Many face-to-face and online courses, and many books, describe how to organize and manage a small business. The FAIC Online series is the only information source designed specifically for the community of art and artifact preservation specialists. The courses are led by experienced online teachers who have an intimate knowledge of conservation as well as their subject matter, and are able to provide advice and solutions based in the reality of a conservation practice today.
Not convinced? Here are five reasons to take an online course offered by the FAIC Online Education Program.
Availability and Timeliness
At present, the FAIC Online Education program includes eight courses:
- Establishing a Conservation Practice
- Marketing for Conservation
- Mitigating Risk: Contracts and Insurance for Conservation
- Estimating Conservation Projects
- Professional Responsibility for Conservators
- Digital Photography
- Records and Information Management
- Laboratory Safety for Conservation
Five different courses are offered each calendar year. You are never more than about eighteen months from the next offering of the course(s) you want to take. (Desperate to know now? Ask about minimum fees and participant numbers for a special offering of the course you want to take.)
Convenience
It’s easy to fit an FAIC Online Education course into your schedule. You have 24/7 access while the course is taking place. You can be anywhere, as long as you have a computer or smartphone and an internet connection. Check into the site when you have a minute or two. Respond to requests or comments as the mood strikes you.
Build Your Skills
Each week of every course introduces new activities for all skill levels. Learn what you need to know now. Use the basic activities as a review. Reserve more advanced assignments for later. Don’t find what you need on the site? Ask the leader: He or she has the expertise to help you with the questions you’re facing. Don’t forget that you can also ask questions of your colleagues in the course. You’ll find them a source of real-world experience and you can be confident that they understand what a conservator does.
The online environment accommodates your learning style, too. Whether you’re someone who constantly asks and answers questions or the one at the back of the classroom who watches and learns but prefers to remain silent, there is room for you to learn best what you need to learn the most.
Create a new network
The FAIC Online Education courses provide an opportunity to work with conservators beyond your existing network. Meet with and learn about colleagues in other specialties, who work in different regions of the U.S. or the world. You develop a new node in your network: a cohort of people who know you and your skills, people to whom you can turn for advice—and with whom you can share referrals—even though they are not in your backyard.
Expense. Or Rather, the Lack Thereof.
Each FAIC Online Education course is four weeks long. Each week is the equivalent of a very full, daylong conference. AIC members pay $200 per course. It’s like attending 4 seminars at $50 each.
●
Courses remaining in the FAIC Online Education series for 2011:
- September 1 – September 29 Estimating Conservation Projects. Register here.
- October 13 – November 10 Mitigating Risk: Contracts and Insurance for Conservation. Register here.
Want more information? See the FAIC Online Education page on the AIC website. Take the quiz, “Is Online Learning Right for You?” Talk to one one of the more than 500 program participants.
Want to be informed of next year’s schedule when it’s available? Contact Abigail Choudhury, FAIC Development and Education Associate, achoudhury[at]conservation-us.org.
These are all great reasons. I have taken two FAIC on-line business courses. They were extremely helpful and it was a good opportunity to find out what my colleagues were doing. The courses are very easy to fit into any schedule (I was also writing a book at the same time).
For conservators with limited budgets, these courses are a bargain. We are often disappointed when annual meetings or workshops are too expensive or we don’t have the time to take away from our business. These courses are economical and can be taken at a time convenient for you.
These are all great reasons to take an online course – and for courses from Sarah Lowengard, the worksheets are always worth the price of admission. I use them all the time and have adapted them and passed them on for use in other situations. It is difficult to teach an online course effectively and Sarah is very effective as an online teacher.
I second all the above comments, especially Susan’s. The worksheets are wonderful & useful for adapting to individual practices. I have taken two & starting my third next week. These have been great experiences with fellow participants & Sarah as instructor. We put the skills gained in the marketing course to use immediately complementing then current efforts. We have seen our projects increase in number & size to the point that we experienced a 100% increase in business & recognition last year over the previous year. (Disclaimer: Probably not a typical experience, but the courses work if you do.)