Tip #7: Read, read, read…then create an annotated bibliography

Websites and blogs contain a lot of helpful information, but you can still learn about conservation the “old-fashioned” way—by reading a book or article! Once you’ve done that, put together an annotated bibliography in order to remember that information for the future. For those of you that are pre-program, an annotated bibliography makes a great addition to your portfolio, and there may not be another opportunity to do it once you begin a conservation program.

With so many wonderful conservation books and journals, the largest problem is deciding where to start! A good idea may be to begin reading about the projects you’re working on, and then move on to specific interests (maybe they’re one in the same). From there, ask for recommendations from your supervisor(s). If they’re willing, consider discussing articles with them, because sometimes the information you read about is outdated and completely irrelevant, but you’d never know as a beginner.

If you’re planning on attending a conservation graduate program some day, get a head start and ask for the reading list required of their students; these sources may be broad in scope, but it’s valuable to learn the basics of all materials, even if you’ve already decided on one specialty. Finally, from all of these books and articles, you can check the authors’ references and suggested bibliographies to continue your reading.

Some of the staple conservation books are worth buying, if you can afford to. Multiple people have recommended these to me: Mills & White, The Organic Chemistry of Museum Objects, or Artists’ Pigments, vols. 1-4. Sometimes there will be discounted book sales posted on the distlist, so keep an eye out for that. Also, museums should have a collection of good books and journals in their conservation department and/or in the library for you to borrow, and you may even be able to find some things at your local university or public library. As always, you can find free resources online, like the JAIC archive, or the JCAC archive; just be sure they’re from a reputable source. Happy reading!

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ECPN MEETING MINUTES

December 16, 2010

Conference Call Attendees:
Ryan Winfield

Karen Pavelka

Amy Brost

Heather Brown

Rose Daly

Ruth Seyler

Stephanie Porto

I. ECPN November meeting minutes approved unanimously

II. Angels Project (Ryan)

a. Site selection in progress. Send ideas to Ruth Seyler. One idea is to use CAP (Conservation Assessment Program) applications, because those sites self-selected for assistance. Decision to come early 2011. Amy and Ruth can work together on publicity as needed; AIC generally handles press releases and media relations for the annual meeting and Angels Project. ECPN members should forward media contacts to Ruth.

III. 2011 AIC Meeting – ECPN Poster (Heather/Amy)

a. Heather received abstract updates from Rose. Amy will create the poster following the ‘2011 Poster Guidelines’ document, using the committee charge plus bullets about initiatives in each area. Amy will reach out to Morgan Gilpatrick, AIC Communications Director, for AIC logo and design guidelines.

b. Coordinators will provide a couple of bullet points about their initiatives to Amy for the poster, along with any print-quality images they might have. Rose will notify Carrie and Amber about bullet points.

c. Images will include a few “actions shots” and/or photos to identify ECPN members. Some images from ECPN and AIC Flickr pages may be used.

IV. 2011 AIC Meeting – ECPN Dinner (Heather)

a. Group determined that McGillin’s Olde Ale House was the best choice. Dinner to be informal, drop-in style, 6-10 pm on Friday. Talks end at 5:30 that day, so 6 pm is ideal.

V. 2011 AIC Meeting – ECPN Business Meeting (Rose)

a. Business meeting will take place 5:30-6:30 pm on Tuesday. No food needed. Rose will explore whether Skype or audioconferencing could be used to involve more people, but Ruth advised that the hotel will charge for this.

VI. AIC Website, CoOL and Student Research Database (Ryan)

a. The AIC website is in transition, and CoOL is being transitioned to AIC servers from Stanford, the long-time host. Per Ryan, hold the discussion about the possibility of hosting the Student Research Database as part of CoOL until after the transition. Since CoOL requests go through Nancie Ravenel, Carrie could speak with her about this possibility.

