Alaska Fur ID 101

Spotlight on Grant in Aid

Contents:

Fur ID Project 101

Ask ASM

Shaking the Money Tree

ASM on the Road

Conference Review

Alaska Museums in the News

Professional Development/Training Opportunities

Summer Intern

Standards in Excellence Program (StEPs)

Professional Time Wasting on the Web

Alaska Fur ID 101

By Ellen Carrlee, Conservator

The Alaska Fur ID Project, online at http://alaskafurid.wordpress.com, is a free internet resource developed at the Alaska State Museum. I began the project in 2009 with graduate conservation intern Lauren Horelick; it is aimed at identifying fur that may be found on Alaskan artifacts in museum collections. If large pieces of a pelt are used, the animal is often not hard to identify. However, sometimes it is not so easy. Fur in small pieces or from various body parts can be tricky, as there can be variations in color, immature animal pelts, trimmed/plucked fur and so on. We set out to determine: can we use measurements and our microscope to figure this out?After gathering hundreds of samples and taking more than a thousand images, I think the answer is that we can get down to genus level identification fairly quickly. Now we are tinkering with whether or not we can distinguish species consistently (Which ice seal? Which marmot?)

Diagram Muskrat guard hair

To use the reference website, a brief lesson on fur is helpful. Most animals have underfur which is soft and insulating, and guard hair which is longer and somewhat weather-proof. The guard hair has more info, and the underfur is less complex. Each individual hair has a scale pattern on the outside, kind of like bark on a tree. This is called the cuticle layer of the hair. The overlapping scales all go the same direction (except at the tip of a porcupine quill, where they go the other way!) The scales for each animal are in a specific pattern: like fish scales, a shingled roof, flower petals, V-shapes and so on. For some animals, the scale pattern is different at the base of the hair than at the tip. The way the scales are shaped and spaced reflects light to determine whether or not the fur looks glossy. Down the center of the hair is a structure called the medulla. This also has a pattern, and sometimes it changes along the length. On a few animals, it is not there at all. The area in between the medulla and the scales is called the cortex. There are not many features for us to examine there, but the presence of more cortex is said to correspond to a stronger hair, while less cortex is thought to make the hair more brittle. All three of these areas — cuticle, medulla and cortex — are made of a hard protein substance called keratin. This is the same protein that makes up baleen, horn, hoof, and claw.

The website is set up like a blog, with each posting a different animal. We followed the Alaska Department of Fish and Game listing for animals, and included anything we thought might be used to make artifacts, even a couple obscure ones like Northern Flying Squirrel or Collared Pika, just in case. You can start at the index http://alaskafurid.wordpress.com/about/ if you want to jump right in.

Under each posting, there are three sections. The first section includes all the published data we could find or gather ourselves about the guard hair. How long can it get? How wide can each hair get? What does the medulla look like? What is the scale pattern? What color? There is a very helpful measurement called the medullary index to help determine how wide the medulla is compared to the whole width of the hair. Most medulla are around half the total width of the hair, but some are very skinny or very wide.

Northern Fur Seal guard hair 200X

The medulla of the Northern Fur Seal has a distinctive lumpy, intestine-like pattern. A variation on this is also seen in Stellar Sea Lion, not surprising as both are in the “eared seal” family of the otarvidae. But the non-eared seals (family phocidae) don’t have any medulla at all.

Snowshoe Hare guard hair400X Sample from ADF&G

Rabbits and hares are known for their distinctive corncob-like medulla.

In the next section, the same kinds of data are given for the underfur. Although there’s less info in the underfur structures, sometimes there’s something really useful. While most underfur looks like a pile of stacked paper cups or stacked crowns with no medulla, if the underfur does not look like that, we take notice.

Sea Otter underfur 400X

This image shows the scales on the sea otter’s underfur: very elongated and pointy. This is interesting, since some animals (beaver, fur seal, sea otter) may have the guard hairs plucked away during processing, leaving only the underfur for examination. In this case, distinctive underfur features may help a lot.

Raccoon underfur has a spiky pinecone-like look, and some of the underfur hairs show a fragmented medulla, looking a little bit like a black dotted line.

Beaver glossy clumped guard hairs

The combination of underfur and guard hair appearance can sometimes be a one-two punch. Beaver fur, for example, often shows guard hairs coming out in clumps that fan out narrowly. The guard hairs tend to be very glossy.

Beaver curly underfur tips

The underfur of beaver can also gather into small tufts that get curly near the tips. The combo of clumped, glossy guard hairs with curly-tipped underfur suggest beaver. However, the fur industry has done a lot to beaver fur, including processes that remove the guard hairs and straighten the underfur!

The third section includes more data on what the fur looks like to the naked eye, how big the animal might be, where it is expected to live, and my favorite part: troubleshooting! We are also adding info about which cultures use the animal, although this section is time-consuming and growing slowly. We also add alternate, obscure, or previous names that have been used for the animal.

Finally, there is an image gallery. The website includes images of each animal, the appearance of the pelt, lots of images through the microscope, and examples of artifacts made from that fur. Each animal posted has at about a dozen images. You can click on the images to see more detail, too.

But that’s not all. The website has sections on how to sample fur, make slides, and make cross sections. We have a glossary, a bibliography (annotated with our own notes) and postings that talk about the overall categories of animals to make comparison easier. Most of the other resources available about identifying fur with these techniques are problematic for us. The majority do not involve the specific data needed to actually do the work, only the guidelines about the methodology. They expect you to have or make your own reference set. Before the availability of digital images and the web, having your own reference set was quite an obstacle. The other limitation was that reference-set-quality data that was out there to do the work was not specific enough for Alaska. For example, one of the best resources out there, a Czech website called Furskin www.furskin.cz , is a guide to European furs, and only has a couple of our Alaskan animals.

Putting this information on the web seemed a great way to share a resource we wanted to use. Not only were furs used extensively by Alaska Native people on artifacts found in museums worldwide, but Alaska was also historically important in the fur trade. Alaskan furs are found in various garments, exploration supplies, performance gear and high-status items from many cultures. Here’s a tasting of some of the information available:

Polar Bear guard hair 400X

Polar bear fur is sometimes discussed as being “hollow” but this is not the case, as revealed by microscopy. Polar bear fur has a narrow medulla of dark cells and considerable cortex.

Elk guard hair 200X

Many hoofed animals of Alaska, however, do have a “hollow” medulla and very little cortex, making for a rather brittle hair but one with good insulating properties. This elk hair (courtesy of Sven Haakanson Jr.) shows this characteristic “bubble pack” look, which is also seen on deer, moose, caribou and Dall sheep.

Cross section of Northern Fur Seal hair

Seal guard hairs are flattened in cross section, instead of the round shape we expect to see in most other hairs. This also causes the guard hair to kink, or fold over itself ribbon-like when seen under the microscope on a slide.

Ringed seal guard hair 200X sample from AMNH

This distinctive feature of seal hair helps in its identification, particularly in identifying artifacts made of lanugo, or the woolly fetal fur of certain baby seals. It can sometimes look like polar bear fur, or sheep wool but can easily be distinguished under the microscope.

ASM II-A-6297 lanugo used by Irma Ungott

Use of lanugo is seen on this ball made by Irma Ungott of Gambell, St. Lawrence Island (ASM II-A-6297)

ASM II-B-1498 fox paw blanket

Color is one of the most salient features of fur, but can be misleading if the possibilities are not considered. Many animals change color seasonally, or have less-common colors that are still “normal.” This fox paw blanket (ASM II-B-1498) is made of more than 300 red fox paws, displaying the stunning natural variation seen in red fox fur coloration. Most of these variations include a white tip of the tail unique among wild Alaskan canines. Tails, when present, are helpful for identification.

Muskrat

The underfur of muskrat often has a distinct lavender-grey coloration near the base.

Woodchuck banded

Woodchuck fur is banded in a distinct pattern. Banding refers to stripes of contrasting colors along the length of a single hair. The size, color, and order of the banding help distinguish between certain animals.

