Six online courses cover topics in exhibits, storage, collections
management policies, disaster preparedness and volunteer programs. There
is still room in the six courses that start on March 9. To reserve a spot
in any course, please pay at
http://www.collectioncare.org/tas/tas.html
. If you have trouble, please contact Helen Alten at
[log in to unmask] or Eric
Swanson at [log in to unmask]
. For more details on each course, please go to
www.museumclasses.org
Two Disaster Planning Courses
MS002: Collection Protection - Are you Prepared? (short course)
Instructor: Terri Schindel
Dates: Mar 9 - 13, 2009
Price: $75
Location:
www.museumclasses.org
Disaster planning is overwhelming. Where do you start? Talk to
Terri about how to get going. Use her checklist to determine your level
of preparedness. What do you already have in place? Are you
somewhat prepared? What can you do next? Help clarify your current
state of readiness and develop future steps to improve it.
Participants in Collection Protection will read literature and
participate in two one-hour chats to discuss their institutions disaster
preparedness. Each student should read course materials and prepare
questions or comments to share with the other students in the chat. This
is a mini-course and takes no more than 10 hours of a student's time.
MS205/6: Disaster Plan Research and Writing
Instructor: Terri Schindel
Dates: Mar 9 - Apr 17, 2009
Price: $425
Location:
www.museumclasses.org
Every museum needs to be prepared for fires, floods, chemical spills,
tornadoes, hurricanes and other disasters. But surveys show 80 percent
lack trained staff, emergency-preparedness plans for their collections,
or both. Disaster Plan Research and Writing begins with the
creation of disaster-preparedness teams, the importance of ongoing
planning, employee safety, board participation and insurance.
Participants will learn everything they need to draft their own
disaster-preparedness plans. They also will be required to incorporate
colleagues in team-building exercises.
A written disaster-preparedness plan is not only a good idea, it’s also a
requirement for accreditation. In the second half of the course,
instructor Terri Schindel reviews and provides input as participants
write plans that outline the procedures to follow in various emergencies.
The completed plan prepares museums physically and mentally to handle
emergencies that can harm vulnerable and irreplaceable collections. You
will have a completed institutional disaster-preparedness and response
plan at the end of the course.
Course Outline
1. Introduction to
Disaster Planning
2. Disaster Team
3. Risk Assessment and
Management
4. Health and
Safety
5. Insurance
6. Documentation
7. Prioritizing
Collections
8. Writing the Disaster
Preparedness Plan
9. Emergency
Procedures
10.Disaster Response
11.Emergency Procedures Recovery
12.Emergency Procedures Salvage
13.Emergency Procedures - Salvage Techniques and Guidelines
14.Emergency supplies and location of regional resources
15.Appendices: What to put in them
16.Next steps: planning drills and further resources
17.Conclusion
Participants in Disaster Plan Research and Writing work at their own
pace. Instructor Terri Schindel is available at scheduled times for email
support. Opportunities for interaction include forums and scheduled
online chats. Each section includes a written assignment that becomes
support material for drafting an actual disaster preparedness plan.
Materials include readings, lecture notes, links to relevant web sites
and handouts. The course is limited to 20 participants.
One Exhibit Course
M
S011: Gallery Guides ***NEW***
(short course)
Instructor: Karin Hostetter
Dates: March 9 through 20, 2009
Price: $75
Location:
www.museumclasses.org
Set aside some blocks of time and end up with a strong rough draft of
a self-guided gallery guide for the exhibit of your choice. Learn
about the power of themes and universals. Develop techniques for
layering information. Empower readers to do more on their own after
leaving the exhibit. Create information that really “sticks” with
the guest. Karin shares her 30 years experience with you as you develop a
useful document for your exhibit. Participants in Gallery Guides
will read literature and participate in four one-hour chats to discuss
what is in an effective guide. Each student should read course materials
and prepare questions or comments to share with the other students in the
chat. This is a mini-course that lasts two weeks and takes no more than
20 hours of a student's time. This is an opportunity to brain-storm with
colleagues about what works and what doesn’t work.
