Online classes at Northern States Conservation Center

May 2015 Courses

MS 011: Gallery Guides
May 4-15, 2015
Instructor:  Karin Hostetter
Location: <URL:http://museumclasses.org>

    Description: Self-guided brochures, exhibit labels, docent led
    tours, guest speakers, and audio tours are only a few of the
    methods available to guide visitors through an exhibit.  Explore
    the strengths and challenges of many different methods and
    garner resources for further information.  Learn how to
    determine which method works best with which exhibits and how to
    provide variety to enhance the visitor experience.

    For more information and to sign up:
    <URL:http://www.collectioncare.org/gallery-guides-line-short-course>

MS 109: Museum Management
May 4-June 5, 2015
Instructor:  Sue Near
Location: http://museumclasses.org

    Description: Sound business practices are critical for a museum
    to fulfill its mission.  Sounds like vegetables, right?  Museum
    management is complex.  A museum exists to preserve collections
    and educate, but it is also an institution that must employ
    sound business practices while being accountable to the public
    as a non-profit organization.  Instructor Sue Near teaches
    participants how to administer a successful museum efficiently
    and effectively.  Participants will engage in discussions about
    the changing cultural climate and its effect on museum
    operations.

    For more information and to sign up:
    <URL:http://www.collectioncare.org/museum-management-line-course>

MS 202: Museum Storage Facilities and Furniture
May 4-29, 2015
Instructor:  Helen Alten
Location: http://museumclasses.org

    Description: If you are building a new storage facility or
    retrofitting an old one, this course provides the blueprint for
    how to approach architects and engineers as well as redesigning
    your facility yourself.  The course covers the philosophy of
    storage, the construction requirements, security, fire and water
    prevention, types of furniture, and how to plan for collections
    growth.

    The course will start with a refresher on the agents of
    deterioration and environmental issues to assure that the
    students have a common base to begin.

    After this introduction, topics include determining storage and
    defining space, architectural design considerations and issues
    such as lighting, security and planning.  We will discuss
    general information about storage furniture types and storage
    materials, how to modify existing cabinets and information on
    homemade storage systems.  The last section includes specific
    information from a variety of vendors, specifics on writing a
    Request for Proposal (RFP), and what to consider when making a
    decision on a furniture type and vendor.

    For more information and to sign up:
    <URL:http://www.collectioncare.org/museum-storage-facilities-and-furniture-line-course>

MS 211: Preservation Environments
May 4-29, 2015
Instructor:  Ernest Conrad
Location: http://museumclasses.org

    Description: The museum's brick exterior wall is crumbling.  The
    powder coated metal storage shelves have active rust under the
    foam padding.  Objects in fur storage are covered in mold.  It
    is raining in the exhibit hall.  This is the damage that occurs
    to museum buildings or collection when staff do not understand
    preservation environments.  Preservation Environments is
    essential knowledge for any collecting institution.  Everyone
    should understand how humidity and temperature are controlled by
    a building and its mechanical system.  For museum staff
    considering a new building, and any institution planning to
    expand or rebuild an existing one, Preservation Environments
    provide important information for calculating whether the
    proposed improvements will actually improve the environmental
    control of your protective enclosure.  Participants learn the
    advantages and disadvantages of numerous methods of temperature
    and humidity control.  Preservation Environments does not try to
    turn museum professionals into engineers.  Rather, it arms them
    with the knowledge they need to work with engineers and
    maintenance professionals.  And helps explain why damaged
    occurred and how to keep it from happening again.

    For more information and to sign up:
    <URL:http://www.collectioncare.org/preservation-environments-line-course>

MS 212: Care of Textiles
May 4-29, 2015
Instructor:  Ann Coppinger
Location: http://museumclasses.org

    Description: Caring for textiles demands an understanding of how
    and why they deteriorate.  This course offers a simplified
    explanation of the origin and structure of textile fibers as
    well as the finished textile object; be it either a piece of
    whole cloth or a finished garment.  Care of Textiles teaches
    students to identify fibers, fabric structures and finishes,
    write condition reports, and understand the agents of
    deterioration that are harmful to various fabrics both in
    storage on exhibit.  Topics include preparing textiles for
    storage and exhibit, the use of archival materials with
    textiles, and three dimensional supports.

    For more information and to sign up:
    <URL:http://www.collectioncare.org/care-textiles-line-course>

MS 215: Care of Archaeological Artifacts from the Field to the Lab
New Dates: May 4-29, 2015
Instructor:  Diana Komejan
Location: http://museumclasses.org

    Description: Archaeological finds come out of the ground fragile
    and they often stay that way.  Yet archaeologists and museum
    professionals have few clear guidelines for handling, moving,
    storing and displaying such materials.  Participants in Care of
    Archaeological Artifacts From the Field to the Lab learn
    techniques for safely lifting and packing artifacts, safe
    transportation and temporary and permanent storage.  The course
    also covers a broad range of excavation environments, including
    the Arctic, wet sites, tropical and temperate.  Though Care of
    Archaeological Artifacts is not intended to train archaeological
    conservators, it is designed to help participants understand
    what can and can't be done to save the artifacts they unearth.

    For more information and to sign up:
    <URL:http://www.collectioncare.org/care-archaeological-artifacts-field-lab-line-course>

MS 224: Care of Leather and Skin Materials
New dates: May 4 - June 12, 2015
Instructor: Helen Alten
Location: http://museumclasses.org

    Description: 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.

    For more information and to sign up:
    <URL:http://www.collectioncare.org/care-leather-and-skin-materials-line-course>

MS 226: Care of Furniture
May 4-9, 2015
Instructor:  Diana Komejan
Location: http://museumclasses.org

    Description: Caring for furniture and wood artifacts demands an
    understanding of how and why wood deteriorates.  This course
    offers a simplified explanation of the chemistry and structure
    of wood as well as the finished wooden object; be it either a
    totem pole, plow or a French polished table.  Care of Furniture
    and Wood Artifacts teaches students to identify woods, finishes
    and furniture styles, write condition reports, and understand
    the agents of deterioration that are harmful to wood both in
    storage and on exhibit.  Topics include preparing wood artifacts
    for storage and exhibit, the use of archival materials with wood
    artifacts, housekeeping techniques for furniture and large
    objects on open display, basic repairs and three dimensional
    supports for storage or exhibit.

    For more information and to sign up:
    <URL:http://www.collectioncare.org/care-furniture-and-wood-artifacts-line-course>

MS 234: Archives Management
May 4-29, 2015
Instructor: Jennifer Edwards
Location: http://museumclasses.org

    Description: Archives include flat paper, photographs, bound
    pamphlets, books, small 3-dimensional objects, and magnetic
    media.  The Archives Management course covers an introduction to
    the materials found in archives and typical use of these
    materials including use patterns, retrieval needs, finding aids,
    handling and exhibition.  The last half of the course details
    optimum storage options for archival materials.  Storage
    includes furniture, storage techniques, standardized and
    specialized housing such as folders and boxes and custom-made
    housings.

    For more information and to sign up:
    <URL:http://www.collectioncare.org/archives-management-line-course>

Helen Alten
Northern States Conservation Center


                                  ***
                  Conservation DistList Instance 28:43
                 Distributed: Saturday, April 11, 2015
                       Message Id: cdl-28-43-008
                                  ***