[NHCOLL-L:5234] How Museum Artifacts were made and deteriorate online class starts Monday

[Helen Alten]

*MS 213: Museum Artifacts: How they were made
and how they deteriorate*
Instructor:  Helen Alten
Price: $475
Dates: Feb 7 - Mar 18, 2011
*
Description:*
Every museum object is unique, but items made of similar materials share 
characteristics. Museum Artifacts gives participants an understanding of 
the materials and processes used to make objects - knowledge that better 
prepares them to decide how to care for their collections. Participants 
study two objects that represent all materials found in our museums. 
Through an in-depth analysis of their components, participants explore 
all possible objects found in any museum.

*Course Outline:*
1. Introduction
2. Organic Object: Aleut Hunting Regalia
3. Plant Materials
4. Animal Materials
5. Modified Organics
6. Inorganic Object: Art Deco Fireplace
7. Stone
8. Ceramic
9. Glass
10. Metal
11. Mixed Media
12. Conclusion

*Required Text Books*
Demeroukas, Marie, ed. Basic Condition Reporting: A Handbook. 
Southeastern Registrars Association, 1998.

*Logistics:*
Participants in Museum Artifacts work through 12 sections on their own. 
Instructor Helen Alten is available for scheduled email support. 
Materials and resources include online literature, slide lectures and 
dialog between students and online chats led by the instructor. The 
course is limited to 20 participants.

Museum Artifacts runs six weeks. To reserve a spot in the course, please 
pay at http://www.collectioncare.org/tas/tas.html If you have trouble 
please contact Helen Alten at helen at collectioncare.org

*Student Comments for MS213: Museum Artifacts: How they were made and 
how they deteriorate:*
All created and selected materials were very informative and flowed 
together. I like the power point slides. It's like note taking for me, 
summarizing the lecture. After the course I always go back and read 
various sections again. They are excellent reference materials.

Classmates from all over the world made it interesting for our assignments.

Always enjoy instructor involvement for the professional input and advice.

The downloadable manual and materials were excellent. The course content 
was very thorough. The syllabus set up access online was very good, 
listed clearly. The chats were great, and the calls/prompts to 
participate were very much appreciated.

I liked the readings a lot because I knew they were hand selected by the 
instructor and therefore were the most accurate and relevant materials 
for the course.

The interaction with other participants, sharing their experiences and 
their knowledge was eye opening. As we have different collections, 
different problems we might come across and different areas of 
experience, we can definitely learn from each other.


*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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