Tag: training

Fellowship: 2017-2018 Smithsonian Postgraduate/Postdoctoral Fellowships in Conservation of Museum Collections Program (Washington DC, USA)

All applications must be submitted by December 1, 2016
Purpose
This fellowship program is offered by the Smithsonian Institution to provide opportunities for recent graduates of masters programs in art and archaeological conservation or the equivalent or conservation scientists, including those at the postdoctoral level, who wish to conduct research and gain further training in Smithsonian conservation laboratories for conservation of objects in museum collections.
These fellowships are offered through the Smithsonian’s Office of Fellowships and Internships. They are administered under the charter of the Institution, 20 U.S. Code section 41 et seq. Fellowship awards under this program are contingent upon the availability of funds.
This fellowship program is offered by the Smithsonian Institution to provide opportunities for recent graduates of masters programs in art and archaeological conservation or the equivalent or conservation scientists, including those at the postdoctoral level, who wish to conduct research and gain further training in Smithsonian conservation laboratories for conservation of objects in museum collections.
These fellowships are offered through the Smithsonian’s Office of Fellowships and Internships. They are are administered under the charter of the Institution, 20 U.S. Code section 41 et seq. Fellowship awards under this program are contingent upon the availability of funds.
Eligibility

  • Applicants must propose to conduct research in the conservation of objects in museum collections in conservation laboratories at the Smithsonian Institution. Past or current Smithsonian fellowship recipients are eligible to apply for future Smithsonian awards.
  • No employee or contractor of the Smithsonian Institution may hold a Smithsonian fellowship during the time of his/her employment or contract, nor may an award be offered to any person who has been employed by or under contract to the Institution in the previous year, without the prior approval of the Office of Fellowships.
  • Applicants whose native language is not English are expected to have the ability to write and converse fluently in English. All application materials must be presented in English (foreign transcripts may be translated, see below).

How it Works
Postgraduate/Postdoctoral Conservation Fellowships are usually awarded for one year, but applications for shorter periods will be considered with three months being the minimum. In accepting an appointment, the fellow is expected to be in residence at the Smithsonian except for approved absences.
Financial support, in addition to a Smithsonian fellowship, for such purposes as research travel and equipment may be received from other sources, provided that no special demands are made upon the fellow’s time. Permission to receive additional stipend support must be requested in writing from the Office of Fellowships.
Postgraduate/Postdoctoral Conservation Fellows will conduct research and study in conservation laboratories at the Smithsonian Institution. The prospective fellow must first contact the conservator or scientist with whom he or she would like to work and is encouraged to seek direction with crafting an effective proposal. Previously successful proposals have benefited from the proposed mentor’s guidance in navigating the Smithsonian collections. Applicants should consult the Smithsonian Opportunities for Research and Study (SORS) in advance to select a proposed advisor who can assist with accessing facilities and necessary equipment. The amount of support services available to the fellow will be determined by the workload of the department and the policy of the department chairperson and/or unit director. Additional analytical facilities may be available at the Museum Conservation Institute (MCI). Fellows have access to the Smithsonian Institution Libraries with privileges which include borrowing library materials, inter-library loans, document delivery, database searching, and reference assistance.
It is important that applicants consider the following factors carefully when choosing the dates for the proposed fellowship:

  • The schedule of their proposed adviser/host and the availability of required resources.
  • The dates of tenure proposed in the application (and any change of dates if the fellowship is awarded) should be selected in agreement with the proposed principal adviser.
  • In submitting an application for a fellowship at the Institution, the applicant does not incur any obligation to accept the appointment if selected.

