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Training
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Online Museum Classes
Description:
One of the great benefits of the 21st century is the abundance of materials for storing and displaying collections. Materials for Storage and Display covers this vast array in detail. Lectures and handouts separate materials by properties: rigid, padding, barrier and attachments. Slide shows illustrate the use of each. The course emphasizes acid-free materials and how to retrofit less appropriate materials. Materials for Storage and Display keeps current with the latest materials available for preservation. Using material testing as a decision making tool is covered. Participants receive notebooks with samples of all of the materials discussed.
Course Outline:
1. Introduction
2. Choosing and Testing
3. Rigid Materials
4. Padding Materials
5. Barrier Materials
6. Tie Materials
7. Bad Materials
8. Conclusion
Logistics:
Participants in Materials for Storage and Display work at their own pace through eight sections. Instructor Helen Alten is available at scheduled times during the course for email support. Students work individually and interact through forums and scheduled online chats. Materials include PowerPoint lectures, readings and lecture notes, as well as message forums, projects, quizzes, and links to relevant web sites. The course is limited to 20 participants.
Materials for Storage and Display lasts four 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 helen@collectioncare.org
Student Comments from MS204: Materials for Storage and Display:
"The PowerPoint slides were really helpful; I need to visually see what the material looks like and how it is used. Being able to touch the samples also was a plus."
"A high mark because you obviously know the material well, and the lectures and readings have been very informative."
"I enjoyed the format of the lectures, the additional reading lists provided and the feedback from the professor."
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.
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