[NHCOLL-L:3676] Museum Registration Class in January online

[Helen Alten]

MS103: The Basics of Museum Registration
Instructor: Peggy Schaller
Dates: January 28 to February 23, 2008
Price: $425

The Northern States Conservation Center 
(http://www.collectioncare.org) is pleased to 
announce the return of one of its building-block 
courses:  The Basics of Museum Registration at 
www.museumclasses.org.  This course covers the 
basics of museum record keeping. The mission 
statement is emphasized as the foundation for the 
museum. Then students learn of the importance of 
establishing set policies and procedures. The 
terms 'registration' and 'accession' will be 
defined and the process discussed. Three common 
types of numbering systems will be reviewed and 
the answer to the question "Why do museums put 
those little bitty numbers on all their 
artifacts?" will be revealed. Finally, the Museum 
Registration Manual, its importance for the 
museum and what it should contain will be reviewed.

Participants will be asked to create a mission 
statement, collection policy and acquisition 
policy for a 'new' museum; comment on one of the 
selected readings about museum missions; complete 
an accessioning exercise; and for the final class 
project create a sample registration manual for our 'new' museum.

Class Outline:
1.      Introduction
2.      The Museum Mission Statement
3.      Accessioning and Numbering
4.      Registration Manual
5.      Conclusion

The course format is self-paced through 5 
sections. The instructor will be available at 
predetermined intervals throughout the course. 
Students will be working individually and 
interact through forums and scheduled on-line 
chats. Materials include web versions of reading 
materials and lecture notes. Supporting resources 
include message forums, weekly online chats, 
email support, projects, quizzes, and links to relevant websites.

The course will last for four weeks and cover all 
the details needed to begin processing a 
collection. This course will include handouts, 
on-line literature, slide lectures, and 
student-teacher/group-teacher dialog. The course 
is limited to 20 participants.

If you are interested in the course, please sign 
up at www.museumclasses.org and pay for the 
course 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:
"I thought the powerpoint was great and that the 
resources (readings etc) kind of applied the 
stuff we learned to real life. I definitely think 
I got a good survey of the registration process. 
I liked the exercise where we chose the different 
items we would have in the museum. That one was 
hard because I didn't always know how to justify 
something I wanted or didn't want. It was a good 
exercise. I really had to spend some time on it. 
I was even asking my family at the dinner table 
and we were all talking about what we would keep and what we wouldn't!
I would definitely take another class." - Student in MS103

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This course was a great quick course.  It covered 
a lot of good information in the short time 
allotted.  I will look forward to taking more in 
the future.  It is a great way to meet people in 
our field and share experiences.  I felt that the 
instructor was very helpful and available. - Student in MS103

----------------------------------------------------
“I liked that everything was online at one 
location
 it was easy to find and read the 
assigned readings. The class was set up so that 
someone with very little time could learn a lot 
in a short period. It provided information that 
was useful in the actual context of work.” -  July 2005 Student in MS103

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I have taken numerous NSCC classes prior to this 
one. I have enjoyed many of the classes offered 
through NSCC and really learn a lot. 
 I thought 
the class was taught extremely well and provided 
grateful information. Peggy was an inspiring 
person with so much to learn from! - July 2005 Student in MS103

About the instructor:

Peggy Schaller is the President of Collections 
Research for Museums in Denver, Colorado. She has 
a BA in Anthropology with minors in Art History 
and Geology from the University of Arizona in 
Tucson, a MA in Anthropology with a minor in 
Museum Studies from the University of Colorado in 
Boulder, and I am a Certified Institutional Protection Specialist.

Peggy Schaller established Collections Research 
for Museums, a museum consulting firm that 
specializes in cataloging/collection management 
training and services, in November 1991. It is 
the mission of Collections Research for Museums 
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. During 
the last 13 years, I have worked with numerous 
museums and institutions and many different types of collections.


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