[NHCOLL-L:3769] March Classes - Preservation Environments, Disaster Planning, Volunteer Programs, Collections Management Policies

[Helen Alten]

March Online Classes at www.museumclasses.org

MS002: Collection Protection - Are you Prepared? (short course)
Mar 3 - 7, 2008,  Price: $75
Instructor: Terri Schindel
Location: http://museumclasses.org/training/trol_classes_ms002.html

MS211: Preservation Environments
Mar 3 - Mar 28, 2008,  Price: $425
Instructor: Ernest A. Conrad
Location: http://museumclasses.org/training/trol_classes_ms211.html

  MS209: Collections Management Policies for Museums and Related Institutions
Mar 3 - May 9, 2008, Price: $425
Instructor: Bill Tompkins
Location: http://museumclasses.org/training/trol_classes_ms209.html

MS108: Fundamentals of Museum Volunteer Programs ** NEW **
Mar 3 - Mar 28, 2008, Price: $425
Instructor: Karin Hostetter
Location: http://museumclasses.org/training/trol_classes_ms108.html

MS205/6: Disaster Plan Research and Writing
Mar 17 - May 16, 2008, Price: $425
Instructor: Terri Schindel
Location: http://museumclasses.org/training/trol_classes_ms205.html

-------------------- Details of Each Course -------------------------

MS209: Collections Management Policies for Museums and Related
Institutions
Location: http://museumclasses.org/training/trol_classes_ms209.html

The Northern States Conservation Center ( http://www.collectioncare.org )
is pleased to add Collections Management Policies for Museums and Related
Institutions to our online collection management curriculum. This popular
Smithsonian workshop is now available online at http://www.museumclasses.org

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.

Course Textbook:
John E. Simmons, Things Great and Small: Collections Management Policies,
American Association of Museums, 2006, $40 non-member, $30 member, 208
pages, ISBN: 1-933253-03-7, available from the AAM bookstore

Course Outline:
1. The Principles of Collections Management
2. Collections Stewardship: The Role of a Collections Management Policy
3. Policy Versus Procedure
4. Issues to Consider When Developing a Collections Management Policy
5. Essential Components of a Collections Management Policy
· Statement of Purpose
· Statement of Authority
· Definition and Scope of Collections
· Acquisition and Accessioning
· Deaccessioning and Disposal
· Preservation
· Collections Information
· Inventory
· Risk Management and Security
· Access
· Loans
· Intellectual Property Rights Management
· Staff Responsibility / Ethics
6. Monitoring and Revision
7. Potential Problems
8. Emerging Issues
9. Drafting a Collections Management Policy

Logistics:
Participants in Collections Management Policies work through sections at
their own pace. Instructor Bill Tompkins is available for scheduled email
support. Materials and resources include online literature, textbook
readings, slide lectures and dialog between students and online chats led by
the instructor. The course is limited to 20 participants.

Please sign up at http://www.museumclasses.org and pay at
http://www.collectioncare.org/tas/tas.html If you have trouble with either,
please contact Helen Alten at helen at collectioncare.org

The Instructor:
William G. (Bill) Tompkins is the national collections coordinator for the
Smithsonian Institution. Bill serves as a principal advisor to senior
Smithsonian management and staff on collections-management policies,
procedures and standards. He develops, implements and interprets Smithsonian
collections management standards. This includes reviewing and approving the
policies of the Smithsonian's individual museums to make sure collections
are maintained according to policy, professional standards and legal
obligations. Previously, Bill was assistant director of the Smithsonian's
Office of the Registrar. He is also a former collections manager at the
National Museum of American History. With nearly thirty years experience in
the museum profession, Bill regularly speaks at professional meetings,
workshops and university programs.

-----------------------------------------

MS205/6: Disaster Plan Research and Writing
Location: http://museumclasses.org/training/trol_classes_ms205.html

Every museum needs to be prepared for fires, floods, chemical spills,
tornadoes, hurricanes and other disasters. But surveys show 80 percent lack
trained staff, emergency-preparedness plans for their collections, or both.
Disaster Plan Research and Writing begins with the creation of
disaster-preparedness teams, the importance of ongoing planning, employee
safety, board participation and insurance. Participants will learn
everything they need to draft their own disaster-preparedness plans. They
also will be required to incorporate colleagues in team-building exercises.