Albino beaver, Anchorage Airport

Animals that are lighter than usual in color, such as albino animals and very light color phases, are often seen in museum collections. The albino beaver pictured is on display at the Anchorage Airport.

Raccoon at Mascot Saloon, NPS Skagway

The light-colored raccoon is displayed on the bar of the Mascot Saloon in Skagway, part of the National Parks Service.

Kate Carmack robe, MacBride Museum 72.1.80

Darker-than-usual coloration is also seen. A fur cape made by Kate Carmack (Tagish First Nation, 1862-1920) in the MacBride Museum collection (72.1.80) is made of black arctic ground squirrel pelts. The animal typically presents a brown pelt with distinctive small white spots, and is used extensively throughout Alaska. In some areas, they are even known as “parky squirrels” for their use in making parkas. However, biologists believe that forest fires in certain areas between Alaska and Yukon Territory have led to “fire melanism” or this dark coloration as part of natural selection to favor survival of darker-colored animals in a blackened landscape.

ASM II-A-9210 Caribou hair embroidery

Sometimes an artifact includes individual hairs of an animal, such as the embroidery on the edge of this sealskin mat in the Alaska State Museum collection (II-A-9210). Under the microscope, the white hairs were identified as guard hairs from the caribou “bell,” or long hairs under the neck of the animal.

Caribou bell hair

Using the Alaska Fur ID project is not like using an ATM. The website won’t spit out an identification for you. The different bits of data need to be pieced together to create a preponderance of the evidence. A good identification describes all the features that point to a certain animal, and also the features that show why it cannot be some other similar-looking fur. The website puts identification of Alaskan fur in the hands of anyone with a microscope able to magnify up to 200X and an internet connection. We hope it will be used to enhance our understanding of museum artifacts, and perhaps even be used by other professions such as archaeology, biology, and forensics. Comments and questions about the Alaska Fur ID Project are most welcome!

http://ellencarrlee.wordpress.com/2009/04/07/brief-alaskan-drum-survey/

Ask ASM

Question: We have a few skin drums here, and some have broken skins. I wondered if they can be repaired or how to prevent the others from splitting.

ASM: There are two important issues to address here. One is why the drum skins are broken in the first place. Did it happen prior to coming to the museum or after? Drums are very sensitive to changes in temperature and humidity in the storage or display environment. The two components of the drum, the wooden hoop and the stretched skin, often react at different rates to the environment which sets up a tension in the skin. Sometimes this tension is relieved by the splitting of the skin. This tension also makes skin drums very sensitive to mechanical damage from improper handling or transportation. The other important issue is, why are you repairing the drums? Is it to stabilize them or for aesthetic reasons so they can be put on display? If it is for display purposes, there are some cosmetic repairs that can make them look good again but this would need to be carried out by a conservator. If they are to remain in storage there is not much reason to repair them. They will not be played anyway because they are now part of a museum collection and their value is more for the information they contain rather than their capability of being played. It is more important to protect them from mishandling and changes in the environment than to repair them. At the state museum we protect our drums by putting cotton batting (the kind used for quilt filler) on the inside of the drum. The cotton absorbs and gives off moisture faster than the drum so it protects it from rapid changes in the environment. We have been doing this for the past 5 years and it seems to work.

Skin drum with cotton padding

There is a small posting on the drums in our collection you might find interesting…

Shaking the Money Tree

AAM Museum Assessment Program

The next application deadline is December 1.

Do you want the answers to help your museum move forward? Would you like a roadmap for future success? Consider participating in the Museum Assessment Program (MAP), which assists all types of small and mid-size museums (e.g., aquariums, art, history, natural history, public gardens, science centers and zoos). While engaging in guided self study, your museum will be matched with an expert peer reviewer who will provide a customized site visit and report. In less than a year, MAP will help you develop strategies for improved operations, planning, staff and board education and fundraising.

Visit www.aam-us.org/map to download the application and for more information about MAP. You can also email map@aam-us.org or call 202-289-9118. MAP is administered by the American Association of Museums and supported through a cooperative agreement with the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

NEH

Guidelines have been posted for the National Endowment for the Humanities’ Sustaining Cultural Heritage Collections grants. U.S. nonprofit museums, libraries, archives, and educational institutions can apply for grants to plan and implement preventive conservation projects in ways that are cost effective, energy efficient, and environmentally sensitive and that aim to mitigate greatest risks to humanities collections rather than to meet prescriptive targets.

Apply for planning grants of up to $40,000 (with an option of up to $50,000) to bring together interdisciplinary teams that might reevaluate environmental parameters for collections and examine passive (non-mechanical) and low-energy alternatives to conventional energy sources and energy-intensive mechanized systems for managing collection environments. Testing, modeling, or project-specific research may help applicants better understand collection environments and formulate sustainable preservation strategies; therefore, with planning grants, you might:

measure energy consumption;
use blower door tests to identify air leaks in buildings;
create mock-ups of lighting options;
test natural ventilation methods;
conduct thermal imaging of buildings;
test the effect of buffered storage enclosures on moderating fluctuating environmental conditions;
re-commission small-scale climate control systems; or
adjust the operating protocols for climate control systems.

Apply for implementation grants of up to $350,000 to:

manage interior relative humidity and temperature by passive methods;
install heating, ventilating, and air conditioning systems;
install storage systems and rehouse collections;
improve security and the protection of collections from fire, flood, and other disasters; and upgrade lighting systems and controls to achieve levels suitable for collections that are energy efficient.

Projects that seek to implement preventive conservation measures in sustainable ways are especially encouraged.Deadline: December 1, 2011Guidelines: http://www.neh.gov/grants/guidelines/SCHC.htmlProgram officers are willing to read draft proposals. See the guidelines for additional details and please contact the division for more information by emailing preservation@neh.gov or calling 202-606-8570.

IMLS

Museum Grants for African American History and CultureDeadline: January 17, 2012Grant Amount: $5,000-$150,000Grant Period: Up to two yearsMatching Requirement: 1:1Program Overview: Museum Grants for African American History and Culture are intended to enhance institutional capacity and sustainability through professional training, technical assistance, internships, outside expertise, and other tools. Successful proposals will focus on one or more of the following three goals: (1) developing or strengthening knowledge, skills, and other expertise of current staff at African American museums; (2) attracting and retaining professionals with the skills needed to strengthen African American museums; and (3) attracting new staff to African American museum practice and providing them with the expertise needed to sustain them in the museum field.Download FY 2011 Grant Program Guidelines (PDF, 434 KB)Read more about Museum Grants for African American History and Culture on the IMLS Web site.

Congratulations to the Alutiiq Museum for their Native American/Native Hawaiian Museum Services grant award.

Koniag, Incorporated – Kodiak, AK
Award Amount: $49,662
Grant Category: Programming

Koniag, Inc., seeks to better document the Karluk One collection, housed at the Alutiiq Museum, through the creation of a seven-chapter monograph. Excavations from this site, before the Karluk River washed it away in the mid-1990s, have produced more than 20,000 objects, 70 percent of them made of organic materials such as wood, bone, ivory, antler, and even leather. There is currently no comprehensive publication on Karluk One and no place where Alutiiqs can easily access the details of ancestral culture preserved in this world-class collection. The Kal’unek – From Karluk project will unite the people who excavated the site, cared for its objects, and have been inspired by the collection to tell the Karluk One story. This project will develop a manuscript for a lasting, multivocal publication designed to document, contextualize, and share Karluk One with a general audience.

Contact: Ms. Amy Steffian
Deputy Director/Curator
907-789-3365; amy@alutiiqmuseum.org

Spotlight on Grant in Aid

The Kenaitze Indian Tribe developed, designed, printed and installed three 2’ square interpretive panels to explain the Dena’ina people’s traditional use of local plants.

A brochure was published to further explain the local plant life to individuals who walk through the Tribe’s interpretive site, K’Beq’, located in Cooper Landing.

