Collections Management Boot Camp

6 December 2010, 9:00 AM – 3:oo PM
Cape Fear Museum, Wilmington, NC

The North Carolina Connecting to Collections Project (C2C) will be hosting a “boot camp” on December 6th 2010 at the Cape Fear Museum in Wilmington for staff, board members, and volunteers who are interested in improving their collections management policies and procedures. The workshop will be led by Curator Martha Jackson of NC State Historic Sites and Collections Manager John Campbell of the NC Museum of History. Martha and John both have vast amounts of experience in managing small to large museum collections for both museums and historic sites.

The workshop will cover the basics of collections management, including collections management policies, collections gift and loan agreements, facilities reports, and other documents necessary to manage artifacts. Martha and John have developed this workshop to both challenge and educate participants. The Collections Management Boot Camp will be interactive; participants are encouraged to share specific situations and challenges they may be facing in their own institutions. Participants will also be given helpful hand-outs, examples, and resources to take back to their individual institutions—take-away materials which may facilitate far-reaching instruction among staff and volunteers who do not have the opportunity to attend the boot camp.

The workshop will open with an information session about C2C and NC ECHO; questions, feedback, and networking are encouraged. Participants in the C2C sessions have a unique opportunity to help improve how cultural heritage institutions (museums, archives, libraries, and historic sites) care for a wide variety of artifacts, books, papers, and other objects of our state’s cultural past. C2C project staff wants input on what types of workshops are needed. Additional workshops on collections conservation care and disaster preparedness will be offered in the future.

The North Carolina Connecting to Collections Project is an IMLS grant-funded initiative aimed at helping institutions better care for their collections. A variety of partner organizations have made this project possible: Federation of NC Historical Societies, NC Museums Council, NC Preservation Consortium, State Historic Records Advisory Board, and Society of NC Archivists.

To register, please follow this link: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/c2collectionsmanagementbootcamp. For more information, call Michelle Vaughn at 919-807-7422.

Collections Care Basics Workshop

December 13, 2010, 10:00 AM – 3:00 PM
Children’s Museum, Rocky Mount, NC

The North Carolina Connecting to Collections Project (C2C) will be hosting a workshop to train participants in the basic care of museum artifact collections. The workshop will be held on Monday, December 13, 2010 at the Rocky Mount Children’s Museum. Adrienne Berney, Collections Care Trainer for the NC Department of Cultural Resources’ C2C project, will lead the session. Adrienne’s past experience as an objects curator for a state history museum and her work with several historic houses will inform the presentation.

Images, demonstrations, and hands-on activities will introduce collections care topics, such as record keeping, environments for storage and display, and materials and techniques for cleaning and housing artifacts. Participants will have plenty of opportunity for discussion of the particular challenges they face at their home institutions. Hand-outs and suggestions for useful collections care resources will provide participants with opportunities for continued learning and sharing information.

The workshop will open with an information session about C2C and NC ECHO and will encourage questions, feedback, and networking. Participants in the C2C sessions have a unique opportunity to help improve the ways our state’s cultural heritage institutions (museums, archives, libraries, and historic sites) care for a wide variety of artifacts, books, papers, and other objects of our state’s cultural past. C2C project staff wants input on what types of workshops would be most useful. Additional workshops on collections care topics and disaster preparedness will be offered in the future.

The North Carolina Connecting to Collections Project is an IMLS grant-funded initiative aimed at helping institutions better care for their collections. Many partner organizations have made this project possible: Federation of NC Historical Societies, NC Museums Council, NC Preservation Consortium, State Historic Records Advisory Board, and Society of NC Archivists.

To register, please follow this link: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/c2collectionscarebasicsrockymount. For more information, call Michelle Vaughn at 919-807-7422.

Emergency & Disaster Preparedness Workshop

January 24, 2011, 9:00 AM – 3:00 PM
Battleship North Carolina, Wilmington, NC

The North Carolina Connecting to Collections Project (C2C) will be sponsoring an Emergency & Disaster Preparedness workshop on January 24th 2011 hosted by the staff of the Battleship North Carolina in Wilmington for staff, board members, and volunteers who are interested in preserving and protecting cultural heritage when faced with emergency situations. The workshop will be led by Matthew Hunt, C2C’s Disaster Preparedness Coordinator.

Disasters come in many forms—natural, human-generated, intentional, and unintentional—and all are capable of causing significant property damage. Through this workshop we will give cultural institutions the tools and training to start their disaster planning and response preparations. We will all face a disaster one day, and our success after it will depend on our preparation for it. This workshop will cover the importance of planning for emergency situations, the elements of a disaster plan, and why we need to test existing plans.

The workshop will open with an information session about C2C and NC ECHO; questions, feedback, and networking are encouraged. Participants in the C2C sessions have a unique opportunity to help improve how cultural heritage institutions (museums, archives, libraries, and historic sites) care for a wide variety of artifacts, books, papers, and other objects of our state’s cultural past. C2C project staff wants input on what types of workshops are needed. Additional workshops on collections conservation care and disaster preparedness will be offered in the future.

The North Carolina Connecting to Collections Project is an IMLS grant-funded initiative aimed at helping institutions better care for their collections. A variety of partner organizations have made this project possible: Federation of NC Historical Societies, NC Museums Council, NC Preservation Consortium, State Historic Records Advisory Board, and Society of NC Archivists.

To register, please follow this link: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/c2cdisasterpreparednesswilmington. For more information, call Michelle Vaughn at 919-807-7422.

Digitization Workshop

January 31, 2011, 9:00 AM – 3:00 PM
Catawba Co. Arts & Science Center, Hickory, NC

The North Carolina Connecting to Collections Project (C2C) will be hosting a digitization workshop on January 31st 2010 at the Catawba County Arts & Science Center in Hickory for staff, board members, and volunteers who are interested in preserving cultural heritage through digitization. The workshop will be led by Nicholas Graham and Maggie Dickson of the North Carolina Digital Heritage Center, and Audra Eagle Yun of Wake Forest University.

Digitization is a great way for cultural heritage institutions to share their holdings. Library, archive, and museum professionals are increasingly looking to the internet as a means to publicize their collections and reach out to new users. This workshop will address the challenges and opportunities presented by digital projects. We'll talk about strategies for digitizing special collections materials, discuss metadata for digital objects, and look at options for sharing your collections online. Participants will also learn about the North Carolina Digital Heritage Center, a new program that offers digitization and digital publishing services to institutions across North Carolina.

The workshop will open with an information session about C2C and NC ECHO; questions, feedback, and networking are encouraged. Participants in the C2C sessions have a unique opportunity to help improve how cultural heritage institutions (museums, archives, libraries, and historic sites) care for a wide variety of artifacts, books, papers, and other objects of our state’s cultural past. C2C project staff wants input on what types of workshops are needed. Additional workshops on collections conservation care and disaster preparedness will be offered in the future.

The North Carolina Connecting to Collections Project is an IMLS grant-funded initiative aimed at helping institutions better care for their collections. A variety of partner organizations have made this project possible: Federation of NC Historical Societies, NC Museums Council, NC Preservation Consortium, State Historic Records Advisory Board, and Society of NC Archivists.

To register, please follow this link: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/c2cdigitizationhickory. For more information, call Michelle Vaughn at 919-807-7422.