Northern States Conservation Center
Collections Caretaker eNewsletter
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Cataloging Your Collections |
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Welcome to the Collections Caretaker e-Newsletter from Northern States Conservation Center. the newsletter is designed to bring you content that is pertinent to situations we all encounter in our museum and archives work. Feel free to let us know what topics you would like to see featured in Collections Caretaker or even contribute and article. |
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In this Issue
Collections Cataloging
Featured Courses
July Courses
August Courses
September Courses
Conferences and Meetings
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Collections Cataloging
By Peggy Schaller
Cataloging is another step in the registration process. In many museums the accessioning and cataloging processes take place at the same time and are done by the same person. If your museum is lucky enough to have a large staff and one of those staff members is a registrar, it is the registrar who begins the processing by accessioning the artifact. That is, verifying the receipt of a valid, signed Deed of Gift or Transfer of Ownership form, assigning a number to the artifact, and writing a preliminary description of the object. It is then that, in those larger museums which have such staff, the Curator would take over and do the cataloging. Today we have another category of museum staff, the Collections Manager. In larger museums, they may have not only a registrar and curator but also a collections manager. It is then the Collections Manager that is responsible for the collection documentation and cataloging. It small museums with small staff, these three titles are worn by one person who is responsible for the entire process and sometimes more besides!
Cataloging is the process by which you establish a detailed informational record on each artifact in your collection. The catalog record documents the description, history, condition and significance of an object.
Object ID is an international standard for describing art, antiques and antiquities. Through the cooperation of museums, customs officials and law enforcement around the world, the Object ID program has established a checklist of questions and information that provides a minimum level of documentation for museum artifacts.
So, how do we make sure that none of the steps in the process are missed? Every museum should have a written procedure not only for the accessioning process, but one which covers all the steps in the cataloging process. First of all, establish a dedicated, clean, clutter-free, well-lit work area close to the storage area. This workspace should be reserved for processing collections only and should be in a secure area of the museum. Unless it is absolutely necessary the workspace should not be IN the storage area. Next, provide access to research material including museum records relating to the object in question (donor records, previous cataloging material, accession records); access to previous owners and/or donor of the material, either through his/her records or through personal contact with the individual or family; and library and other published or archival materials.
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Peggy Schaller became Publications Manager at Northern States Conservation Center in 2012; Certificate Program Coordinator in early 2013; and Newsletter Editor for the Collection Caretaker e-newsletter in the fall of 2013. In 2014 she was asked to become the course monitor for all the online courses offered by Museum Classes Online and has been known to lurk in the background of various class chats. She has been an instructor for Museums Classes Online since 2004 teaching collection management courses.
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Featured Course:
Social Media with an Educational Purpose
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Embracing the benefits of having a digital presence for our museums will help us fulfill our missions and expand our reach. How can you optimize your educational outreach and build your community by making the wider world aware of your museum during the digital age? Learn valuable tools for how to best leverage the power of social media for both marketing and educational purposes. Discover the various ways in which you can provide live educational programming using social media livestreams and video-conference platforms for your social media following, school groups, or private revenue generating tours. Highlight your museum collections using digital tools and be a part of the growing use of AR/VR experiences to reach more visitors. Explore how digital tools help meet visitors' basic and growth needs, enabling them to potentially reach the peak experiences described in Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. The result is a deeper connection to your museum from a wide range of visitors. At the conclusion of this course, you will have the digital tool kit you need to digitize your museum education and an understanding of best practices when providing digital education programming.
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Featured Course:
Training for Interpretive Trainers
It’s often difficult to teach interpretive techniques and principles to others when you may have not had any formal training in interpretation yourself. The course provides ways to develop and deliver interpretive training courses and workshops for cultural sites and staff charged with developing interpretive training for their docents, volunteers, seasonal interpretive staff, or full time interpretive staff.
This course includes a copy of our new e-textbook, the Interpretive Trainers Handbook.
Course Goals: Upon completion of this course participants will:
- Have interpretive training program lesson plans and schedule of instructions drafted out.
- Have a working knowledge of key interpretive elements they should be teaching.