The brochure will also be used to supplement presentations to local schools and civic organizations throughout our ancestral lands. The Tribe is proud of the final product which was presented to visitors to K’Beq’. The response was favorable and added to the visitors’ experience.

http://newarkmuseum.wordpress.com/2011/02/08/a-%E2%80%9Cday%E2%80%9D-in-the-life-of-the-glamorous-courier/

ASM on the Road

Curator Says “Oui” to European Visit

Steven Henriksen, Curator of Collections, recently traveled to Europe to retrieve a pair of Yup’ik masks that had been on loan from ASM and the Sheldon Jackson Museum to the Musée du Quai Branly in Paris for a temporary exhibition. The museum is the largest ethnographic museum in France—an ultra-modern building just steps away from the Eiffel Tower, on the banks of the Seine.

Most loan objects are packed in a “bombproof” manner and shipped via air freight, but when the value, significance, and/or rarity of the object is particularly high, the object fragile, or the customs process complicated, it sometimes requires that the object be hand-carried to and from the borrower’s institution by a staff member. The role of the courier is to pack and unpack the objects at their destination or for customs, provide security en route, and to handle the package (or as he likes to call it, “The Football”) with the upmost “TLC.” The process is usually assisted by a customs broker, who in addition to facilitating customs clearance, assists with security to and from the airport. The costs of these services are covered by the borrower as part of the loan agreement.

It is not unusual for museum couriers to take extra time at their destinations, on their own nickel, prior to taking possession of the objects, to see the museums and even conduct research. In Steve’s case, his flights were routed through London, so he decided to stop off there a few days early to study some of the earliest objects collected in Alaska by Captains Cook and Vancouver (and others) that are today housed at the British Museum.

Like many large institutions, much of the collection is in storage at an off-site facility—in this case, a few miles away from the museum. Prior to his visit, Steve spent a fair amount of time searching the British Museum’s excellent online collections database, and submitted a prioritized list of objects he wanted to examine. With the expert assistance of John Davy, Museum Assistant, they were able to work through the greater part of his list, including Alutiiq and Tlingit spruce root hats and baskets, Tlingit armor, cedar bark clothing, and an original “Raven’s Tail”robe. Steve said that it was absolutely thrilling to come face-to-face with such staggeringly beautiful 18^th century objects made by Alaska Natives.

Websites of Interest:

Musée du Quai Branly: http://www.quaibranly.fr/en/

British Museum Collections Database: http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/search_the_collection_database.aspx

A day in the life of a museum courier:

http://penn.museum/blog/museum/the-glamorous-job-of-a-museum-courier/

Scott and Ellen Carrlee do XRF training in Anchorage

Ellen Carrlee and Monica Shah put the XRF through its paces

ASM Conservator Ellen Carrlee and Curator of Museum Services Scott Carrlee attended a day of XRF training September 26, 2011 at the Anchorage Museum at the invitation of Head of Collections/ Conservator Monica Shah. They were joined Holly Cusack-McVeigh and Bill Walker from the Pratt Museum in Homer. The training was led by Dr. Bruce Kaiser, a name well-known in museums and universities for connecting institutions with handheld X-ray fluorescence http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X-ray_fluorescence technology provided by the company Bruker AXS http://www.bruker-axs.com/artconservation.html. One of these “science guns” has been traveling between the Alaska State Museum, the Anchorage Museum and the Pratt Museum, on loan from Bruker. The device shoots photons (or low-energy X-rays) at a sample, analyzing them non-destructively by measuring the movement of electrons. After a few seconds, a graph of peaks appears on the computer screen and the software helps identify which elements are present in the sample. Knowledge of physics and an understanding of how the machine works greatly enhance the interpretation of the data. Museums worldwide have been using XRF extensively in recent years to explore questions of alloy compositions of metal artifacts http://www.staffordshirehoard.org.uk/using-xrf-analysis-on-two-staffordshire-hoard-objects , pesticide contamination on ethnographic and natural history collections http://www.nmai.si.edu/subpage.cfm?subpage=collections&second=conserv&third=pest_id , pigment identification http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/community/blogosphere/2011/01/26/analyzing-pigments-in-the-book-of-the-dead-using-xrf-spectroscopy/ , and other questions that can investigated with elemental analysis. We’ll keep you posted as we discover the potential benefits offered for Alaskan collections.

http://www.ktoonews.org/2011/10/04/shoveling-for-slam/

Conference Review

The American Association of State and Local History Annual Meeting September 14-17, Richmond VA.

Scott Carrlee, Curator of Museum Services, attended this year’s AASLH Annual meeting in Richmond VA. There were almost 900 attendees (including several Alaskans) at the meeting whose theme was “The Promise of Remembrance and New Beginnings.” The theme and the location were fitting given the 150^th anniversary of the beginning of the civil war. There were many presentations that focused on remembering this difficult time in our Nation’s history. On the practical side, the IMLS ran a sort of mini-conference parallel to the main conference that was devoted to their nationwide initiative, Connecting to Connections. Many Alaskan museums have participated in Connecting to Collections in one way or another through the Conservation Bookshelf or by attending one of their regional meetings. This was an opportunity for museums and libraries across the country to share what they have been doing with their Connecting to Collections planning and implementation grants.

Alaska Museums in the News

KTOO Interviewed Linda Thibodeau about the groundbreaking for the new State Library Archives and Museum (SLAM) building:

Museum to conserve Alutiiq Warrior Kayak in Gallery

http://www.artdaily.org/index.asp?int_sec=2&int_new=51190

Hundreds attend service for Athabascan leader Hannah Solomon

http://www.adn.com/2011/09/23/2084332/hundreds-attend-service-for-athabascan.html

Professional Development/Training Opportunities

PastPerfect Training

Online training for PastPerfect, “Cataloging Collections with PastPerfect 5.0,” December 6-8, 2011, 9:30 a.m. to noon ET. Only $69 for AASLH members. Call 800-562-6080 to register.One of the best assets an organization can have is consistent data entry of the collection. In “Cataloging Your Collection with PastPerfect 5.0,” you will learn easy and effective ways to maximize the data entry process while keeping an eye on consistency. Instruction will include navigating the PastPerfect 5.0 program, basic and advanced cataloging, using the new Nomenclature 3.0 with PastPerfect, the Accession process, managing authority files and tips on researching, and keeping your data safe. Class attendees will receive a FREE copy of the “Cataloging Your Collections with PastPerfect 5.0” training CD, which complements this course.

Small Museum Administration and Leadership

This course proposes that museum administration and leadership matter, regardless of the size or focus of your organization. Topics include governance and administrative structure, nonprofit status, mission and vision, board and staff responsibilities, the relationship between board and staff, strategic planning, human resource management, and leadership. The course is designed for small museums and their staff, including staff members who may or may not be paid or who, in fact, may be a board member who also serves as curator or in some other capacity in the museum. Even if you work mostly with collections or programs, you will benefit from an understanding of the administrative side of the museum, and will benefit from exploring your own leadership approach.At the end of this course you will understand:

the governance structure of most nonprofit museums;
the importance of museum mission, vision, change, and strategic planning;
the major roles and responsibilities of the board and staff;
how to create a more effective board through assessment and education;
the administrative and management duties of museum directors;
the key issues in human resource management;
why leadership matters and what is the most effective leadership approach; and
where the museum field is heading in the future.

During this course, you will have the opportunity to create a Board Member Handbookfor board member training at your organization or prepare a reflection on what constitutes effective museum leadership.

The tuition for this class is $210.00.

Meets AASLH StEPs Standards MVG 1,2,3,4,5; MGMT 1,2,7,8,9,10.

The tuition for this class is $210.00.

Students can earn 3 CEUs upon completion of this course.

