There is still room in the course that starts this week:
MS213: Museum Artifacts: How they were made and how they deteriorate
Instructor: Helen Alten
Dates: March 2 through April 10 2009
Price: $425
Location:
www.museumclasses.org
Description
Every museum object is unique, but items made of similar materials
share characteristics. Museum Artifacts gives participants an
understanding of the materials and processes used to make objects
knowledge that better prepares them to decide how to care for their
collections. Participants study two objects that represent all materials
found in our museums. Through an in-depth analysis of their components,
participants explore all possible objects found in any museum.
Course Outline
1. Introduction
2. Organic
Object: Aleut Hunting Regalia
3. Plant Materials
4. Animal
Materials
5. Modified Organics
6. Inorganic Object:
Art Deco Fireplace
7. Stone
8. Ceramic
9. Glass
10. Metal
11. Mixed Media
12. Conclusion
Logistics
Participants in Museum Artifacts work through 12 sections on
their own. Instructor Helen Alten is available for scheduled email
support. Materials and resources include online literature, slide
lectures and dialog between students and online chats led by the
instructor. The course is limited to 20 participants.
Museum Artifacts runs six weeks. To reserve a spot in the 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]
.
Required Text Books
Demeroukas, Marie, ed. Basic Condition Reporting: A
Handbook. Southeastern Registrars Association, 1998.
Student Comments
All created and selected materials were very informative and flowed
together. I like the power point slides. It’s like note
taking for me, summarizing the lecture. After the course I always go back
and read various sections again. They are excellent reference
materials.
Classmates from all over the world made it interesting for our
assignments.
Always enjoy instructor involvement for the professional input and
advice.
The downloadable manual and materials were excellent. The course
content was very thorough. The syllabus set up access online was
very good, listed clearly. The chats were great, and the
calls/prompts to participate were very much appreciated.
I liked the readings a lot because I knew they were hand selected by the
instructor and therefore were the most accurate and relevant materials
for the course.
The interaction with other participants, sharing their experiences and
their knowledge was eye opening. As we have different collections,
different problems we might come across and different areas of
experience, we can definitely learn from each other.
The Instructor
Helen Alten is the Director of Northern States Conservation Center
and its chief Objects Conservator. For nearly 30 years she has been
involved in objects conservation, starting as a pre-program intern at the
Oriental Institute in Chicago and the University Museum of the University
of Pennsylvania. She completed a degree in Archaeological Conservation
and Materials Science from the Institute of Archaeology at the University
of London in England. She has built and run conservation laboratories in
Bulgaria, Montana, Greece, Alaska and Minnesota. She has a broad
understanding of three-dimensional materials and their deterioration,
wrote and edited the quarterly Collections Caretaker, maintains the
popular
www.collectioncare.org web site, lectures throughout the United
States on collection care topics, was instrumental in developing a
state-wide protocol for disaster response in small Minnesota museums, has
written, received and reviewed grants for NEH and IMLS, worked with local
foundations funding one of her pilot programs, and is always in search of
the perfect museum mannequin. She has published chapters on conservation
and deterioration of archeological glass with the Materials Research
Society and the York Archaeological Trust, four chapters on different
mannequin construction techniques in Museum Mannequins: A Guide for
Creating the Perfect Fit (2002), preservation planning, policies,
forms and procedures needed for a small museum in The Minnesota Alliance
of Local History Museums' Collection Initiative Manual, and is
co-editor of the penultimate book on numbering museum collections (still
in process) by the Gilcrease Museum in Oklahoma. Helen Alten has
been a Field Education Director, Conservator, and staff trainer. She
began working with people from small, rural, and tribal museums while as
the state conservator for Montana and Alaska. Helen currently conducts
conservation treatments and operates a conservation center in Charleston,
WV and St. Paul, MN.