[NHCOLL-L:1176] A new book from UBC Press

[Berit Kraus]

Dear:

I would greatly appreciate if the following information about a 
forthcoming book from UBC Press could be posted on the 
SPNHC web site. If  you require the copy to be shorter, please 
contact me and I'll be happy to cut it down to the required length.

Thank you for your help in making our book known to those 
visiting your site.

Sincerely,

Berit Kraus
Manager, Advertising and Promotion, UBC Press



A new book from UBC Press

Preserving What Is Valued
Museums and First Nations

Miriam Clavir

Preserving What Is Valued explores the concept of preserving 
heritage.  It presents the conservation profession's code of ethics 
and discusses four significant contexts embedded in museum 
conservation practice:  science, professionalization, museum 
practice, and the relationship between museums and First 
Nations peoples.

Museum practice regarding handling and preservation of objects 
has been largely taken as a given, and it can be difficult to see 
how these activities are politicized.  Clavir argues that museum 
practices are historically grounded and represent values that are 
not necessarily held by the originators of the objects.  She first 
focuses on conservation and explains the principles and methods 
conservators practise.  She then discusses First Nations people's 
perspectives on preservation, quoting extensively from 
interviews done throughout British Columbia, and comparing the 
British Columbia situation with that in New Zealand.

In the face of cultural repatriation issues, museums are 
attempting to become more culturally sensitive to the original 
owners of objects, forming new understandings of the "right 
ways" of storage and handling of materials.  Miriam Clavir's 
work is important for museum professionals, conservators, those 
working with First Nations collections in auction houses and 
galleries, as well as students of sociology and anthropology.

Miriam Clavir is Senior Conservator, the Museum of 
Anthropology, University of British Columbia

December, 272 pages

For ordering information, please visit our web site at 
www.ubcpress.ca