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Early Bird Discounts Available for Full Length Courses
An Early Bird Discount is available for anyone who signs up for a full length course from museumclasses.org 30 days prior to the start of that course.
Sign up for a full length course up to 30 days prior to its start and save $100.00!
To take advantage of this discount, you must enter coupon code EARLYBIRD at checkout at collectioncare.org
Earlybird Discount Deadline for August 2021 Courses is July 3, 2021
Earlybird Discount Deadline for September 2021 Courses is August 7, 2021
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July Courses
July 5 to 30, 2021
Instructor: Laura Elliff Cruz
Description:
Is your collection stacked, packed and stressed? Museum Storage Techniques has the solution. The course builds on its sister course, Museum Facilities and Furniture, which looks at the bigger storage environment.. The Museum Storage Techniques course emphasizes the needs of individual objects and collection groupings. Guidelines for specific materials are provided. Participants learn about storage materials and mounts and the most effective use of trays, drawers, shelves and cabinets.
July 5 to 30, 2021
Instructor: Peggy Schaller
Description:
Cataloging may not be the most exciting museum task, but it is among the most important. Without a clear knowledge of your holdings, you can't protect, care for, research or exhibit them. Without knowledge of an item's history, you can't properly appreciate its value to your museum. Cataloging Your Collection covers all details needed to catalog a collection. Procedures for handling, measuring and describing all types of objects and materials are discussed in detail. Participants receive sample forms and learn the best practices for numbering artifacts, performing inventory and assessing the condition of objects. Participants practice describing everyday objects and cataloging items from their own collections or households
July 5 to August 13, 2021
Instructor: Christina Cain
Description:
The only thing worse than mice or cockroaches in your kitchen, is finding them in your museum collection. Participants in Integrated Pest Management for Museums, Libraries and Archives learn low-toxicity methods of controlling infestations. IPM is the standard method for treating incoming items and monitoring holdings. Integrated Pest Management for Museums, Libraries and Archives discusses how infestations occur, helps identify risks, provides feasible mitigation strategies, discusses the different techniques of treating infested materials, and helps you complete an IPM plan and monitoring schedule for your institution. The course covers pest identification, insects, rodent, birds, bats, other mammals and mold infestations, as well as other problems raised by participants.
July 5 to 30, 2021
Instructor: Peggy Schaller
Description:
This course will examine the role of ethics in museums and related institutions. Topics addressed will include the differences in ethics, laws, and morals; what ethics are and where they come from; the ethical codes that museum professionals follow; how ethics affect professional practices; why ethics are important; and how ethical standards can help museums and related institutions better serve society. Participants in the course will gain an understanding of the importance of ethics in professional museum practice, how codes of ethics are written and why they are important, and will develop an understanding of the most significant codes of ethics subscribed to by museum professionals.
July 5 to 30, 2021
Instructor: John Veverka
Description:
It’s often difficult to teach interpretive techniques and principles to others when you may have not had any formal training in interpretation yourself. The course provides ways to develop and deliver interpretive training courses and workshops for cultural sites and staff charged with developing interpretive training for their docents, volunteers, seasonal interpretive staff, or full time interpretive staff.
This course includes a copy of our new e-textbook, the Interpretive Trainers Handbook.
Course Goals: Upon completion of this course participants will:
- Have interpretive training program lesson plans and schedule of instructions drafted out.
- Have a working knowledge of key interpretive elements they should be teaching.
July 5 to 30, 2021
Instructor: Karin Hostetter
Co-Taught by Erin Gates
Description:
Embracing the benefits of having a digital presence for our museums will help us fulfill our missions and expand our reach. How can you optimize your educational outreach and build your community by making the wider world aware of your museum during the digital age? Learn valuable tools for how to best leverage the power of social media for both marketing and educational purposes. Discover the various ways in which you can provide live educational programming using social media livestreams and video-conference platforms for your social media following, school groups, or private revenue generating tours. Highlight your museum collections using digital tools and be a part of the growing use of AR/VR experiences to reach more visitors. Explore how digital tools help meet visitors' basic and growth needs, enabling them to potentially reach the peak experiences described in Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. The result is a deeper connection to your museum from a wide range of visitors. At the conclusion of this course, you will have the digital tool kit you need to digitize your museum education and an understanding of best practices when providing digital education programming.
