MS201: Storage for Infinity: An Overview of
Museum Storage Principles
Instructor: Helen Alten
Price: $475
Dates: July 5 to Aug 12, 2011
Location: online at www.museumclasses.org
Description:
Storage for Infinity covers everything you need to know to limit
damage to stored collections. Participants will learn about
building new storage areas and retrofitting existing space.
Other topics include constructing support mounts and storage
security. The material emphasizes philosophy and planning,
handling, materials and techniques.
Course
Outline:
1. Introduction
2. Storage Philosophy
3. Agents of Deterioration and Preservation Planning
4. Storage Facilities
5. Storage Furniture
6. Preparing Collections for Storage
7. Storage Materials
8. Storage Mounts
9. Storage of Specific Collections
10. Funding Improvements
11. Conclusion
Logistics:
Participants in Storage for Infinity work at their own pace
through 11 sections. Instructor Helen Alten is available at
scheduled times during the course for email support. Materials
include PowerPoint lectures, reading materials and lecture
notes. Supporting resources include message forums, weekly
online chats projects, quizzes and links to relevant web
sites. The course is limited to 20 participants.
Storage for Infinity
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
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Student Comments from MS201:
Storage for Infinity: An Overview of Museum Storage
Principles:
My first online class. I plan to do more.
I am so glad that you offered this
course. I found it very beneficial.
The most valuable part of the class
will be the reference book I compiled with all the lectures,
forums, assignments, additional readings, etc. This class
contained a staggering amount of information! Something like
this is much more accessible, no travel expenses or 'lost' work
time.
The layout of the web site made
perfect sense to me. The flow of it was easy to follow and it
was nice to be able to see what things had transpired/been
posted.
You seem very approachable and
knowledgeable, Helen. This was a good opportunity for meeting
new colleagues and networking.
You could not have decided to offer
a course any more relevant to the precise issues that our
institution is currently dealing with. Tons of detailed info.
and a lot of practical help that will actually be useful in
daily operations.
This was my first online class and I
believe that it was quite a success thanks to the organization
that was provided by yourselves. I did not know what to expect
but both of you have surely set a very high standard of
excellence in online courses.
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
in 1980 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 in
1986. She has built and run conservation laboratories in Bulgaria,
Montana, Greece, Alaska, Minnesota and West Virginia. 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,
and advised on storage upgrades at museums throughout the US.
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.