they change the presentation of a garment.

MS 002: Collection Protection: Are you prepared?
Dates: October 5 through 9, 2009
Price: $75
Instructor: Terri Schindel

    Disaster planning is overwhelming. Where do you start? Talk to
    Terri about how to get going. Use her checklist to determine
    your level of preparedness. What do you already have in place?
    Are you somewhat prepared? What can you do next? Help clarify
    your current state of readiness and develop future steps to
    improve it.

MS 209: Collections Management Policies for Museums and
Related Institutions
Dates: Oct. 12 through Dec. 18, 2009
Price: $475
Instructor: Bill Tompkins

    Acquiring and holding collections impose specific legal, ethical
    and professional obligations. Museums must ensure proper
    management, preservation and use of their collections. A
    well-crafted collections management policy is key to collections
    stewardship. Collections Management Policies for Museums and
    Related Institutions helps participants develop policies that
    meet professional and legal standards for collections
    management.

    Collections Management Policies for Museums and Related
    Institutions teaches the practical skills and knowledge needed
    to write and implement such a policy. The course covers the
    essential components and issues a policy should address. It also
    highlights the role of the policy in carrying out a museum's
    mission and guiding stewardship decisions. Participants are
    expected to draft collections management policies.

MS 010: Condition Assessments
Dates: Oct. 12 through 16, 2009
Price: $95
Instructor: Helen Alten

    Whenever an object leaves or enters your museum, it should have
    a dated condition report completed. A condition report is so
    much more than "good" or "poor." Learn about different types of
    condition reports, what is essential and what is optional
    information in each, the function of a condition report, and how
    to use an online condition assessment tool.

MS 214: Collection Management Databases
Dates: Oct. 19 through Nov. 13, 2009
Price: $475
Instructors: Sofia Galarza Liu and John Simmons

    A collection database is a necessary tool for accurate and
    efficient collections management. In Collection Management
    Databases you will learn what characteristics distinguish one
    database system from another; how a database can be used to
    manage inventory, conservation, pest management, and other
    aspects of collections management; as well as how to prepare
    your collection and documentation for entry into a database.

MS 107: Introduction to Museum Security
Dates: Oct. 19 through Nov. 13
Price: $475
Instructor: Stevan P. Layne

    World events continually remind us just how important security
    is. The FBI and Interpol databases record thefts from small
    rural museums and world renowned art collections. The prevalence
    of collections lost to theft is brought home to us with regular
    sensational newspaper stories. And then there are the internal
    thefts, fires, and collection vandalism that also result in
    loss. Security must be a priority for every museum, regardless
    of size. Introduction to Security teaches basic, practical
    approaches to protecting against threats such as theft,
    vandalism, violent acts, natural disasters, fire and
    environmental hazards. Topics include selecting security
    systems, determining security needs and how to build affordable
    security systems. Screening, hiring, firing, workplace violence,
    policies and procedures and emergency management planning are
    covered as well.


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 23:10
                 Distributed: Thursday, October 1, 2009
                       Message Id: cdl-23-10-006
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