VII. Mentoring Program (Ryan)

a. This program is still in the early stages, with the first group of matches recently completed (15 mentor-mentee pairs). Prior to that, there was a small test group. The program has run for one year so far.

b. The following deadlines were added to the webpage by Ryan: 3/1, 6/1, 9/1, and 12/1. All the data collected from the online application flows into a spreadsheet that can be used to manage the matching process. Currently, mentor requests exceed mentor applications, but Rose and Ryan are able to make inquiries with potential mentors when a prospective mentee applies.

c. A survey is being developed to measure the effectiveness of the program. Anecdotal feedback indicates that some matches have been very successful, while some did not generate a sustained connection. Survey results could be used to help promote the program online and in the newsletter (“Success stories”)

d. Developing FAQ’s for mentors and mentees could also be helpful.

VIII. AIC News Articles from ECPN (Amy/Heather)

a. Topic #1 – ECPN at the 2011 AIC Annual Meeting (Amy). Deadline is February 1 for March issue. Include Angels Project if determined.

b. Topic #2 – Mentoring Program (Heather). Deadline is April 1 for May issue. Will be a good time to promote applications by the 6/1 deadline.

IX. OSG Wiki

a. Amy brought a request from Rachael Perkins Arenstein, e-Editor, to find out how to involve ECPN in expanding the OSG Wiki. Ideas included:

b. Reach out to training program heads, so they can inform their graduate students of the opportunity to publish on the Wiki and help their peers

c. Reach out to institutions that have fellowships in objects conservation (Straus at Harvard, NMAI, Cleveland, Detroit, Atlanta, etc.) so they can inform fellows

d. Promote the idea in ECPN materials and add Wikis to the committee charge

e. Promote the idea at ECPN activities at the 2011 AIC Meeting

f. Need to ensure quality control on the Wikis, and with cooperation from training program faculty, could vet student work for inclusion.

g. Amy will get back to Rachael with this list of ideas. Find out if Rachael will do the actual posting or if institutions would post directly to the Wiki. Also, ask Rachael to put a request out to the specialty groups to find out which ones are interested in involving students and post-graduate fellows in creating Wiki content.

h. Stephanie Porto (ECC liaison and chair of the RATS specialty group) mentioned that she would be interested in students contributing content to the RATS Wiki.

X. Outreach Update (Heather)

a. Everyone praised the “10 Tips” series on the blog. Very substantial.

b. Rose suggested that the next series on the blog could be the “Top 10” things to know about private practice. Heather suggested profiles of people in private practice who give their own top 10 list, and perhaps have someone from each specialty, since the needs are so different. Each person profiled might also be willing to share a “Resources” list for their specialty, to help other conservators starting out in the same specialty and procuring supplies, which could accompany the blog post.

c. Heather/Rose to explore rolling ECPN Flickr page into AIC Flickr page.

d. Heather to draft AIC news column about the Mentor Program.

XI. Communications Update (Amy)

a. Flier text is complete and was reviewed on a prior call. Ryan provided Morgan Gilpatrick’s contact information. Amy to follow up to ask about logos and design guidelines, and then lay out the flier as letter-size PDF.

b. Amy suggested the flier format with detachable wallet card might be good for the 2011 AIC conference bag, or as a take-one at the poster.

c. Amy to provide a draft of news column about ECPN at the AIC meeting for the next call for review (due date Feb. 1)

d. Upon receipt of design guidelines and coordinator bullet lists/images, Amy will lay out the poster.

XII. Portfolio Review Sessions (Rose)

a. It would be ideal to offer portfolio reviews at the 2011 AIC meeting, perhaps two representatives from each school, one showing the pre-program portfolio and one showing the graduate-level portfolio. Portfolio reviews are an opportunity for both pre-program and graduate students.

b. Rose and Amber are following up with the graduate programs to see if any students will volunteer to present their portfolios. Need a good distribution of students from the various programs, as well as examples of both types of portfolios.

c. Compile and distribute links to students’ online portfolios, so pre-program and students-in-training can learn from them.

Next conference call 1 PM EST, Thursday, January 21, 2011.

Respectfully submitted,

Amy Brost

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Check out these posts on the AIC news blog by Jessica Ford and Katherine Langdon, two Indianapolis Museum of Art conservation interns.

• On the Road to Conservation: Pre-Program Road Trip – Part 1
  Jessica talks about making a trip out to University of Delaware and New York University to see their graduate programs.
• On the Road to Conservation: Pre-Program Road Trip – Part 2
  Katherine talks about visiting the Buffalo State College graduate program and nearby cities.