Applicants are strongly encouraged to contact staff members (listed below) to help identify potential advisers, determine the feasibility of the proposed research being conducted at the Smithsonian Institution, and the availability of relevant resources such as staff, collections, archives and library materials during the proposed tenure dates. Additional facilities may be available to museum or archives fellows for analytical work at the Museum Conservation Institute (MCI).
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
Kira Eng-Wilmot, Senior Textile Conservator, (decorative/applied arts: textiles, paper, three-dimensional objects) +1 212-849-8462; engwilmots@si.edu
Freer and Sackler Galleries
Andrew Hare, Supervisory Conservator, East Asian Painting, (objects, paper, and Asian paintings; and conservation science) +1 202-633-0370; harean@si.edu Special note: Due to museum construction, the Freer and Sackler Galleries are not currently accepting applications for fellowships in this cycle; however they do welcome inquiries from persons interested in developing a project at a future date.
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
Gwynne Ryan, Chief Conservator, (modern materials) +1 202-633- 2728; ryangw@si.ed
Museum Conservation Institute
Carol Grissom, Senior Objects Conservator, +1 301-238-1236, grissomc@si.edu
National Air and Space Museum
Malcolm Collum, Engen Conservation Chair, (objects) +1 703-572-4361; collumm@si.edu
National Museum of African Art
Dana Moffett, Senior Conservator, (objects) +1 202-633-4614; moffettd@si.edu Special note: The National Museum of African Art is not accepting applications for the Smithsonian Conservation fellowships but will have other fellowship opportunities available for the 2017-2018 cycle. More information please contact: moffettd@si.edu
National Museum of American History
Janice Ellis, Senior Paper Conservator, (books and paper) +1 202-633-3623; ellisjs@si.edu
Sunae Park Evans, Senior Costume Conservator, (costumes and textiles) +1 202-633-3629; evanssu@si.edu
Beth Richwine, Senior Objects Conservator, (objects) +1 202-633-3639; richwineb@si.edu
National Museum of Natural History
Catharine Hawks, Natural History Conservator, (natural history and anthropological objects) +1 202-633-0835; hawksc@si.edu
National Portrait Gallery
Lou Molnar, Head of Conservation, (paintings and paper) +1 202-633-5822; molnarl@si.edu
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Tiarna Doherty, Chief of Conservation, (colonial to contemporary paintings, paper, objects, and frames) +1 202-633-5802; dohertyt@si.edu
Smithsonian Institution Archives
Nora Lockshin, Senior Conservator, (archives, books, and paper) +1 202-633-5913; lockshinn@si.edu
HOW TO APPLY
*All applications must be submitted by December 1, 2016
*Notification of decisions will be made no later than April 1, 2017.
General Application Information
All applications should be sent through our SOLAA system.
Once registered and logged in you will need to complete the requested information regarding mailing address, academic history, current university or college etc.
You can find the application for the opportunity under the Office of Fellowships and Internships.
Files you will need to upload
Abstract: An abstract of the proposed research, not more than one page (please upload this in the same file with your Research Proposal).
Research Proposal: The full statement of your research, maximum THREE PAGES typescript. It should be double spaced, excluding all other parts of the application, such as the abstract and bibliography. Do not use type smaller than 12 point font. In preparing your proposal, be sure to provide and address the following:

  • A description of the research you plan to undertake at the Smithsonian Institution, including the methodology to be utilized.
  • The importance of the work, both in relation to the broader discipline and to your own scholarly goals.
  • Justification for conducting your research at the Smithsonian and utilization of research facilities and resources.
  • Identification of the member of the Smithsonian’s research staff who might serve as your principal adviser/host. Also identify potential co-adviser(s) and/or consultant(s), if applicable. The publication, Smithsonian Opportunities for Research and Study (SORS), contains the necessary information on staff research specialties and current departmental interests to help you determine which staff members are best suited to your research needs. Research staff may be named by applicants to serve as principal advisers, co-advisers or consultants. Affiliated research staff may be named as co-advisers or consultants if they will be in residence during at least a portion of the tenure period proposed. You are strongly encouraged to correspond with your proposed adviser(s) as you prepare your proposal.

