Low-Cost Courses on Collections Care Offered

Upstate History Alliance (UHA) is offering a low-cost series of four-week online courses in collections care and preservation which provide basic, practical training. The courses are designed for staff, volunteers, board members, or interns at small to mid-sized museums. Each can be taken at the student’s own pace. The courses also offer interaction with qualified instructors and assignments are based on your own collections.

The cost to participate in one of the online courses is $45 for UHA members, $60 for non-members. The cost to participate in the complete series is $150 for UHA members, $200 for non-members. For more information or to register for this course, visit
www.upstatehistory.org.

Here are the course descriptions from UHA:

Introduction to Reformatting with Toya Dubin
February 1, 2010 – February 26, 2010

This course should help you determine the best way to approach a digitization project for varying collections and is intended to take the mystery out of digitization vocabulary, while shedding light on technical issues.

Climate Control for Small Institutions with Michele Phillips
March 1, 2010 – March 26, 2010

This course will allow participants to explore the issues that need to be considered when planning for climate controls including monitoring, testing, environmental analysis assessments, long-range planning, systems design, construction support, and operations training. Low cost-low tech solutions will be offered and discussed, providing participants with the background knowledge to assist them in making informed decisions that can be implemented at their own institutions.

Basic Preservation, Care & Handling of Paper Based Materials with Michele Phillips
April 5, 2010 – April 30, 2010

Learn the mechanics behind the degradation of paper materials and how through passive activities and techniques you can slow down the march of time and safeguard your collections.

Conservation & Preservation of Photographs and Albums with Gary Albright
May 3, 2010 – May 28, 2010

Students will learn about photographs and their many formats – black & white, color, negative, prints, and albums. We will review the major processes, how to identify and date them, how to recognize their deterioration, and what can be done to preserve them.