For registration information, see www.smallmuseumpro.org

Summer Intern

Brianna Wright, graduate student in Museums Studies at George Washington University, interned at the Palmer Museum of History & Art

Intern Brianna Wright and Palmer Museum Director Mel Jenski examine a fur parka

Other than the breathtaking mountains, glaciers, hikes, and window views (and the fact that I get to miss out on hot, sticky DC summers), I was excited to intern at the Palmer Museum of History and Art because one of my professional goals is to work at a small, community-based museum. What better way to learn about the operation and experience of such an institution than to become completely immersed for 10 weeks?

My big project this summer was putting together a manual of policies and procedures for the museum, with a goal of providing continuity in recordkeeping and staff practice. Discussions, revisions, and a lot of paper later, the final manual came in at over 200 pages. Part of this involved revising and reorganizing the museum’s Collections Management Policy. This task was a great learning experience for a number of reasons. In addition to helping me become much more familiar with the ins and outs of collections management policies, I was able to collaborate with both staff and board members on the revision.

The bulk of the manual focuses on collections management procedures that cover acquisition, registration, loans, and de-accession. In addition to setting standards the manual includes step-by-step PastPerfect instructions whenever applicable (accession records, catalog records, loans, condition reports, etc.). In addition to writing these procedures, the process of completing the manual involved determining standards the museum will follow and generating/revising forms. I also included a section on collections care that set guidelines for the handling, storage, and exhibition of objects as well as information pages on specific material types. In addition, I helped the staff establish a monitoring program for the environment, pests, and light.

The final section of the manual is an emergency preparedness plan. It is still a work-in-progress (needing floor plans, phone trees, and an established disaster team) but contains many of the essential pieces of a formal disaster plan. I put together a plan that includes sections on prevention (a risk assessment with mitigation possibilities and disaster team role responsibilities), response (including an evacuation plan and response steps for a variety of disaster types), and salvage (directions for immediate response fire and water salvage practices, including specific material types).

My internship also included an exhibition component. Staff and the board are looking for ways to enhance and improve the permanent exhibit and introduce variety into a limited space. I prepared a list of possible exhibit topics and objects for rotating displays and developed ideas/templates for interactives that could be incorporated into the current permanent exhibit.

In addition to the manual and exhibits, I assisted staff with various daily tasks including environmental monitoring, checking light levels, object packing, selecting & purchasing storage supplies/materials, and attended various board meetings.

Overall, the experience was worthwhile and gave me a good taste of what it’s like to really be part of the professional museum world. It was challenging and overwhelming at times to be “the expert,” but I also know I had more responsibility and gained a lot of real-life experience I couldn’t have received at many other internships. It was great to see how supportive and helpful everyone in the field was over the course of the summer. Knowing the “who” and “where” of your resources is something I discovered is essential to success at a small institution. My experience this summer let me use and improve the skills I’ve learned in school and in previous museums as well as made me aware of the challenge and fun that working in a very small museum can be.

Standard in Excellence Program (StEPs)

AASLH is able to offer the following webinar series free of charge with funding generously provided by an IMLS 21st Century Museum Professionals grant. Register for one, two, or all three!

Telling a Good Story (Registration Now Open)

November 17, 2011

Time: 2-3:15 pm Eastern

A good guided tour is a good story, told well, says guest speaker Linda Norris. Join us to learn the basics of creating a meaningful tour and creative ways tour guides can connect with visitors who arrive at your site with many different interests.

Creating Historic House Interpretive Plans that Connect (Registration Opens October 15)

December 8, 2011

Time: 2-3:15 pm Eastern

Interpretive plans that connect with your visitors and their lives are the keystone for a positive visitor experience. Guest speaker Nancy Bryk will show participants how research is an integral part of the interpretive planning process.

Redefining Audiences (Registration Opens December 1)

January 27, 2012

Time: 2-3:15 pm Eastern

Who are our current audiences and how can we engage new ones? Looking at the most recent U.S. Census, Susie Wilkening will discuss demographic change and the valuable ways in which history organizations can use census data.

Webinar content is supported by StEPs standards and performance indicators. Pre-registration is necessary.

Click here to register online or to register by phone or mail, contact Terry Jackson, Program Associate, at 615-320-3203 or by email to jackson@aaslh.org

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/29/nyregion/plans-to-build-museum-opposite-intrepid-to-house-enterprise.html?_r=2

Professional Time Wasting on the Web

After Winning Coveted Shuttle, Museum Changes the Plan for It

Afghanistan museum intrigue saves country’s gold

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/09/28/earlyshow/main20112633.shtml

Prehistoric Cave Drawings ‘Made by Children

’http://www.theworld.org/2011/09/rouffignac-cave-drawings-children

Fascinating project at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

http://www.metmuseum.org/connections/

This database works extremely well in terms of allowing researchers to gain access to lots of information and images on their own.

http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/search_the_collection_database/museum_number_search.aspx

100,000-Year-Old Art Studio Found in South African Cave

http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/10/13/ancient-art-supplies-found-in-south-african-cave/

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Alaska, Alaska Fur ID project, Alaska Museums in the News, Alutiiq Museum and Archaeological Repository, Conservation of Skin Drums, Cooper Landing, Grant in Aid, Institute for Museums and Library Services, K'Beq', Kenaitze Indian Tribe, Library Archive and Museum Project, Museum Career Development, Museum Interns, National Endowment for the Humanities, Standard in Excellence Program | Leave a comment

Alaska State Museums Bulletin 44

Posted on September 29, 2011 by Alaska State Museum Bulletin

“What’s That White Stuff?”

By Crista Pack, Conservation Intern summer 2011

This is a question that the conservators at the ASM get asked fairly often by museum staff from all across the state. The answer isn’t always obvious and often requires information beyond what can be obtained from a simple visual analysis.

In order to make this kind of identification easier, ASM Conservator Ellen Carrlee and I have been working on gathering information for various types of materials. We looked at things such as natural mechanisms of deterioration, commonly applied treatments, and damage from poor storage materials in order to provide a focused overview on what is most likely to be causing “white stuff” to appear on an artifact. By providing this information to the public, our hope is to assist caretakers of historical artifacts in identifying what has formed or is forming on their objects. Correctly identifying white substances on artifacts will guide proper care, as well as highlight the underlying factors in the environment that may be causing their formation. For example, the correct identification of mold not only provides guidance in caring for an object, but also raises awareness to protect oneself during handling and indicates the presence of inappropriate relative humidity conditions that need to be addressed.

We gathered the information for this project through a review of available literature as well as a cabinet-by-cabinet survey of the collections at ASM in Juneau and the Sheldon Jackson Museum in Sitka. These collections belong to the state and represent the diversity of material culture that is likely to be found throughout Alaska. Our logic was that whatever white stuff was found in these collections would be fairly representative of what people would find in other Alaskan collections.

Our findings are posted through a weblog created through wordpress.com that can be accessed at alaskawhitestuffid.wordpress.com or by search engine using the key words “Alaska white stuff ID.” In the introduction, we propose a systematic approach to the problem of identification with the following five steps:

Identify the material affected. Is it stone? Wood? Metal? If it is composite object, what is the main material the white stuff is affecting?
Examine the context and history of the artifact. What was it used for? How was it maintained? Was it in a flood? Was it dug out of the ground? Has the environment been stable?
Characterize the appearance of the white stuff. Is it powdery? Sticky? Flakey? Does it form a haze or a crust? Does it appear in a pattern? Take a photo and make notes to keep in the object’s file.
Consider the typical possibilities. For each kind of material, there are certain kinds of white stuff that are seen more than others. For instance, corrosion is a fairly common cause of white stuff on metal and glass disease is frequently the culprit on older glass beads.
Test the hypothesis. Make a guess at what you think it is; and, if a little bit can be safely removed, test your theory. Guidelines for doing this are available on the website.

A glossary is posted on the site, as well as suggested vocabulary to help describe and categorize the appearance. A master list of possibilities is also provided that may serve as a good starting point for those who are unsure as to what kind of material the object is made from. It’s important to write down any findings in the object record in case museum staff in the future have the same question.