Budget and Justification: Budget and justification for equipment, supplies, research-related travel costs, and other support required to conduct the research itself (excluding stipend and relocation costs). You are encouraged to discuss potential research costs with your proposed adviser(s) before submitting your application. If the funds required to support the research exceed the maximum research allowance of $4,000, please explain the source of additional funds.
Bibliography: A bibliography of literature relevant to the applicant’s proposed research.
Curriculum Vitae: Curriculum vitae, including previous and current fellowships, grants, and/or awards, and a description of your research interests. If English is not your native language, describe the level of your proficiency in reading, conversing, and writing in English.
Transcripts (unofficial are acceptable): Transcripts (or other materials when transcripts are not issued) from all appropriate institutions are required, except for senior fellowship applications. Applicants for postdoctoral fellowships need only submit graduate transcripts. If transcripts or other materials are not in English, the applicant should provide translations.
References:

  • You will need the names and email addresses of two persons familiar with your work. Please note that all reference letters are considered confidential unless confidentiality has been specifically waived by the referee. Do not list Smithsonian staff members as your referees; they will have the opportunity to review your application after it is submitted.
  • Please provide a copy of your proposal and a copy of Letter to Referee (downloadable pdf) to your referees.
  • All reference letters will be considered confidential and the contents will not be revealed to the applicant unless confidentiality has been specifically waived by the referee. Therefore, please have the reference submit in sufficient time to meet the application deadline.
  • The application, consisting of the proposal, academic records, and two supporting letters, will be reviewed by members of the Smithsonian’s research staff. Applications will be evaluated on the basis of the proposal’s merit, the ability of the applicant to carry out the proposed research and study, and the extent to which the Smithsonian, through its staff members and resources, can contribute to the proposed research.
  • Through the system (SOLAA) you will send an email to these referees so they can provide references through the web.

Selection Criteria:
Applications are evaluated by a Smithsonian Peer Review Committee made up of scholars in appropriate fields. Fellows are selected based on the following:

  • Proposal’s merit
  • Applicant’s ability to carry out the proposed research and study
  • Likelihood that the research could be completed in the requested time
  • Extent to which the Smithsonian, through its research staff members and resources, could contribute to the proposed research.

The Fellowship Program does not discriminate on grounds of race, creed, sex, age, marital status, condition of handicap, or national origin of any applicant.
For more information visit: Fellowships & Internships

Upcoming Conference: A Century of Design in the Parks, Preserving the Built Environment in National and State Parks

National Park Service Centennial Symposium Series

June 21 to 23, 2016
Join the experience in Santa Fe, New Mexico from June 21 to 23, 2016. Learn from our nation’s leading experts about how to preserve the built environment within national and state parks. Understand the role that materials played in the development of these unique sites. Study sites from early rustic, CCC, WPA, post-WWII era, NPS Mission 66 campaign, and beyond.
Topics may include:
• historical perspectives,
• preservation issues,
• documentation,
• use of technology,
• adaptive reuse, and
• interpretation of NPS designed features, among others.
Plan to be part of this symposium today! Submit an abstract as part of the call for papers and posters by January 15, 2016.
Registration:
General Registration $299
Speaker Registration $199
Student Registration $99 (limited number, register early).
To register, submit a presentation, or for more information, see NCPTT’s website at www.ncptt.nps.gov.

42nd Annual Meeting – Collection Care Session, May 29, “The Ossabaw Island Workshops – Preventive Conservation Training in a Real Life Setting” by David Bayne