A written disaster-preparedness plan is not only a good idea, it's also a
requirement for accreditation. In the second half of the course, instructor
Terri Schindel reviews and provides input as participants write plans that
outline the procedures to follow in various emergencies. The completed plan
prepares museums physically and mentally to handle emergencies that can harm
vulnerable and irreplaceable collections. You will have a completed
institutional disaster-preparedness and response plan at the end of the
course.

Course Outline:
1. Introduction to Disaster Planning
2. Disaster Team
3. Risk Assessment and Management
4. Health and Safety
5. Insurance
6. Documentation
7. Prioritizing Collections
8. Writing the Disaster Preparedness Plan
9. Emergency Procedures
10. Disaster Response
11. Emergency Procedures - Recovery
12. Emergency Procedures - Salvage
13. Emergency Procedures - Salvage Techniques and Guidelines
14. Emergency supplies and location of regional resources
15. Appendices: What to put in them
16. Next steps: planning drills and further resources
17. Conclusion

Logistics:
Participants in MS205/6: Disaster Plan Research and Writing work at their
own pace through eight sections. Instructor Terri Schindel is available at
scheduled times for email support. Opportunities for interaction include
forums and scheduled online chats. Each section includes a written
assignment that becomes support material for drafting an actual
disaster-preparedness plan. Materials include online readings, lecture
notes, links to relevant web sites and handouts. The course is limited to 20
participants.

Required Textbook:
Disaster Plan Research and Writing uses the 
required textbook Steal This Handbook! A
Template for Creating a Museum's Emergency Preparedness Plan, which is
available for purchase at http://www.collectioncare.org/tas/tas.html

Please sign up at http://www.museumclasses.org and pay at
http://www.collectioncare.org/tas/tas.html If you have trouble with either,
please contact Helen Alten at helen at collectioncare.org

Student Comments for MS205/6 Disaster Plan Research and Writing:
"This course was a great motivator to get me to work on the disaster
preparedness plan." - MS 205 Student

"The course exceeded my expectations . I am looking forward to developing
a plan that will protect the collections. I really enjoyed the course and
plan on taking additional courses in the future." - MS 205 Student

"Terri was good at asking little questions about procedures that I had
either overlooked or had not considered, and this got me moving in new
directions." - MS 206 Student

"To write the disaster preparedness and response plan, you need to set
aside a significant amount of time and this class forced me to do that so I
completed most of the plan. Hooray!" - MS 206 Student

"A great motivator to get me to work on the disaster preparedness and
response plan. I really appreciate Terri's time, knowledge, and
flexibility." - MS 206 Student

The Instructor:
Terri Schindel, graduated from the Courtauld Art Institute, University of
London with a concentration in textile conservation. She has assisted small
and medium sized museums in writing disaster plans for more than a decade
and helped develop national standards for disaster-preparedness materials.
Ms. Schindel specializes in collection care and preventive conservation and
works regularly with small, rural and tribal museums.

----------------------------------------------------------------

MS211: Preservation Environments
Location: http://museumclasses.org/training/trol_classes_ms211.html

Discover what an HVAC is and why some work better in one type of structure
than another. Learn how to use a psychrometric chart to predict potential
problems in your museum. Find out about LEED buildings and the future of
museums. Become familiar with MERV, HEPA, and other terms used by your
building engineers. Preservation Environments is essential for any
institution considering a new building - and any institution planning to
expand or rebuild an existing one. 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.

Course Outline
1. Introduction
2. Climate Control Basics
3. Monitoring and Psychrometrics
4. Water The Enemy
5. Preservation Tomorrow
6. Conclusion

Logistics
Participants in Preservation Environments work at their own pace through
six sections and interact through online chats. Instructor Ernest Conrad is
available at scheduled times for email support. Preservation Environments
includes online literature, slide lectures and student-teacher/group-teacher
dialog. The course is limited to 20 participants.

Preservation Environments runs four weeks. Sign up at
www.museumclasses.org and pay for the course at
http://www.collectioncare.org/tas/tas.html. If you have trouble completing
an on-line order, please contact Helen Alten at helen at collectioncare.org or
Eric Swanson at eric at collectioncare.org

Student Comments:
The content was excellent; the instructor is obviously an expert in the
subject matter and it was great learning from him!

I thought the lectures were great. Very easy for a person with no
experience in this subject to understand.