Postings on the website are divided into categories based on material. For example, if a leather belt is determined to have a powdery, crystalline, white accretion, the section on leather and skin will provide suggestions for some common possibilities. There are also galleries of images within each section to aid in correct identification. These can be enlarged with a click of the mouse to allow better visibility of the white stuff in question.

Some kinds of white substances are encountered more often than others. Examples from the Alaska State Museums include:

Glass Disease. This most commonly found on older glass trade beads, especially in collections containing ethnographic materials. Glass disease is not really a “disease” in the sense that is contagious or can be spread to other glass objects. Rather, the problem stems from an incorrect combination of ingredients when the glass was made.
Glass disease on yellow bead, showing white, crusty, spotty crystalline formation on surface.

This means there is no way to prevent it from happening. However, controlling environmental conditions and keeping humidity levels low can do a lot to slow down the progression of the deterioration.

Fatty Bloom. Also known as fatty spew, bloom can be found on many types of materials, but in the collections of the ASM, it was most frequently encountered on leather and wood. On leather items that were held in collections prior to the 1970s, it was common for these objects to be treated with leather dressing (a mixture of oils). The fatty acids from these oils can break down and leach out over time, crystallizing on the surface and causing a white fatty bloom.
Tlingit hide armor, SJ-I-A-449 exhibiting white fatty bloom likely caused by previous leather dressing application. Collection of the Sheldon Jackson Museum.

Tanned skins also naturally contain oils that can break down and crystallize on the surface. On leather objects, any record of an application of leather dressing would be a good indicator that a pale, crystalline or oily product on the surface is a fatty bloom. Similarly, bloom might form from oily residues left on the wood from use. These may have come from food or other substances a wooden object might have held. Oils and waxes may have also been applied by owners to wood

Tlingit hide armor, SJ-I-A-449 exhibiting white fatty bloom likely caused by previous leather dressing application. Collection of the Sheldon Jackson Museum.

surfaces to prevent wood from cracking and to enhance its appearance – similar to the way leather dressings have been used on leather artifacts.While applying oils or dressings to leather and wood is generally not considered an acceptable museum practice today, it was not unheard of a few decades ago.

Corrosion. White corrosion products may form as metals react with pollutants and moisture in the air. Metals with white corrosion products include lead, tin, pewter, aluminum, and zinc (where it is sometimes referred to as white rust). Lead is particularly susceptible to corrosion when exposed to certain pollutants,
White corrosion formed on lead pipe bowl. SJ-II-P-140, collection of the Sheldon Jackson Museum.

especially volatile organic acids that may come from other collections artifacts or poor collections storage materials. It is important to remember that lead corrosion is poisonous, so extra caution should be used during handling. Corrosion may also form on metal as a result of contact with other materials, such as leather that has been oiled or dressed. Another example is galvanic corrosion – a situation where two different metals are in contact and one corrodes preferentially in an adverse environment.

The primary purpose of this project was to help individuals identify the white substances that might be found on artifacts. The question that most often comes after “What is that white stuff?” is “What do I do about it?” This question often requires case by case consideration and perhaps consultation with a conservator. Each item will have a different context to be taken into consideration, a different history of use, and different vulnerabilities that will need to be considered in forming a treatment plan. In some cases, the “white stuff” may be a result of that object’s useful life or may be the result of a purposeful application of something by the original owner. In cases such as these, treatment to remove the substances could result in a loss of information and might be inappropriate. For most situations, the immediate action to be taken will be to assess the current environmental conditions of the storage or exhibit areas. If the “white stuff” is identified as being something that is caused by improper temperature or relative humidity conditions, then these are the first things that need to be addressed. Staff at the Alaska State Museum is available to provide advice and expertise about identification of white stuff and collections care options.

While the answers may not always be easy, the creation of this website will hopefully make identifying the “white stuff” a little bit easier. The website will be updated as new information becomes available. Comments and suggestions are welcome and can be left in the comments sections on the website: http://alaskawhitestuffid.wordpress.com/

http://www.library.illinois.edu/prescons/projgrants/grants/avsap/index.html

Ask ASM

Question: I have stacks of audiocassette tapes, film, videos, CDs and DVDs and I don’t know what to do with them. Is there a web-based resource that is easy to use and can help someone like me who has no previous knowledge about preservation?

ASM: The University of Illinois has published a free computer software tool called AVSAP (audio visual self assessment program) that is designed to help museums; especially museums with no in-house expertise in the categorization and preservation of their audio video collections.

AvSAP logo Large

The software is user friendly and the program is offered both in a downloadable format to be used on a local museums server or as a web based tool that you can log in to. Rather than simply being a downloadable spreadsheet, it gives instructions and has pop up “information kiosks” that provide the user with information about different media, i.e. beta video, the specific problems it faces and how the film itself deteriorates. The pop ups have a picture and text and you can choose to look at them or close out of them. The programs website offers a lot of support for users figuring out the software and there are excellent videos explaining each step of the assessment process and video tutorials for how to get around the program as well as a printable PDF users’ manual.

The program leads the user through a four-part audit of their collection. It assesses the collection by asking simple questions of the institution’s manager, the collection’s manager, the storage facilities’ manager and the assessments’ manager. After the assessment is completed, AVSAP produces a printable report to be is saved and that prioritizes materials in the collection, gives recommendations for preservation, and gives a score based on the answers given and solutions to the problems your collection might be facing. Prioritization is based on format type, physical condition and storage condition.

It is a helpful program that can be fine-tuned to meet the needs of a wide variety of institutions. While the assessment is not one size fits all, it can either be an assessment of all AV media which is better suited to small Alaskan museums or a statistical sample assessment of a selected number of objects suited to larger museums. The AVSAP program brings expert advice on AV conservation into local institutions for free and is accessible either as a downloadable file or by following the link at their website.

http://www.heritagepreservation.org/cap/application.html
NEH

Shaking the Money Tree

2012 CAP Application Goes Live October 3, 2011

In autumn 2011, Heritage Preservation began its new cooperative agreement with the Institute of Museum and Library Services to administer the Conservation Assessment Program. The agreement covers program years 2011, 2012 and 2013. The 2012 program year will begin with the launch of the 2012 application on October 3, 2011.

As in 2011, museums will be able to apply for CAP using the online form, the Microsoft Word or Adobe PDF forms, or a paper form. All these options will be available at the CAP website on October 3.

Changes to NEH grants for sustainable preservation strategies

Just want to alert U.S. nonprofit museums, libraries, and archives about new guidelines and some changes for the Sustaining Cultural Heritage Collections grant program, offered by the National Endowment for the Humanities. Grants will be available to plan and implement preventive conservation projects in ways that are cost effective, energy efficient, and environmentally sensitive and that aim to mitigate greatest risks rather than to meet prescriptive targets. Preventive conservation measures may encompass managing relative humidity, temperature, light and pollutants in collection spaces; providing protective storage enclosures and systems for collections; and safeguarding collections from theft and from natural and man-made disasters.

Planning grants of up to $40,000 and implementation grants of up to $350,000 will be available.

NEW THIS YEAR: To enhance the outcomes of planning grants and to encourage incremental improvements in the care of collections, applicants for planning projects may request up to an additional $10,000 to carry out one or more recommendations made by the interdisciplinary planning team during the course of the project. Such work could help demonstrate the benefits of sustainable preservation strategies or lead to new information or changes in conditions that would influence “next
steps.” For such planning projects, the maximum award would be $50,000. The deadline will be December 1, 2011. The new guidelines should be posted by mid-September and will contain a more detailed description of planning projects and the range of activities that are eligible for support. We will send out a second announcement when the guidelines are posted. Please feel free to contact the division for more information by emailing preservation@neh.gov or calling 202-606-8570.

IMLS

The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) is accepting applications in the following grant program:

Museums for America
Deadline: November 1, 2011

Prospective applicants are invited to participate in one of two pre-application Webinars to learn more about the program, ask questions, and listen to the questions and comments of other participants. The Webinar schedule for the Museums for America program is as follows:

Wednesday, September 21, 2011, at 3-4 p.m. Eastern Time
Tuesday, October 4, 2011, at 3-4 p.m. Eastern Time

Click here for more information about this funding opportunity, including program guidelines, contacts, and Webinar access information.