Since 2010, there have been four Preventive Conservation workshops on Ossabaw Island, three of which have been generously funded by FAIC. These workshops have provided a unique training experience for both emerging conservation professionals and pre-program students.
Background and History of the Island
Ossabaw Island is a 26,000-acre remote barrier island off the coast of Savannah, Georgia. It has five residents, and may only be accessed by private boat. It is mostly wilderness, but there are some very interesting historic buildings, including some slave cabins of tabby construction (a technique using oyster shells, sand, and water as the mortar ingredients), the Club House (c. 1885) – where lectures take place and participants are housed, and the Torrey-West House or the “Main House” – where the actual work is carried out.
Dr. and Mrs. Torrey bought the island in 1924 and had a house built there to be their family’s winter home to escape the harsh winters of their native Michigan. The house was completed in 1926, and the Torreys spent four months (January – April) there each year afterward. The current owner of the house is Mrs. Eleanor “Sandy” Torrey West, who is the daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Torrey and is currently 101 years old.
In 1961, Mrs. West and her husband started an artist colony, where writers, artists, and composers could come stay in the Wests’ home and be inspired by the island’s natural beauty and tranquility. In the 1970s, this evolved into the Genesis Project, where college students and less-established artists came to work on various projects. The Genesis participants were more self-sufficient and built settlements, cooking/dining/washing facilities, and a pottery kiln at an area of the island called “Middle Place.”
With her money running out, Mrs. West decided to sell the island to the state of Georgia in 1978, but she had several stipulations. She wanted the island to remain wild and continue to be a place of inspiration, creativity, and discovery, so the state was not allowed to build a causeway or start a ferry service to the island. They also had to continue encouraging arts and sciences projects/research and allow her to continue living in her house on the island until her death.
The Workshop
The original goals of the workshop were to use the Main House to:
1. Train housekeepers working in historic houses.
2. Professionalize preventive conservation.
3. Expose professional and emerging conservators to a nascent historic house and provide an opportunity for them to take part in its institutionalization.

The living room in the Main House on Ossabaw Island, GA.
The living room in the Main House on Ossabaw Island, GA.

 
The workshop provides a unique opportunity for participants to learn about preventive conservation and housekeeping practices for a historic house.  The things that make this program so unique are that the house…

  • is still a home in which the current owner is a 101-year-old woman who resides there full-time.
  • is on a remote island, and supplies must be brought out by chartered boat from the mainland.
  • suffers from MANY problems, such as:
    • The environment of the island (heat, humidity, salty ocean air, etc.)
      • Mold and mildew
      • Rotting wood
      • Rusting metal
    • Pests
      • Extensive damage to house, furniture, pillows/cushions, carpets/rugs, books, taxidermy, etc by termites, carpet beetles, silverfish, rodents, and other pests.
    • General neglect
      • As Mrs. West became older, she could not take care of the house by herself, and she could not afford to pay for the amount of repairs and housekeeping that the house required.
    • Arsenic
      • Exotic game heads (a lioness, black rhino, water buffalo, and a few kinds of antelope) have always been a major component of the living room décor, even appearing in the original architect drawings for the house.  These may have been shot by Dr. Torrey himself on a safari hunting trip to Africa.  All of them were treated with an arsenic-based pesticide.  Testing of the heads found that some had arsenic content that was off the charts (>160 ppb).

Though current housekeepers in historic houses were the original target audience, most of the people who have completed the workshop have been pre-program conservation students. A house with such a rich and fascinating history, but so many conservation issues, provides a lot of opportunities for pre-programmers to learn and gain hands-on experience. That is probably the workshop’s greatest achievement: exposing potential conservation students to collections care and preventive conservation.
I was lucky enough to have been one of the participants in the 2013 season. It was not glamorous. We worked hard and got dirty, crawling around on the floors and under cobwebbed furniture, vacuuming, dusting, moving heavy wooden furniture, and examining sticky traps that had caught all sorts of disgusting, multi-legged creatures. Through all of this, we got exposure to integrated pest management (IPM) and the care of furniture, paintings, textiles, books, and works of art on paper. It could be gross, but it was fun and exciting, too. As David said in his presentation, “Everything is an adventure on Ossabaw.”
Another major achievement of the workshop has been in helping emerging conservation professionals by providing third-year students or recent graduates the opportunity to be instructors. In 2013, that included two former WUDPAC students, Stephanie Hulman (paintings) and Emily Schuetz Stryker (textiles). These young professionals play an essential role because they have knowledge of the most recent techniques and advancements in the field and are better able to answer pre-program students’ questions about portfolios and conservation school.