Tip #6: Attend conferences, lectures and workshops

Like lab visits, attending educational events can teach you a great deal about conservation, as well as give you an opportunity to meet other conservators, scientists, artists, and museum professionals. Take a look at the calendars of local museums, galleries, universities and conservation guilds to find out what’s happening.

Here’s an example of a conference on photographic materials summarized by Amy Brost.

Professional organizations generally hold an annual conference, which offers a plethora of lectures and workshops…enough to make it worth the trip to another state. AIC’s annual conference will be held in Philadelphia in 2011, and includes a variety of interesting paper topics, courses, and tours of conservation labs (see the schedule here). You can also check the websites of other organizations listed in tip #2 for upcoming conferences and events.

Even for those already in the field of conservation, continuing education is a necessity to stay abreast of current theory and practice. If you read the distlist, you’ll see posts about upcoming events every week, that target a breadth of audiences. Though some can be pricey, there are many talks and webinars that cost absolutely nothing, like this lecture by Carol Mancusi-Ungaro at the Menil Collection in Houston, or the Connecting to Collections webinar series. Just be patient and look around for something that suits you.

The AIC Emergency Committee (EC) is interested in having a student member join its ranks. (AIC-CERT falls under the watchful eye of the Emergency Committee.) We “meet” on a monthly basis via a conference call, do “homework” between meetings, and try to meet in person at AIC’s Annual Meeting. Topics that we’ve covered have included deployment and debriefing of AIC-CERT members for national disasters, deployment and debriefing of AIC conservators to Haiti, and expansion of the disaster planning section of the AIC website (still in progress).

All applicants are asked to submit a brief letter of interest and CV (both in electronic format) to the committee co-chairs (me and Andrew Robb, anro@loc.gov).

The EC considers the candidates and forwards the documents for those they chose to the AIC Board for approval. Board votes take place electronically and are usually done within a week. The term would begin at the Annual Meeting, which this year will be held May 31 through June 3. A term is for 4 years.

The deadline for applying is January 31. I’d be happy to field any questions that might arise.

Lori Foley

lfoley@nedcc.org

Just a friendly reminder: the abstract submission deadline for the conservation/conservation science lightning round is this Wednesday, January 5, 2011, at 10PM EST.

Tip #5: Think about your education

By this point, you’re probably sure that you want to become a conservator, and should begin to think about your education, if you haven’t already. There are really only two training options in the field of conservation: apprenticeships or graduate school.

Though apprentice training is becoming less prevalent, you can still learn everything you need to know by working with skilled conservators, and supplementing your education with independent reading, coursework, and research. Unfortunately, the time it takes to become a “qualified” conservator will be much longer than a 2-4 year graduate program, and no official certification system currently exists in the U.S. One of the largest benefits of apprenticeships, however, is the flexibility to work part-time, and in any location that you’re able to find a supervisor.

Graduate conservation programs, on the other hand, do require you to attend classes at their location, but only for the first 2-3 years, as the final year is a full-time internship that can take place in another city, or even country. More and more frequently, degrees are required of candidates for fellowships and conservator positions because the employer is familiar with the program curricula and can be confident that you’ve had a thorough education. Having a school affiliation is also a benefit in terms of networking with other alumni, and forming connections with your fellow students.

You have five options for graduate schools in and around the United States for your certificate, MA or MS: UCLA, Queen’s University, Buffalo State College, NYU, and Winterthur/University of Delaware. Each school has its own unique attributes, but they’re all regarded as equally capable institutions and will offer an array of opportunities for learning about conservation, and making the transition from student to professional. If you’re interested in studying abroad, there’s a complete list on CoOL of schools in Australia, Asia and Europe. You may have to work out your own funding for programs abroad; in the U.S., all of the schools offer tuition remission and a small stipend for living expenses.

Check out this blog post by Julie Benner about the Textile Conservation Centre in Glasgow.

After choosing one or more schools of interest, the next step is to look into the admission requirements, such as pre-requisite courses, standardized tests and hands-on experience. Then, check out the application procedures and deadlines, so you can get an idea of how many letters of recommendation you’ll need, what types of objects to put into your studio art portfolio, etc. Faculty members are incredibly helpful if you have any questions about preparing for admission, and there are always people available if you’d like to schedule a tour of the facility.