Use the IMLS grants search tool to view our archive e of grants awarded by the Institute. Search grants by grant name, institution, or project type.

Spotlight on Grant in Aid

The Ahtna Cultural Center Builds new Exhibits

The Center contracted with a tribal member to build a display tower which measures 64 x 40.5 x 40.5 and closely matches a similar tower already in use in the Cultural Center. The tower was built with casters, so it can be readily moved to make room for other activities in the center.

Matching tower circled in yellow

They contracted with Graphicworks of Anchorage to produce panels to mount on the display tower. The panels interpret the subject of hunting; they are colorful and informative and make an interesting display.

The original plan was to insert an acrylic plexiglass panel on one side of the display tower, so objects could be displayed; however, the price of materials went up sharply, making the plexiglass unaffordable. Instead designed a fourth panel was designed, and inserted that where we had planned on putting the plexiglass recessed panel. Some additional costs were incurred, which Ahtna Heritage Foundation covered.

The result is a four-sided graphic display about hunting that matches in style and format an already-existing display on fishing. Together they make an interesting and complementary interpretation. The design is compatible with other activities going on in the Cultural Center since it is moveable.

This project–the display tower and the interpretive panels–have helped the Ahtna Cultural Center meet its goal of preserving and interpreting Ahtna Athabascan cultural knowledge, and educating the general public about these things.

http://www.alaskapublic.org/2011/09/23/ak-prince-william-sound-museum-%E2%80%93-a-hidden-gem/

Alaska Museums in the News

Yes there is a museum in Whittier!

Professional Development/Training Opportunities

Connecting to Collections Online Community Launches

An Interactive resource will connect staff at small museums, archives, and libraries with each other and top-flight information about collections care.
Heritage Preservation is pleased to announce the public launch of the Connecting to Collections (C2C) Online Community at www.connectingtocollections.org. The Community’s goal is to help smaller museums, libraries, archives, and historical societies locate reliable preservation resources, and to engage with each other and top professionals in the field. Heritage Preservation moderates the Connecting to Collections Online Community in cooperation with the American Association for State and Local History and with funding from the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

The features of the site include:

a Meeting Room which regularly hosts free Webinars with leading conservation professionals (click here to view recordings of past events);
a Featured Resource that highlights new or particularly helpful information resources–the feature changes approximately every two weeks;
a Discussion Forum where online community members can post questions and assist one another;
a Calendar with announcements of upcoming C2C Online Community events, online preservation training opportunities, and grant deadlines; and
an Archive of past C2C Online Community discussions and presentation sorted by topic.

The site regularly features opportunities to interact with experts through Webinars in the Meeting Room. The next two Live Q&A events will be:

Live Question and Answer Session on the Care and Preservation of Historic Motorized Vehicles

Join Mary Fahey, Chief Conservator at the Henry Ford Museum, and Derek Moore, The Fred and Kay Crawford Curator of Transportation History at the Western Reserve Historical Society in Cleveland, Ohio, on Thursday, October 27 at 2:00 pm EDT.

They add new live events to the Calendar, check it frequently to learn about upcoming events.

The community is based on the initiative begun by the Institute of Museum and Library Service (IMLS) called Connecting to Collections. Informed by the findings of the Heritage Health Index, the initiative has included grant programs, national forums, workshops, a bookshelf distribution, and webinars.

The Online Community has a page on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/C2Ccommunity– join the conversation there to be reminded of upcoming events and other related news.

To register for the online community, go to http://www.connectingtocollections.org/register/

Volunteer Viewpoint

By Bianca Carpenetti

Editor’s note: Bianca Carpeneti was born and raised in Juneau. In 2010, she graduated with a degree in Ancient History and Mediterranean Archaeology from Stanford University. While back in town this summer, she has been volunteering at the Alaska State Museum. This has given her the chance to help out on a variety of museum projects, from testing stuffed birds for arsenic to learning about grant writing. As an aspiring museum professional, this summer has been a great time to think about what she wants to do in museums. This October, Bianca heads to the UK on a Gates Cambridge Scholarship to get a Master’s degree in Museum Studies. Though going abroad for her program, she’ll be thinking about Alaska and the rich cultural heritage issues in her own backyard!

Image by Chris Lowman

From my sophomore year in college, I knew I wanted to work in museums. That year, I helped put on a student-run exhibit and I was sold. Over the next several years, I took as many courses in archaeology, material culture theory, and collections management that I could. While I have a strong foundation in history and theory, I was looking for a chance for more hands-on work. So, while back for a couple months this summer, I volunteered at the State Museum.

For the month of June, I divided my time between working with Scott Carrlee on museum development projects and Ellen Carrlee working on conservator projects. With Scott, I learned about the grant process—from the initial application to the final progress report—and I also contributed to the monthly newsletter. With Ellen, I was excited to do real lab work and care for artifacts in the collection. This practical experience was both an antidote to my theory-heavy background and an affirmation that theory has real-world application. For example, learning about grants gave me new perspective on resource allocation in heritage management—how do you understand the benefits of a project in terms of a community’s needs? How do you incentivize cultural management so as to encourage public engagement in the process?

Site preservation and interpretation are relevant issues in Juneau and in Alaska. For example, the industrial history of the 19^th and 20^th centuries left a visible mark on the landscape—the Treadwell Mine in Juneau, Dyea near Skagway, and the Chilkoot Trail are just a few of the more high-profile examples in Southeast. Sites like these add richness to the landscape and local heritage, whether we actively preserve and curate them or simply reflect on them as we enjoy a walk in the woods.

In July, I took a break from Juneau and volunteering at ASM to work on an archaeology project in the north of England near Hadrian’s Wall. Built in the 2^nd century CE, Hadrian’s Wall runs from east to west across Britain, not far from the modern-day Scottish border. When it was initially constructed, the Wall marked the extent of the Roman Empire in Britain. Simply put: to the south of the Wall was Roman territory, subject to Roman law, and to the north, well, not so much. However, when we begin to look more closely at the northern region of Roman Britain, the division is not so stark. In this borderland on the edges of an empire, the people—both locals and new arrivals—were constantly defining and redefining what it meant to be “Roman.”

Photo by David Petts

This was my second summer working at the new archaeological dig at Binchester, a Roman fort some 30 miles south of Hadrian’s Wall. The current excavation began in 2009 and is a collaborative effort between Stanford University (US), Durham University (UK), and the local Durham County Council. (For photos and more information, see: http://www.vinovium.org/about/) My work at Binchester has focused on heritage management in the region and the ways the project fits into this landscape. While Binchester does not yet have a museum or interpretive center, we have already begun to ask ourselves how it is that we tell the story of the site and how we encourage the public to engage in the process.

Though Juneau and Binchester are geographically distant, I found myself reflecting on similar issues of site preservation and management. For years, the Roman bathhouse at Binchester was a feature of the landscape that people encountered in a very informal context—much as I explore the ruins of the mining town near Treadwell during my beach walks. But now that Binchester has been excavated, can it return to its previous status as a Romantic ruin in the landscape or do we have a responsibility to provide a narrative and a setting for people to engage with the site?

Here, I have outlined a few of the issues I have been thinking about, both at Binchester and at home in Juneau. I am working on how to approach them, and I look forward to this process as I go forward with my education and work in the museum world. First, regional identity: how do people develop this, and how does it inform the way that historic sites and their material culture are interpreted and presented? Arguably, this will shape the associated narrative in important ways. Second, “aspiration” in heritage management: how do you give people space to shape their own identities, independent from inherited ideologies (conservative vs. liberal, academic vs. tacit learning, etc.) and instead link this identity to hope and improvement? In order to build vibrant, inclusive communities, heritage management must foster this process. Third, incorporating stakeholders: how do you meaningfully incorporate stakeholder communities into the heritage management process? Not only does this contribute to more relevant interpretive narratives, it can also be an opportunity for economic development. Too often, cultural and economic development are seen as being at odds—if we can change that, both fields would benefit.