2013 Team - Ossabaw Island Preventive Conservation Workshop
2013 Team – Ossabaw Island Preventive Conservation Workshop

 
Unfortunately, Emily Schuetz Stryker died suddenly and unexpectedly earlier this year. She was a great instructor, a wonderful person, and the most talented knitter that I have ever met. The Ossabaw workshop would not have been the same without her sense of humor and her wonderful laugh.
RIP Emily Schuetz Stryker (1987 – 2014)

42nd Annual Meeting – Interest Session, May 31, “Syllabus Sharing Session”. Chaired by Emily Williams.

This was a pretty informal session but it was attended by a lot of really enthusiastic people. When I arrived in the room shortly before the start time the discussion had already started. By the time Emily Williams arrived (one issue with this session was a  lot of competing interests at the same time) only 5 minutes later, we were already well into it and she had her work cut out to herd the syllabus-sharing cats.
The initial premise of the meeting was for people either teaching or interested in teaching conservation to allied professions to get together and share their ideas for teaching. This arose from interest expressed at the last annual meeting. Emily Williams, who guided the session, explained that there wasn’t a big plan for it, they just wanted to provide a space for discussion and she wanted to distribute a short questionnaire to determine interests (see end of blog for the questionnaire questions; please send your answers to the questions listed to Emily Williams)
When I came in, the discussion centered on what kind of sharing was proposed. Some participants were unwilling to post their syllabi online for various reasons, although they’d be willing to share them with interested people via email. The group seemed pretty evenly split on this topic but even without general consensus on that topic there were a lot of interesting ideas and useful resources discussed.
One suggestion (sorry, everyone, I was having a hard enough time jotting down the ideas that were coming fast and furious and didn’t always note who said what) was a list of who was teaching what, where, and whether to undergrad or grad students, so that we could see who was teaching something akin to our interests and reach out to them. Another participant was interested in adding information on class size and whether the instruction was compensated. At this point, Emily came in and let us know that AIC’s e-editor Rachael Perkins Arenstein and she had just discussed setting up a Wiki page that could host just this sort of info, so that was great. This ‘Teaching to Allied Professionals’ wiki page would be akin to the existing Exhibiting Conservation .
Several participants offered useful resources; these came up at various points in the discussion but I’m going to lump them together here:

  • Chemistry in Art  is the first web-based community launched by the NSF-sponsored Chemistry Collaborations, Workshops and Community of Scholars program (cCWCS) . The CiA community is primarily designed for college-level instructors to network and to collaborate; and to access, share and develop curriculum materials.
  • GCI  has a lot of good teaching resources.  “The GCI is pleased to make available didactic resources that have been produced and used in the Institute’s courses, workshops and field training. These resources include outlines of teaching sessions, bibliographies, exercises, case studies, and technical notes that can be downloaded and used by conservation educators and students in the classroom and by professionals for informal, personal learning according to the terms described below.” GCI puts everything up under a Creative Commons License. Kathleen Dardes mentioned that she was particularly interested in getting feedback on this resource.
  • NEDCC also has resources available freely.
  • UCL has a very detailed online syllabus for their Conservation for Archaeologists course:
  • Renee Stein and Katherine Etre at the Carlos Museum have worked with science teachers to develop a resource for high school science labs based on art conservation. Carlos.emory.edu/science-art-conservation

 
There was some discussion of how to write a syllabus; Emily put forward the view that we should think of a syllabus as a contract between the student and instructor. Some felt that this might lead to a voluminous syllabus and suggested adding a generic paragraph that everything is subject to change. There was general agreement that it was important to communicate fully with students to understand their expectations and to explain your expectations. List outcomes and rubrics (this was unfamiliar use of rubric for me so I turned to Wikipedia for explication: “In education terminology, scoring rubric means “a standard of performance for a defined population”.” Live and learn). The students need to understand that taking one course will not transform them into conservators.   Instructors in a university setting may need to follow institutional guidelines for syllabus-writing but also may be able to get help from their Centers for Learning Excellence.
 
