[NHCOLL-L:4260] Care of Metals class online March 30

[Helen Alten]

Northern States Conservation Center announces a new course on care of 
metals starting next Monday:

MS 223: Care of Metals **NEW**
Dates: Mar 30 - Apr 24, 2009
Price: $425
Instructor: Helen Alten
Location: www.museumclasses.org

Description:
Outdoor sculpture, silver tea service, gold jewelry, axe head, wheel 
rim - metals are found in most museum collections and may be stored 
or displayed indoor or outdoors depending on the object. Learn how to 
identify different types of metal and their alloys. Gain an 
understanding of how and why metals deteriorate and methods for 
preventing deterioration from occurring or continuing. The pros and 
cons of different popular treatments will be covered along with 
recommendations for the least damaging approach to treatment. Care of 
Metals provides a simplified explanation of the chemistry and 
structure of metals, explaining the importance of the galvanic series 
and electrochemistry in care strategies. Starting with an overview of 
the history and function of metals and how they are made, the course 
will cover guidelines for handling, labeling, exhibiting and storing 
metals. An overview of treatments, including cleaning, used on metals 
and how appropriate they are for the long-term preservation of the 
metal object will help students make care decisions when consulting 
with conservators.

Course Outline:
1. Introduction
2. History, chemical and physical properties of metals
3. Fabrication technology
4. Documentation and Condition Report Writing
5. Metals and the Environment
6. Handling Metals
7. Treating Metals
8. Care of Metals in Storage
9. Care of Metals on Exhibit
10. Conclusion

Logistics:
Participants in Care of Metals work through sections on their own. 
Materials and resources include online literature, slide lectures and 
dialog between students and the instructor through online forums. The 
course is limited to 20 participants.

Care of Metals runs four weeks. To reserve a spot in the course, 
please pay at 
<http://museumclasses.org/training/http://www.collectioncare.org/tas/tas.html>http://www.collectioncare.org/tas/tas.html 
If you have trouble please contact Helen Alten at helen at collectioncare.org


The Instructor:
Helen Alten, is the Director of Northern States Conservation Center 
and its chief Objects Conservator. For nearly 30 years she has been 
involved in objects conservation, starting as a pre-program intern at 
the Oriental Institute in Chicago and the University Museum of the 
University of Pennsylvania. She completed a degree in Archaeological 
Conservation and Materials Science from the Institute of Archaeology 
at the University of London in England. She has built and run 
conservation laboratories in Bulgaria, Montana, Greece, Alaska and 
Minnesota. She has a broad understanding of three-dimensional 
materials and their deterioration, wrote and edited the quarterly 
Collections Caretaker, maintains the popular www.collectioncare.org 
web site, lectures throughout the United States on collection care 
topics, was instrumental in developing a state-wide protocol for 
disaster response in small Minnesota museums, has written, received 
and reviewed grants for NEH and IMLS, worked with local foundations 
funding one of her pilot programs, and is always in search of the 
perfect museum mannequin. She has published chapters on conservation 
and deterioration of archeological glass with the Materials Research 
Society and the York Archaeological Trust, four chapters on different 
mannequin construction techniques in Museum Mannequins: A Guide for 
Creating the Perfect Fit (2002), preservation planning, policies, 
forms and procedures needed for a small museum in The Minnesota 
Alliance of Local History Museums' Collection Initiative Manual, and 
is co-editor of the penultimate book on numbering museum collections 
(still in process) by the Gilcrease Museum in Oklahoma. Helen Alten 
has been a Field Education Director, Conservator, and staff trainer. 
She began working with people from small, rural, and tribal museums 
while as the state conservator for Montana and Alaska. Helen 
currently conducts conservation treatments and operates a 
conservation center in Charleston, WV and St. Paul, MN.
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