At the moment, I’ve got no answers for these questions. But I’ll continue thinking about them as I spend my last few weeks in Juneau at the ASM and then head overseas for my Master’s in Museum Studies at Cambridge. I hope to be able to post some updates in the ASM journal of my work an education overseas.

Book Report

By Carline Hedin, ASM Museum Volunteer

Schwarzer, Marjorie. Riches, Rivals and Radicals: 100 Years of Museums in America. Washington, DC: American Association of Museums. 2005

Riches, Rivals and Radicals: 100 Years of Museums in America. Great Museums Television and The American Association of Museums, 2006. (56 mins)

This sweeping book by Marjorie Schwarzer and its accompanying DVD of the same name document the physical and philosophical history of American museums. Both are highly accessible and designed to give the viewer an idea of how museums have been central to the development of the American identity by acting as open centers of learning and public gathering. Although designed for a general audience, the work would be beneficial for those involved in the museum world to gain a greater understanding of how even local museums fit into the larger history of the American museumscape. Both works are also a passionate reminder for why museums continue to be a valuable and necessary venue for reflection, learning, and public engagement.

The Book

Basic Overview

As an overall theme throughout the book, Schwarzer argues that the overall drive behind museums has moved from what she calls ‘elitist collection building’ and a display of aristocratic wealth to a more democratic and public-minded institution. Although she focuses on the history of American museums, the book is really a social history that captures how museums have responded to the needs of the American public depending on the social climate. To look at how the relationships between the people and the museum have changed over the past 100 years, she divides her work into four main sections: the Building, the Collection, the Exhibition, and People & Money.

Chapter Descriptions

Schwarzer begins by unraveling the physical structure of museum history. She notes that in the early phases of museum development in the 1800s in the 1900s, organizations like the Metropolitan were designed as mansions or palaces, mimicking Old World extravagance which tended to exclude the working-class American. However, as museums have responded to social needs, the physical design has tended to move away from the European model to more creative, accessible and vibrant structures.

In The Collection, she tracks the changes in a museum’s content. She addresses changes in acquisition ethics as well as how museum directors have adjusted their collecting goals – moving from an obsessive accumulation of objects to a more meaningful selection of objects attached to stories.

Likewise in The Exbition section, she comments upon a similar trend in how collections have been displayed over the century. Curators have generally moved from displaying a plethora of arrowheads or taxidermied animals arranged for curiosity’s sake, to creating a story with the material that connects with the audience. To illustrate her point, she gives several contrasting examples of exhibitions that have been hosted by museums over the past 100 years, including the display of Sue; the first discovered T-Rex.

Finally, she comments on the people involved with the orchestration of museums including government officials, wealthy donors, museum staff, of course, the public, and how each have influenced the course and success of museums across the country. She includes various controversies including social pressures placed upon museums during the civil rights movement, and struggles to gain equality in treatment for female museum workers.

The Film

Overview

The DVD portion of the set was originally released on public television, and provides a nice overview of American museum history. It features directors of various American museums who provide insight into the forces behind museum design and change. When comparing the film to the book, I noticed that the conceptual layout between the film and book are inconsistent. The film blends the four categories and focuses primarily on purpose behind museums as places of education and the importance of the personal museum experience as opposed to an in depth coverage of historical evolution. It rapidly outlines several key players, events, and museum collections, such as interactive exhibits at the Museum of Science and Industry, but it would be helpful to have the book as a reference for greater depth and organization.

Summer Intern

Baranov Museum: Collections Internship Summary

Fran Ritchie, Art Conservation Graduate Student

Buffalo State College

May 23, 2011-July 28, 2011

For my summer internship at the Baranov Museum, I tried to focus on tasks that were outlined in the Collections Assessment of the Museum performed by DKS Conservation Services, LLC (in 2007), as well as deliverables outlined in the grant received from the Grant-in-Aid program (Alaska State Museum). During the ten weeks, I completed the following tasks:

-Constructed padded archival boxes to house 67 accessioned objects in Collections Room 1 of the museum. These objects were part of the metal/wood tool collection (such as a set of planes owned by Frederick Sargent, a previous tenant of Erskine House), as well as metal implements and fragile pieces (such as two taxidermy specimens, a scrapbook, and work boots). This project provided appropriate storage for objects that were previously bagged, but loose and unprotected on the shelves. The boxing also helped to free space on the shelves and provide room for collection expansion. (GIA Grant Deliverable)

-Performed a condition assessment for each of the boxed objects and entered the information into the Museum’s database, Past Perfect. On the same objects I replaced the old accession numbers that had been applied on an unstable barrier layer with laserjet print-outs and a B-72 barrier and topcoat.

-Constructed padded archival trays for small objects on three shelves in Case 2 of Collections Room 1, focusing on the loose ivory objects stored in the case. The ethafoam-lined trays provide custom support for 176 objects, as well as make identifying/locating easier than bagging alone. (GIA Grant Deliverable)

Photo by Katie Oliver

-Wrote a “Basic Handling Guidelines for the Baranov Museum Collection” handout designed to teach non-collections staff proper handling techniques. The handout is one page (double-sided) of information, complete with photographs. It is intended for people who do not regularly move the objects, but may have to for cleaning, emergencies, or installation/deinstallation of temporary exhibits. For employees hired to work explicitly with the collection, the Collections Assessment from DKS Conservation Services, LLC, provides more detailed information on handling. (Collections Assessment 2007 Deliverable)

Photo by Katie Oliver

Tested a sample of older accessioned taxidermy mounts for the presence of arsenic. The specimens chosen are located in exhibition spaces (one in the Main Room, one in the Second Room) and office space.

The test procedure used was gathered from other art conservation professionals (from the site http://ellencarrlee.wordpress.com/2009/01/14/catharine-hawks-on-arsenic-testing/). After supplies were purchased, the test was carried out in the biochemistry laboratory at the Fishery Industrial Technology Center, a division of University of Alaska Fairbanks in Kodiak. The specimens tested negative for arsenic. (Collections Assessment 2007 Deliverable)

-Completed minor conservation treatments of museum objects (7) with highest priority, i.e. objects that were broken and/or flaking. Proper documentation and photography was provided for each treatment. Two of the objects were archaeological baskets treated in 2008 by DKS Conservation Services, LLC. The baskets have been on display since treatment and began developing a white accretion on the surface. After corresponding with the original conservator, a treatment plan was suggested, and then enacted. (Collections Assessment 2007 Deliverable)

By interning at the Baranov Museum, I was able to improve my conservation and collections management skills, as well as take advantage of new surroundings. I had never worked in a smaller museum or historical society, so I observed how that type of museum operates within their community, as well as with contracted conservators. This was important to learn, as I may pursue private practice in my future career. Although I did not focus solely on benchwork, I took personal photographs and notes of the type of deterioration and challenges observed with the different materials of collection objects. I also took photographs of insects found in bug traps to begin my personal education in integrated pest management (using a microscope attachment for my smart phone that I brought with me). I believe that I had a successful summer that was both professionally and personally enriching, and I am thankful for grant programs like Grant-In-Aid that can provide such experiences.

http://www.louisville.com/content/louisville-zoo-welcomes-another-polar-bear-family-parenting

Professional Time Wasting on the Web

Polar bears cubs are always cute

Watch conservators clean a 94 ft Whale model

http://www.amnh.org/live/

In Honor of John Hoover

Alaska-born artist John Hoover dies at 91
Denver Post
In 2002, the Anchorage Museum held a retrospective of his work. In May the University of Alaska Anchorage awarded him an honorary doctorate.