At our request Emily explicated what the relationship was between ETC (the AIC Education and Training Committee of which she’s also a member) and this syllabus sharing group. In short, the ETC is tasked with overseeing AIC’s education initiatives (mostly directed at conservator education) whereas our adhoc group was directed at conservation education for allied professionals.
 
At this point, we went around the room and introduced ourselves and talked about our specific interest in the topic. It was fascinating to learn how many different ‘allied professionals’ were interested in or could benefit by an academic introduction to conservation basics: art students (who could learn how to make their artworks more permanent or definitely ephemeral); museum studies programs; collections managers; archaeology and anthropology students; art history students; library scientists and archivists; programs for chemistry, materials science or engineering students, and others I’ve probably left out. One participant was especially interested in identifying and accessing online resources that could be used by students in the Developing World.
 
Emily polled the room to see if there was interest in a session for the next Annual Meeting on how to teach. If you weren’t there but would are interested, please fill out the extremely short survey at the end of this post.
 
I have not yet taught a full semester University level course, just classes in other courses and workshops in host countries. But I hope to do so in the next year or so as our Museum starts an exciting new initiative for teaching archaeological science to undergraduates. Having long felt that most American archaeology and anthropology students need to understand more about conservation, I’m pretty passionate about this topic and it was great to be in a room with others who share that passion.
 
SURVEY DISTRIBUTED AT SESSION:
We are hoping to organize a formal workshop on teaching for the Miami AIC meeting. To help us plan this and future events please answer the following questions and return this form to either Emily Williams (ewilliams@cwf.org) or Suzanne Davis (davissl@umich.edu)
 

  1. What resources would you most like to see AIC develop to aid you in your teaching. These resources might include items for the soon to launch “Teaching to Allied Professionals” wiki page, continued education courses for conservators engaged in courses, course materials for use in the classroom or other items. Please write down anything you think might be useful.
  2. Is there a particular challenge that you feel you or other conservators face in teaching Allied Professionals that you particularly wish to see addressed through workshops or the wiki page.
  3. Have you developed course materials or other teaching aids that you are willing to share with other conservators? If so, what types and how may we contact you?

41st Annual Meeting-Tours, May 29, "Indiana Historical Society"

A slight communications glitch caused the group from the Indiana State Museum Tour to start without the group that was only doing the Indiana Historical Society tour; we knew that they were supposed to rendesvous with us, but they didn’t know that we existed.
We finally caught up with the other half of our tour group in the Isolation Area of the Indiana Historical Society building, where Paper Conservator Ramona Duncan-Huse was explaining how they set aside a purpose-built space to quarantine, inspect, and treat incoming collections. Because the Historical Society actively acquires entire pallets of archive boxes, staff cannot examine every single item as it enters the collection. This holding room gives the Conservation Department the opportunity to detect insect evidence or mold and prevent cross-contamination with other collections. The room was the envy of many on the tour who could only dream about a room with such great features: negative pressure, floor drains, industrial freezers, etc. The Historical Society’s mold treatment room was a smaller room contained within the Isolation Area that had polyethylene sheeting over its entrance, easily-cleaned tile walls, and its own negative pressure air handler, designed to prevent the outflow of airborne particles through doorways.
After being “wowed” by both the size and quality of the contaminated holding area, the tour moved on to the conservation exhibit.  The “History Lab” is a delightful, interactive, kid-friendly installation in a second-floor gallery adjacent to the conservation lab. The exhibits’ objective is to explain what conservation is and what conservators do. The exhibit has been popular with audiences and funders, so the Conservation Department will be undertaking a renovation and expansion of the exhibit and the Conservation Lab. Facilitator Nancy Thomas oversees the hands-on paper mending practice area in the current exhibit. There are also computer-based interactive exercises.
Romona Duncan-Huse turned over the next part of the tour to Sarah Anderson, the designer who is helping to transform the History Lab in its next phase, scheduled to open in September. She showed storyboards for the new exhibit and explained its objectives. The current exhibit is very popular with school groups and families, but some visitors see it as a children’s exhibit and walk right past it. There will be “before and after” objects, and lots of touchable materials, as well as touchscreen computer-based items. Duncan-Huse maintains a conservation Pinterest page, so they plan to incorporate that into the new exhibit. The new exhibit will explore more of the “why” and “how” of conservation treatment decisions, and it will be a lighter, more open design (think Brookstone or Sharper Image meets Apple Store meets Williams-Sonoma); it still incorporates hands-on interactive activities, but with a more sophisticated feel than the old exhibit.
With the new gallery construction slated to begin in June, the impending removal of some walls of the conservation lab meant  that there were no treatments in progress during our visit. Conservation staff were happy to describe some of their recent activities to us.  Tamara Hemerlein, the Local History Services Officer, explained the IMLS Statewide Connecting the Collections (C2C) project, which includes a traveling conservation panel exhibit, “Endangered Heritage.” The project also includes training for volunteers and museum boards around the state, and she has done 85 site visits to collecting institutions.  In late August, they plan to release Deterioria and the Agents of Destruction, a conservation graphic novel. They let us see advance proofs, and it is AWESOME! Several members of the tour (including me) were involved with C2C, so we were all jealous. I asked if they had plans for conservator action figures.
After the lab tour, we had the opportunity to visit the galleries on our own. I went back to the conservation exhibit to get a closer look and to take a few pictures. I want to thank Ramona Duncan-Huse and everyone at the Indiana Historical Society for such an interesting tour.
 