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August Courses
August 2 to September 10, 2021 NEW DATES
Instructor: Ernest Conrad
Description:
The museum's brick exterior wall is crumbling. The powder coated metal storage shelves have active rust under the foam padding. Objects in fur storage are covered in mold. It is raining in the exhibit hall. This is the damage that occurs to museum buildings or collection when staff do not understand preservation environments. Preservation Environments is essential knowledge for any collecting institution. Everyone should understand how humidity and temperature are controlled by a building and its mechanical system. For museum staff considering a new building - and any institution planning to expand or rebuild an existing one - Preservation Environments provide important information for calculating whether the proposed improvements will actually improve the environmental control of your protective enclosure. Participants learn the advantages and disadvantages of numerous methods of temperature and humidity control. Preservation Environments does not try to turn museum professionals into engineers. Rather, it arms them with the knowledge they need to work with engineers and maintenance professionals. And helps explain why damaged occurred and how to keep it from happening again.
August 2 to 27, 2021 NEW DATES!!!
Instructor: Sarah Kapellusch
Description:
A collection database is a necessary tool for accurate and efficient collections management. In Collection Management Databases you will learn what characteristics distinguish one database system from another; how a database can be used to manage inventory, conservation, pest management, and other aspects of collections management; as well as how to prepare your collection and documentation for entry into a database.
August 2 to 27, 2021
Instructor: Elizabeth Burton
Description:
Cobwebs in the gallery, dust on the dinosaur skeleton, mice in storage - a dirty museum results in poor visitor experience and poor collections preservation. In a museum, cleanliness really is next to godliness. Museum Cleaning Basics explores everything you need to know about cleaning your collections. Participants learn when to clean - and when not to clean. They also learn how to make those decisions. Topics range from basic housekeeping to specific techniques for specific objects. You will learn why cleaning is important and how to prevent damage when cleaning. We will look at specific techniques that minimize damage while getting the work done. And we will discuss when to call in a specialist, such as a conservator. Students will create a housekeeping manual for their institution.
August 2 to 27, 2021
Instructor: Karin Hostetter
Description:
The world of museum education is as varied as the imagination. From school field trips to online blogs, from 2-year-olds to senior citizens, and from formal programs to volunteering, it is all part of the educational delivery system of a museum. In Education in Museums, survey the education programs offered at your site. Determine what exhibits and collections need better representation through education. Develop a long term plan of education program development for your site that you can use to improve services to your community.
August 2 to 27, 2021
Instructor: Stefani Pendergast
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.
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September Courses
September 6 to October 1, 2021
Instructor: Diana Komejan
Description:
Archaeological finds come out of the ground fragile - and they often stay that way. Yet archaeologists and museum professionals have few clear guidelines for handling, moving, storing and displaying such materials. Participants in Care of Archaeological Artifacts From the Field to the Lab learn techniques for safely lifting and packing artifacts, safe transportation and temporary and permanent storage. The course also covers a broad range of excavation environments, including the Arctic, wet sites, tropical and temperate. Though Care of Archaeological Artifacts is not intended to train archaeological conservators, it is designed to help participants understand what can and can't be done to save the artifacts they unearth.
September 6 to Oct 1, 2021
Instructor: Elizabeth Burton
Description:
Caring for paintings requires some knowledge of the component structure of paintings and the reaction of those components to both natural and man-made environments. This course looks at the painting structure, the effects of damaging environments, and proposes simple steps for basic care. Topics include the structure of paintings, proper condition reporting with standard damage vocabulary, and basic care and handling including environments, storage, and transport. The course is intended to help those entrusted with the care of paintings in any environment.
September 6 to October 1, 2021
Instructor: Tom Bennett
Description:
Matting and Framing teaches the materials and techniques of conservation-quality framing. For display, matting and framing provides both protective and aesthetic contributions to art on paper. Students will learn about different types of enclosures, different mat styles and cutting methods, the pros and cons of different backing boards and glazing, and different methods of attaching items to a mat, some of which do not involve adhering hinges to art on paper. Lectures, illustrations, product resources, and additional informational references will be provided.
