Gay:

The Idaho museum community includes about 110 museums, zoos, parks etc.
The majority of museums are county historical societies or historic
house museums and most are run by volunteers with budgets under
$10,000/year.  Training is offered through the Idaho Association of
Museums or one of the two state museums, Idaho State Historical Museum
or Idaho Museum of Natural History.

Training is an important priority for the IAM and our workshops are
usually held in conjunction with the annual meeting. In the past, we've
had workshops on pest management, storage solutions, fundraising, cheap
exhibit ideas etc.  Workshops on registration/conservation activities
often receive a stipend from the Registrars Committee of the Western
Museums Association.  Other costs are usually covered by conference
registration fees.  The Idaho Humanities Council and Idaho Heritage
Trust have sponsored some of the past sessions.

Several of us who are state employees, feel obligated to assist the
smaller museums however we can.  The registrar and collections manager
at the Historical Museum make visits to museums to assist with
registration.  I work with a couple of museums nearby on pest
monitoring.  As for funding, we generally just do it from our annual
appropriations but a static budget for the past two years has reduced
our ability to travel (the major cost).  Personally, working with the
smaller museums in the state is one of my priorities.

Recently, an independent photograph conservator offered a one-day
workshop at four different locations around the state which was always
hosted by a local museum.  The workshop was funded in part by the Idaho
Humanities Council and private sources.

Hope this helps.

Sincerely,
Jane MacKnight
Registrar (and Vice President, IAM)
Idaho Museum of Natural History
Idaho State University
Box 8096
Pocatello, ID 83209
Tel: 208/236-2603
Fax: 208/236-4600 (Attn: Museum)
http://www.isu.edu/departments/museum