The Northern States Conservation Center is pleased to announce the first of many online classes. The first course is 'Museum 201 Storage for Infinity: An Overview of Museum Storage Principles' scheduled to start Tuesday April 27th and run through through Thursday, May 13th, 2004.

The course will last over 2 weeks and cover all the details needed to plan or improve a storage area to meet current preservation standards. This course will include handouts, on-line literature, slide lectures, and student-teacher/group-teacher dialog. The course is limited to 20 participants.

Since this is our first course using this format, we have discounted it as much as possible, and hope you will give us LOTS of feedback about the course during and afterwards.

Fees for the course will be $275 and include all electronic materials. For each topic, you will receive web versions of Powerpoint lectures and text (book chapters) that match the lectures. The lecture topics are listed on our web site, www.museumclasses.org. For each topic there will be links to additional readings and discussion topics. We are experimenting with up-loading audio lectures for each Powerpoint presentation - but don't worry, we will make sure all audio, if used, is transcribed into text for those with slower computers and connections. Because we don't know what your library currently contains, we will recommend other readings and publications, but won't provide them with your course fee. (This also keeps the cost down for you.) However, all of the books we mention will be available through our online store. As course participants you will receive a 15% discount on anything you order through the duration of the course. (Foreign students will need to plan approximately 20% of their order for overseas shipping costs.)

MS201: Storage for Infinity: An Overview of Museum Storage Principles (Only once in 2012)               Course Description & Info     Instructor: Lori Benson               Student Login    Price: $475               Mar 5 - Mar 30, 2012      [Add to Cart]   [View Cart]

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 Lori Benson 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 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 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:

Lori Benson is an independent museum professional based in Maine. Ms. Benson has a B.A. in biology and a Masters of Library and Informational Science specializing in rare books and archives. She started working at the Minnesota Historical Society in 1990, finishing a grant funded position as the Preservation Outreach Representative. After a series of project positions at the Historical Society, including Assistant Moving Coordinator, she was hired by the Science Museum of Minnesota as their first Collections Manager in 1994. She was Project Director in the Research and Collections Division for the new facility planning and move. The project was published as Moving the Mountain, the Science Museum of Minnesota Guide to Moving Collections. In addition to her position at the Science Museum, Ms. Benson was adjunct faculty at Dominican University/College of St. Catherine Department of Library Science teaching Preservation and Conservation of Library Materials and Archives Administration in 2000-2001. In 2003, she was hired by Texas Natural Science Center, University of Texas at Austin (formerly Texas Memorial Museum) to de-accession their entire cultural collection. She continues to be a University of Texas Affiliate. She has taught museum studies to undergraduates and given many talks and lectures on preservation, deaccessioning, project planning and moving. She is a member of the Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections and the Registrars' Committee of the American Association of Museums. In her second life, she teaches handweaving.

If you are interested in the course, please contact Helen Alten at and sign up at MuseumClasses.org. Signing up as a prospective student now for any future courses is encouraged and does not require payment. Students will receive an enrollment key via email before the class begins. Enrollment keys are needed to enter the course. Enrollment keys will not be given out until students have paid.

Museum 201: Storage for Infinity
(April 27th - May 13th, 2004)

Do your collections overflow their storage? This course concentrates on storage philosophy and planning, collections handling, materials and techniques for storing collections.

Course Goals
To learn the fundamentals of storage conditions, housing materials, security and handling.

Class 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

The course format is self paced through 11 sections. The instructor will be available at predetermined intervals throughout the course. Students will be working individually and in groups. Materials may include web versions of instructor Helen Alten's Powerpoint lectures, reading materials, and lecture notes. Supporting resources may include message forums, weekly online chats, email support, projects, quizzes, and links to relevant websites.

Links to related information on other sites:

Virtual Exhibit: The History of Papermaking
http://ipst.gatech.edu/amp/education/museum_virtual_tour.htm

Preventive Care Course Material: Preservation: Identifying Problems and Solutions Facing Paper-Based Collections
http://www.si.edu/scmre/relact/dvrpcc.htm

CUIDADO PREVENTIVO: PRESERVACIÓN: COMO RECONOCER LOS PROBLEMAS Y LOS SOLUCIONES PARA COLECCIONES DE LOS MATERIALES DE PAPEL
http://www.si.edu/scmre/relact/dvrpccsp.htm