One Volunteer Management
Course
MS10
8: Fundamentals of Museum
Volunteer Programs
Mar 9 - Apr 3, 2009
Instructor: Karin Hostetter
Dates: Mar 9 through Apr 3, 2009
Cost: $425
Location:
www.museumclasses.org
Volunteers are essential for most non-profit
institutions. But good volunteers aren’t born they are made. Even
though they don’t get paychecks, it takes time and money to have
effective volunteers. Fundamentals of Museum Volunteer Programs
teaches the basics of a strong volunteer program. Topics include
recruiting, training and rewarding volunteers, as well as preparing
staff. Instruction continues through firing and liabilities. Participants
will end up with custom forms tailored to their institutions, an
understanding of liability issues and a nine-step process to troubleshoot
an existing volunteer program or create the best one for a particular
institution.
Course Outline
1. Introduction
2. Laying the Foundation: preparing staff, job descriptions
3. Determining Program Structure: who's in charge
4. Recruiting Volunteers
5. Selecting Volunteers
6. Training Volunteers
7. Evaluating Volunteers
8. Saying "Thank You"
9. Keeping Records
10. Communicating Information: including handling change
11. Liability
12. Conclusion
Participants in Fundamentals of Museum Volunteer Programs work at
their own pace through sections and interact through online chats.
Instructor Karin Hostetter is available at
scheduled times during the course for email support. Fundamentals of
Museum Volunteer Programs includes online literature and
student-teacher/group-teacher dialog. The course is limited to 20
participants.
Twp Collections Management and
Preservation Courses
MS20
2: Museum Storage Facilities and
Furniture
Instructor: Helen Alten
Dates: Mar 9 - Apr 3, 2009
Cost: $425
Location:
www.museumclasses.org
The storage building and its furniture are your first line of
protection for the most valuable asset in your museum, the collection.
Museum Storage Facilities and Furniture concentrates on building
systems and furniture for storing and protecting collections. Topics
include environmental controls, insulation, floor coatings and predicting
space requirements. Museum Storage also compares commercial and
homemade furniture and provides a blueprint for planning the redesign of
your facility. Storage philosophy, construction requirements, safety and
security and planning. A unit details how commercial museum-quality
cabinetry is constructed. Blueprints are provided for high-quality,
homemade cabinets.
Course Outline
1. Storage
Philosophy
2. Agents of
Deterioration and Preservation Planning
3. Storage Facilities
4. Storage Furniture
5. Conclusion
Participants in Museum Storage Facilities and Furniture work at
individual paces through five sections. Instructor Helen Alten is
available at scheduled times during the course for email support.
Resources include forums and scheduled online chats, PowerPoint lectures,
reading materials and lecture notes and links to relevant web
sites.
MS209: Collections
Management Policies for Museums and Related Institutions
Instructor: William (Bill) Tompkins
Dates: Mar 9 - May 22, 2009
Price: $425
Location:
www.museumclasses.org
Acquiring and holding collections impose specific legal, ethical and
professional obligations. Museums must ensure proper management,
preservation and use of their collections. A well-crafted collections
management policy is key to collections stewardship. Collections
Management Policies for Museums and Related Institutions helps
participants develop policies that meet professional and legal standards
for collections management.
Collections Management Policies for Museums and Related
Institutions teaches the practical skills and knowledge needed to
write and implement such a policy. The course covers the essential
components and issues a policy should address. It also highlights the
role of the policy in carrying out a museum’s mission and guiding
stewardship decisions. Participants are expected to draft collections
management policies.
Course Textbook
John E. Simmons, Things Great and Small: Collections Management
Policies, American Association of Museums, 2006, $40 non-member, $30
member, 208 pages, ISBN: 1-933253-03-7, available from the
AAM bookstore
Course Outline
1. The Principles of Collections Management
2. Collections Stewardship: The Role of a Collections Management Policy
3. Policy Versus Procedure
4. Issues to Consider When Developing a Collections Management Policy
5. Essential Components of a Collections Management Policy
6. Monitoring and Revision
7. Potential Problems
8. Emerging Issues
9. Drafting a Collections Management Policy
Participants in Collections Management Policies work through
sections at their own pace. Instructor Bill Tompkins is available for
scheduled email support. Materials and resources include online
literature, textbook readings, slide lectures and dialog between students
and online chats led by the instructor. The course is limited to 20
participants.