The Instructor:
For over 20 years, Mr. Conrad has focused on environmental issues. He is
president of Landmark Facilities Group, Inc., an engineering firm
specializing in environmental systems for museums, libraries, archives and
historic facilities. A licensed mechanical engineer in several states, Mr.
Conrad holds a bachelor's degree in civil engineering and a master's in
environmental engineering from Drexel University, Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania.

A well-respected and honored member of many professional organizations,
his greatest contribution to the preservation field was the development of
environmental guidelines for engineers who work on museums, libraries and
archives. The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and
Air-Conditioning Engineers, Inc. (ASHRAE) publishes standards in the areas
of HVAC and refrigeration. Mr. Conrad recently co-authored the ASHRAE
Applications Handbook "Chapter 20: Museums, Libraries and Archives." For the
first time, there are guidelines specific to our needs in the engineering
literature.

Mr. Conrad has studied environments and designed special climate control
systems throughout the United States for clients as well-known as the
National Gallery of Art, Library of Congress, The Frick Collection, Getty
Conservation Institute, The Pierpont Morgan Library, National Trust for
Historic Preservation, and National Park Service. He has a special interest
in house museums and how climate affects structures and collections housed
within those structures.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

One-Week Online Disaster Planning Seminar at www.museumclasses.org

Dip your toes into the online learning experience and see if it works for
you. Our one-week seminars are short, concise topics that provide you with
instructor feedback. Here is the first one we are offering in 2008, a
wonderful chance to self-analyze your disaster preparedness.

MS 002: Collection Protection Are You Prepared?
Location: http://museumclasses.org/training/trol_classes_ms002.html

Disaster planning is overwhelming. Where do you start? Talk to Terri about
how to get going. Use her check list to determine your level of
preparedness. What do you already have in place? Are you somewhat prepared?
What can you do next? Participants in Collection Protection will read
literature and complete a checklist before joining a one-hour chat to
discuss disaster preparedness at their institutions. Each student should
read course materials and prepare questions or comments to share with the
other students in the chats. The final chat summarizes what was learned in
the readings from the week.

This seminar takes no more than 10 hours of time.

Please sign up at www.museumclasses.org and pay at
http://www.collectioncare.org/tas/tas.html . If you have trouble with
either, please contact Helen Alten at helen at collectioncare.org

----------------------------------------------------------------------

MS 108: Fundamentals of Museum Volunteer Programs ***NEW***
Location: http://museumclasses.org/training/trol_classes_ms108.html

Volunteers are essential for most non-profit institutions. But even though
they don't get paychecks, it takes time and money to have effective
volunteers. Fundamentals of Museum Volunteer Programs, new for 2008, is
designed to teach 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.

Course Outline
Week One
1. Introduction
2. Laying the Foundation: preparing staff, job descriptions
3. Determining Program Structure: who's in charge
Week Two
4. Recruiting Volunteers
5. Selecting Volunteers
Week Three
6. Training Volunteers
7. Evaluating Volunteers
8. Saying "Thank You"
Week Four
9. Keeping Records
10. Communicating Information: including handling change
11. Liability
12. Conclusion

Logistics:
Participants in Fundamentals of Museum Volunteer Programs work at their
own pace through sections and interact through online chats. Instructor
Karin Hostetter is available at scheduled times during the course for email
support. Fundamentals of Museum Volunteer Programs includes online
literature and student-teacher/group-teacher dialog. The course is limited
to 20 participants.

Fundamentals of Museum Volunteer Programs runs four weeks. Sign up at
www.museumclasses.org and pay for the course at
http://www.collectioncare.org/tas/tas.html. If you have trouble completing
an on-line order, please contact Helen Alten at helen at collectioncare.org or
Eric Swanson at eric at collectioncare.org

The Instructor
Karin Hostetter, author of a series of articles for the National
Association for Interpretation's Legacy magazine, has worked with volunteers
for nearly 15 years. She taught the National Association for
Interpretation's two-day volunteer management course for volunteer
coordinators and served on a panel about volunteer programs. As the first
paid volunteer coordinator for the Denver Zoo in Colorado, she designed an
interview process, developed a progressive and comprehensive recognition
system, introduced interpretation into training, and restructured the
volunteer organization. Ms. Hostetter now consults with organizations on
structuring and improving volunteer programs. And she volunteers herself.

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/private/nhcoll-l/attachments/20080222/7ede4b97/attachment.html