With so few placements for the number of applicants, I probably don’t have to tell you that the admission is very competitive. Just stay positive and focused on what you need to do to make yourself the best possible candidate. In my opinion, it’s a good idea to apply as soon as you meet the minimum requirements because, even if you’re not chosen as a student for that year’s class, you will better understand the application—and maybe even interviewing—process to prepare you for the following year. Faculty members may also be willing to discuss your application with you and make specific recommendations; this type of treatment is so rare in graduate school, but if you’re willing to make the commitment, the conservation programs really do want to help you succeed. Good luck!

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ECPN MEETING MINUTES

November 18, 2010

Conference Call Attendees:
Ryan Winfield

Karen Pavelka

Amber Kerr Alison

Carrie Roberts

Amy Brost

Heather Brown

Rose Daly

Stephanie Porto, liaison from the Canadian Association of Conservators (CAC) Emerging Conservation Committee (ECC)

Stephanie Lussier

I. ECPN October meeting minutes approved unanimously

II. IAG Meeting (Amber)

a. Minutes will be posted to the AIC website, engaging with students was a topic, JAIC is interested in reviewers, approach the specialty groups and see if there could be a member of ECPN in each specialty group. 40th Anniversary meeting – focus will be on Advocacy and Outreach, considering changing the format of the meeting to be more general sessions

b. Communications and Outreach – Metadata .pdf for CoOL – more efficient search engine for CoOL, Meg Craft is excited about a student database of research. Approached by Lori Foley in the Emergency Task Force in CERT, student representative, could be like Health and Safety. Contact NYU to see if they would be willing to make postings available to the wider community, online job postings are free on the AIC website, Add links to ET section.

III. AIC Webpage Education and Training Section (Rose/Ryan)

a. Determined that, rather than adding job postings, add links to sites that routinely have job postings. This eliminates redundancy and the time commitment involved with maintaining current job listings. Links to include a list provided by Amy Brost in a recent call, plus others including Washington Conservation Guild.

b. Follow up with NYU to see if they would post more broadly. Concern that regional postings are never broadly available. Perhaps leverage AIC site, which now has free job listings. This page could become more robust.

c. Add images – need to explore how to do this and through whom at AIC

d. Resume samples and tips being explored

e. Becoming a conservator – need to enhance/update this area as well

IV. Database of Student Research (Carrie)

a. Recent discussion among Sagita Sunara, Amber, Carrie and Rose via Skype. Agreement that a vetting process must be in place. Already inherently done by faculty/staff at training programs. To submit research, require a master’s, PhD, or at minimum, a diploma in conservation.

b. Hosts being explored (CoOL or other)

c. Costs being explored – perhaps the membership could be a source for funding

d. Scope – start with N. America and if it is successful, grow internationally

e. Rights – work will be watermarked and also the copyright will remain with the student

V. AAM 2011 Proposal (Rose)

a. It was not accepted, although it was perhaps due in part to submitting by the more competitive second deadline rather than the early deadline. Will try again next year. Many emerging museum professionals there, so important to enhance ties there.

VI. AIC 2011 Meeting (Ryan/Rose)

a. Determined that the Business Meeting should be held Tuesday at 6 pm, and the dinner on Friday night at 6:30 or 7. This way, people who cannot attend the full week can attend one or the other. Also, new contacts made throughout the week can be invited to the Friday event.

b. Angels Project (Ryan) not yet developed, but will take place the Saturday after the meeting ends.

c. Media relations (Rose) – possibility of reaching out to Philadelphia Inquirer to do a story

d. Possible difficulty in reserving rooms for resume or portfolio sessions. Instead, consider having portfolio reviews during the Exhibit Hall break. Possibly 2 students (6-8 portfolios) from each program present to discuss their portfolios, Thurs. 1-1:30 and 3-3:30, at 3-4 tables.

e. Lightning round of short talks will be another year, maybe on the topic of outreach programs. Perhaps at ANAGPIC.

f. Short talks for another year could be done by ANAGPIC participants. Cut their 25-minute presentations down to 5 minutes. Fellows, PhD candidates, etc. on second day.

g. ECPN Poster – Amy will design based on last year’s poster. Style guidelines for AIC are in development and will be helpful. Amy to work with Heather, and gather images from ECPN to include.

