[Nhcoll-l] Collections Management: Cataloging Your Collection online course starts July 1

[helen at collectioncare.org]

MS207: Collections Management: Cataloging Your Collection
(Only offered once in 2012)
Instructor: Peggy Schaller
Dates: July 1 to July 26, 2013
Location: online at www.museumclasses.org

Description:
Cataloging may not be the most exciting museum task, but it
is among the most important. Without a clear knowledge of
your holdings, you can't protect, care for, research or
exhibit them. Without knowledge of an item's history, you
can't properly appreciate its value to your museum.
Cataloging Your Collection covers all details needed to
catalog a collection. Procedures for handling, measuring
and describing all types of objects and materials are
discussed in detail. Participants receive sample forms and
learn the best practices for numbering artifacts,
performing inventory and assessing the condition of
objects. Participants practice describing everyday objects
and cataloging items from their own collections or
households. 

Each participant will write a mission statement, as well as
collection and acquisition policies for a "new" museum. The
curriculum also requires written commentary on museum
missions, an accessioning exercise and drafting a sample
registration manual.

Logistics:
Participants in Cataloging Your Collection set their own
pace while working through 10 sections. Instructor Peggy
Schaller will be available at scheduled times for email
support. Participants interact through forums and scheduled
online chats. Materials include online readings and lecture
notes, as well as handouts, slide lectures, projects and
links to relevant web sites. The course is limited to 20
participants. 

Cataloging Your Collection runs four weeks. To learn more
about the course, please go to
http://www.collectioncare.org/training/trol_classes_ms207.html
If you have trouble please contact Helen Alten at
helen at collectioncare.org

The Instructor:
Peggy Schaller, founded Collections Research for Museums in
1991 to provide cataloging, collection-management training
and services. She has worked with a large variety of
museums and collections for more than 18 years. Peggy, who
lives in Denver, Colorado, has a bachelor's degree in
anthropology with minors in art history and geology from
the University of Arizona in Tucson. She has a master's
degree in anthropology with a minor in museum studies from
the University of Colorado in Boulder and is a Certified
Institutional Protection Manager II. She provides workshops
and project services to museums and historical societies
all across the country. The mission of Collections Research
for Museums is to inspire museums to improve their
professional standards, collections stewardship and service
to their constituency through training in, and assistance
with, documenting, preserving, protecting and managing
their collections. For more information visit her web site
Collections Research for Museums

Helen Alten
Director
Northern States Conservation Center
www.collectioncare.org
www.museumclasses.org