[Nhcoll-l] Moving Collections online course begins July 1

[Helen Alten]

MS 262: Moving Collections
Instructor: Lori Benson
Dates: July 1 to July 26, 2013
Location: Online at www.museumclasses.org

Description:
Moving collections is a daunting task. Fragile items need special 
packing and care to be safely transported. Large, heavy or awkward items 
like dinosaurs and oversized sculptures require special equipment and 
support from local authorities. How do you design your project to meet 
the budget and timing demands of your administration? Are your 
collections over-packed in acidic boxes and does your move includes 
improving their storage and care? Collections often take up more room 
when they are stored properly. How do you determine your needed storage 
space when the collection is decompressed? Moving Collections provides 
an overview of how to plan and manage a move to avoid the many pitfalls. 
The course includes: defining your project, developing a Request for 
Proposal (RFP), developing a work plan, staffing, and packing protocols. 
Whether you are moving part of the collection within your building or 
moving the entire collection to another facility, Moving Collections 
provides a blueprint for you to follow.

Logistics:
Participants in Moving Collections work at their own pace. Instructor 
Lori Benson is available at scheduled times during the course for email 
support. Materials include PowerPoint lectures, reading materials and 
lecture notes. Supporting resources include message forums, weekly 
online chats, projects, quizzes and links to relevant web sites. The 
course is limited to 20 participants.

Moving Collections runs four weeks. To learn more about the course, 
please go to 
http://www.collectioncare.org/training/trol_classes_ms262.html If you 
have trouble please contact Helen Alten at helen at collectioncare.org

The Instructor:
Lori Benson is an independent museum professional based in Maine. Ms. 
Benson has a B.A. in biology and a Masters of Library and Informational 
Science specializing in rare books and archives. She started working at 
the Minnesota Historical Society in 1990, finishing a grant funded 
position as the Preservation Outreach Representative. After a series of 
project positions at the Historical Society, including Assistant Moving 
Coordinator, she was hired by the Science Museum of Minnesota as their 
first Collections Manager in 1994. She was Project Director in the 
Research and Collections Division for the new facility planning and 
move. The project was published as Moving the Mountain, the Science 
Museum of Minnesota Guide to Moving Collections. In addition to her 
position at the Science Museum, Ms. Benson was adjunct faculty at 
Dominican University/College of St. Catherine Department of Library 
Science teaching Preservation and Conservation of Library Materials and 
Archives Administration in 2000-2001. In 2003, she was hired by Texas 
Natural Science Center, University of Texas at Austin (formerly Texas 
Memorial Museum) to de-accession their entire cultural collection. She 
continues to be a University of Texas Affiliate. She has taught museum 
studies to undergraduates and given many talks and lectures on 
preservation, deaccessioning, project planning and moving. She is a 
member of the Society for the Preservation of Natural History 
Collections and the Registrars' Committee of the American Association of 
Museums. In her second life, she teaches handweaving.

-- 
Brad Bredehoft for Helen Alten
Northern States Conservation Center
www.collectioncare.org
www.museumclasses.org