 
 

AIC’s 40th Annual Meeting – Collection Care Network Brainstorming Session: Table 3 – Traveling exhibits & collection care training

The last presentation of the Outreach to Allies Session at the AIC Annual Meeting 2012 was an interactive session organized by the Collection Care Network. The leadership team of the network designed it as a way to identify priorities and projects for the network. Imagine nine groups of 7 to 9 people sitting around tables discussing the content of nine different short videos. Each video presented a collection care challenge or question. The discussion aimed to suggest projects the Collection Care Network could develop that would provide tools to overcome the challenge or answer the question. Now imagine people engaged in conversation. This post covers some of the conversation at Table 3. Look for the other 8 posts if you would like to review all the discussions.

Table Three: The discussion at the table focused on how to provide more access to collection care information delivered in an efficient and effective way. As a professional beginning in the field I was interested in learning about the many resources and approaches that already exist and what my colleagues found best suited to the needs of the audience.

The video: Emma Westling, Touring Exhibits Coordinator for the Museum of Science, Boston outlined her duties at the Museum and her work touring exhibits to various venues. She wished to have access to previously developed training materials to educate and provide professional development for institutions that may not have dedicated collections professionals. She pointed out that staff could improve collection care for their own collections as well as for loaned objects in their care.

The discussion: Although we began by considering loan shows to institutions with staff that may have a limited knowledge about a particular type of object or material, the discussions moved to discussing the intended audience. From diverse backgrounds, they bring a range of expertise to preservation. They meet the daily challenges of finding sufficient time, money, and staff hours to carry out their work. In time are conversation transitioned into what were some of the best ways to engage and to meet the needs of this audience. We talked about how training for its own sake was a worthy goal, but when faced with the numerous demands competing for time and resources, a more strategic approach is required. Those who had developed on-line resources and presented programs and seminars found that successful programming hinges on delivering information at the moment individuals are looking for it. The challenge is using methods that get the right information to the intended audience at the right time.

The ideas for Collection Care Network projects:

  • Create a free and searchable on-line resource that organizes the collection care information and training available to the preservation community.
  • Develop a knowledge base on specialized topics with content provided by experts in that area.
  • Build a forum to foster interactivity.

The contributors: Moderator – Gretchen Guidess; Note Taker: Patti Dambaugh; Table participants: Kathy Francis, Kristen Laise, Chris McAfee, Kay Söderlund, Sarah Stauderman

5 Reasons to Take an Online Course from the FAIC Online Education Program

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:

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.

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Courses remaining in the FAIC Online Education series for 2011:

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.