VII. Outreach (Heather)

a. Blog posts have been added. To make the site more of a dialogue, ECPN members are encouraged to post comments.

b. Heather is contacting conservation guilds to ask for submissions to the blog, so ECPN members can be introduced to the various guilds. Rose to provide contact info to Heather for Richard McCoy at MRCG as one person to contact.

c. Heather has started a “Top 10” list on the blog as part of building up education and training content.

VIII. Communications (Amy)

a. Flier – IAG is developing best practices for AIC publications, and these style guidelines will help inform the flier design. Flier will be ready for the AIC meeting in May, along with the ECPN poster.

b. Amy is seeking photographs from ECPN members showing them at work on various projects. Image specifications to come, but high-resolution (print quality) images will be needed, with permission from the copyright holder.

IX. Mentoring program (Karen, Ryan, Heather, Rose)

a. Possible mentors have been approached. Plan to match all mentors and mentees by Dec. 1. Then follow-up with previous matches, and a call for additional mentors and/or mentees.

X. CIPP (Rose/Amy/Heather)

a. Develop a section of the website or ECPN blog about starting a private practice. Will contact Emily Phillips and others in private practice to see if they would write for the blog, or provide tips that can be assembled into a webpage. Reach out to CIPP Chair also.

b. Emily Gardner, a Buffalo graduate, also has a forum for CIPP newcomers that could be leveraged.

XI. IAG documents (Rose)

a. ECPN members should familiarize themselves with the IAG documents for committees available on the AIC website. Login and then go to Member Center > Committees and Task Forces > Internal Advisory Group Services.

b. Ryan set up the necessary permission for Amy. Ryan can provide access if it is blocked.

c. Minutes of the previous IAG meeting are available there also

Next conference call 1 PM EST, Thursday, December 16, 2010.

Respectfully submitted,

Amy Brost

Internship at Northwestern

Conservation Intern
Northwestern University Library

Part-time up to 18.75 hours per week, Monday-Friday 8:30am-5:00pm
Temporary position for 3-6 months

Salary: $8.75/hour

Northwestern University Library is offering a pre-program
conservation internship for a period of three to six months. The
Conservation Internship provides practical experience in a busy
academic library conservation lab and is designed to help prepare
applicants to Master’s level training programs in conservation. The
internship is also an ideal opportunity for a Northwestern
University student interested in learning more about the
conservation profession.

The Conservation Intern will develop an understanding of the
functions and responsibilities of a research library conservation
lab working with a variety of library and archival materials.
Through the completion of specific internship projects, the
Conservation Intern will gain bench experience, develop skills in
treatment decision making, and participate in a broad range of
preservation and conservation activities.

The Conservation Intern reports to the Conservation Librarian and
works closely with other Preservation Department conservators
depending on the nature of assigned projects. Internship projects
will include the conservation treatment of a collection of
scrapbooks from University Archives and assisting with an item-level
survey of the Arabic Manuscripts Collection from the Herskovits
Library of African Studies. Treatments are likely to include
surface cleaning, humidification and flattening of paper, mending
paper and filling losses (including aesthetic compensation),
creating appropriate housings, and other treatments. The complexity
of treatments and level of decision making will increase as skills
develop. At the end of the internship, the intern will be required
to produce a written report or presentation of their work.

Qualifications:

Candidates will need to demonstrate hand skills and attention to
detail.

Previous experience in conservation is preferred, but not
required.

Applicants must be U.S. Citizens or eligible to work in the
United States.

Candidates must be enrolled in a bachelor’s degree program or
have completed a bachelor’s degree.

The application deadline is January 31, 2011. The internship will
begin in February 2011. Candidates should indicate desired length
of the internship in their cover letter. Interested candidates
should send a resume and a cover letter to:

Tonia Grafakos
Conservation Librarian
Northwestern University Library
t-grafakos [at] northwestern__edu