September 6 to October 1, 2021
Instructor: Karin Hostetter
Description:
Have you done some evaluation but did not get helpful information? Do you wish you could do evaluations, but think it is too hard or too expensive? Do you wonder how to get people to use an offered program more? Evaluations are feasible and easy. This course will help you determine what you really want to know, choose the right process to gather the information, develop meaningful questions, and figure out what the results tell you. Please have a program or text in mind (real or imagined) to work with during the course. Note: this course will not be looking at statistical analysis.
September 6 to October 1, 2021
Instructor: John Veverka
Description:
There is more to a guided tour than information – you also need inspiration. This course will help curators teach and coach their docents and volunteers to create interpretive stories and experiences that will help make their presentations “come to life” for their visitors.
This training course will help curators help prepare their docents for tours that:
1. Have an interpretive theme.
2. Have accomplishable objectives.
3. Has about 7 tour stops, each of which illustrate the main interpretive theme.
4. Use interpretive communications structure for each stop (provoke, relate and reveal).
5. Use the techniques of tangibles and intangibles in their presentation.
6. Encourage the use of multiple senses to relate to visitors.
7. Have a provocative introduction and then ending conclusion summary for the tour.
8. Have as much "inspiration" as "information".
9. Leave the visitors asking for more (when's your next tour?).
September 6 to October 1, 2021
Instructor: Sarah Kapellusch
Description:
Every museum has a few stray items. Some lost tags long ago. Others turn up as surprises during inventories. A few are all that remain from long-ago exhibits. While you'll want to keep some, others may be deteriorating. Even worse, some pose significant hazards for staff and the rest of the collection. All raise legal and professional questions. How do you deal with objects that have no records? Or loans from unidentified or deceased lenders? Found in the Collection addresses how to identify abandoned objects and old loans. It further covers the application of state laws and rules for identifying owners or establishing ownership.
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Many organizations have put together information on resources for Museums and Covid-19. Here are a few links to those Resources. Check back with these organizations for updates.
Use the drop-down menu in the upper right to find Webinars, Virtual tours and more
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Conferences and Meetings
Double check each organization's website for more information. Some may still be going virtual this year due to continued safety concerns over Covid 19.
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2021
Society of American Archivists, Anaheim, CA
July 31 - August 7, 2021
Oklahoma Museums Association, Shawnee, OK
September 15-17, 2021
American Association of State and Local History, Little Rock, AR
September 22-25, 2021 Virtual and Live
Mountain-Plains Museums Association, Sioux Falls, SD
October 5-8, 2021
International Foundation for cultural Property Protection, Virtual
October 13-15; 18-19, 2021
Southeastern Museums Conference, Chattanooga, TN
October 25 - 27, 2021
Association of Midwest Museums and Wisconsin Federation of Museums, Virtual conference
November 1-5, 2021
New England Museum Association, Newport, RI
November 17-19, 2021
National Association for Interpretation, Palm Springs, CA
November 3-December 4, 2021
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Mid-Atlantic Association of Museums, Wilmington, DE
October 14-16-2021
2022
American Alliance of Museums, Boston MA
May 19-22, 2022
Association for Living History, Farm and Agricultural Museums, Tacoma, WA
June 23-28, 2022
Society of American Archivists, Boston, MA
August 20-27, 2022
Oklahoma Museums Association, Enid, OK
September 14-16, 2022
National Association for Interpretation, Cleveland, OH
November 29-Decemver 3, 2022
2023
American Alliance of Museums, Denver, CO
May 19-22, 2023
Society of American Archivists, Washington, DC
July 22-29, 2023
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Submissions and Comments
How to submit an article or upcoming workshops for inclusion in the Newsletter:
If you would like to submit an article, notice of an organizational meeting or upcoming workshop for an upcoming Collections Caretaker Newsletter, send your submission to [email protected].
We are always looking for contributions to this newsletter. Submission deadline is the 10th of each month.
Have a comment or suggestion?
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Sincerely,
Helen Alten, Director
Peggy Schaller, Publications Manager
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