Alaska artist John Hoover dead at 91
TheNewsTribune.com
John Hoover, one of Alaska’s most respected and revered artists, died in Washington … His work was highly prized by collectors, corporations and museums. …

Alaska-born artist John Hoover dies at 91
Houston Chronicle
… around the world and was prized by collectors, corporations and museums. … Hoover was born in Cordova, Alaska, and for years worked as a fisherman. …

Hoover, Alaska artist of Native imagery, has died
Fresno Bee
AP ANCHORAGE, Alaska — John Hoover, a revered artist in Alaska who used imagery … and museums, The Anchorage Daily News (http://bit.ly/pp3JKM) reported. …

Rare find discovered amid town’s Old West kitsch. For years, nobody knew the broken machine gathering dust was worth millions.
http://news.yahoo.com/rare-discovered-amid-towns-old-west-kitsch-082106931.html

Earthquake Damages Smithsonian

http://newsdesk.si.edu/releases/update-earthquake-damage-smithsonian

Eyeing a potion of the proceeds, museums welcome new experiments in retail

http://www.lajollalight.com/2011/08/03/museums-welcome-new-experiments-in-retail/

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Ahtna Heritage Center, AKwhitestuff, Alaska, Alaska Museums in the News, Ask ASM, AV preservation, Baranov Museum, Bianca Carpeneti, Crista Pack, crizzeling, fatty bloom, fatty spew, Fran Ritchie, glass disease, Grant in Aid, Institute for Museums and Library Services, What's that White Stuff, White Stuff | Leave a comment

Alaska State Museums Bulletin 43

Posted on August 24, 2011 by Alaska State Museum Bulletin

Printable version

The world of the professional academic historian is often viewed from the outside as a place populated with linear timelines informed and built by dusty primary source material. It is assumed that this material is meticulously and objectively examined in the quest to reconstruct some semblance of a historical narrative to augment the ever growing body of human knowledge.

Of course, this is only a part of the processes that modern historians use, and it should be assumed that many historians would challenge this somewhat outmoded and oversimplified characterization of what they do, and rightfully so; the historic method is much more complex than this and can often involve multiple levels of inquiry grounded in the constantly contested area of epistemology.

Having acknowledged the complexity of modern historiography, it is still possible and often necessary, to rely on a linear historical model for some reconstructions of historical events and processes, provided that the historiographers acknowledge the difficulties of perfectly thorough and objective interpretation.

One of these reconstructions is the concurrent development of modern photography and the “second wave” of European and Euro-American colonial expansion in the 19th and early 20th centuries. This second wave of what was also termed the “New Imperialism” was characterized, for example, by the so-called “Scramble for Africa” by various European powers and also, by post-revolutionary western expansion in North America, to cite another example.

Photography served as a valuable propaganda tool in these colonial endeavors, as it enhanced the colonizers’ collective ability to not only begin documenting, surveying and parceling stolen land, but in justifying that theft and attendant ethnic cleansing through photographic depictions of the indigenous peoples. In her seminal work on the colonial uses of photography on the Northwest Coast of North America, Carol Williams cautions us that “between parties of unequal status, looking was not an innocent act. Photographs, as a consequence, are primary historical sources useful in unveiling the fluctuating state of agency and disempowerment.”[2]

Indeed, the commonly accepted view of photography as an innocuous and passive media needs to be completely discarded, especially in the colonial context when we begin to really consider its uses: “To understand the social value of photography in the colonial environment, the original, often elusive, purpose or function of the photograph must be part of the overall equation”[3]

When European and Euro-American colonial powers entered a region that they had claimed, either through the “Doctrine of Discovery” or through an equally spurious purchase or “land exchange” between colonial powers, the first order of business was the mapping and surveying of the region.

In these efforts photography often played a central and plural role. Surveyors, often working under the auspices of various colonial “engineer corps,” undertook creating boundary surveys with the help of the photographic record.

Both professional and amateur photographers participated in these surveys and often created multiple sets of images; one set was often used for the “official” government publications and correspondence and another was utilized for personal financial gain. Often the same images would be used for both purposes, and they frequently found their way into popular settler publications in addition to being utilized by governments, as “government administrators and commercial entrepreneurs earned mutual benefits from their collaborative efforts to tame the physical and social terrain through representation”[4] (emphasis added).

The “social terrain” was of course, the indigenous peoples, who were viewed as annoying or offending obstacles to the concept of “Manifest Destiny” that was at the core of the colonial project. Depending on where the photographs were taken on the historical timeline, the indigenous peoples were variously depicted as either ignoble or noble savages.

When viewed as obstacles, indigenous peoples were depicted as sub-human, and were often contrasted in the photographic record with stilted depictions of “civilized whiteness.”

At this point in the colonial encounter “the photograph was not a neutral bureaucratic device, but was used by those who subscribed to ideology that viewed Native Americans as inherently less civilized than Euro-Americans”[5] as a tool to wield toward removing the offending obstacles, either physically or conceptually.

Once subjugation of the indigenous populations was complete, and their power to resist also adequately suppressed or removed entirely, other types of imagery begins to surface in the photographic record; the “noble savage” and/or the “good (assimilated and compliant) native” imagery, informed and driven by the 19th century “dying race theory” and raced-based, mission driven Christian theology came to the fore.

Assimilating natives or predicting their eventual demise was part and parcel of an overall historical process where “colonized peoples were subjected to a process of negation that supplied a justification for European intervention, iterated the fundamental difference between colonizer and colonized, and acted as a means of white self-affirmation.”[6]

The rise of modern Anthropology, ironically enough, was also taking place during this time period and the emerging discipline, whose practitioners often accompanied these colonial expeditions, also began to create a photographic record of their own. Photography in the service of Anthropology, found ingenious ways of disguising its imperialist and culturally biased roots and reality from the public by hiding behind convenient academic mythologies like “cultural relativity.”

A popular area of study during this time, on the part of Anthropologists, was to scientifically measure and record human differences through the study of the physical form of different groups:

“The conviction that character could be detected decoded, or “read” by visual signs emitted by the structure of flesh and bone was affirmed by the combination of anthropometry and photography, as the resulting photographs aided in the visualization of differences between variants of human stock.”[7]

The famous photographs of heads, and the measuring of heads by field anthropologists evidences this overly simplistic and misguided endeavor and reigning theory, and is in fact, often held up in modern academia as a false and pernicious detour that betrays the false assumptions of that era.

Informed by the dying race theory, 19th century Anthropologists undertook what has been termed “Salvage Anthropology,” which included the collection of cultural artifacts and human remains from a culture deemed “endangered” by the colonial society (the very same society that caused the cultures “endangerment” in the first place).

The nature of salvage anthropology was two-fold in its relationship with colonized people, first

“Anthropologists, Boas included, were swept up by the salvage paradigm, removing house poles, unearthing grave remains (skulls were a desired collectible for those pursuing anthropometric anthropology), and retrieving other artifacts in response to requests from urban, mostly eastern-based museums. While the motives for this collecting frenzy stemmed from a scientific concern for the preservation of the vanishing cultures of the Indian, anthropologists believed, like those before them, in the manifest destiny of assimilation.” [8]

Secondly, salvage anthropology was often concerned with an imagined “authenticity” in its scholarly and visual depictions of indigenous cultures and because of this the “nineteenth-century anthropologists obsession with authenticity was also a function of assigning value, but here it was a function of the ability to camouflage the damage inflicted by colonialism.” [9]

Irrespective of motivations or publically espoused philosophies, 19th century Anthropology, its methods and media, including photography, were an integral part of the “cultural machinery of imperialism.”[10] At the end of the day, “photography was part and parcel of the colonial conquest in which “subject” peoples of the state were classified and judged in accordance with theories expressed across the various social sciences including physiognomy, craniotomy, anthropometrics, and eugenics.”[11]

As can be gathered from the above examples, photography, in the colonial context, cannot be seen as an innocuous media, utilized in an “objective” way by photographers and historians in an illustrative fashion.

Whether utilized in the service of limning and carving up stolen land, denigrating indigenous populations, celebrating the imagined superiority of white society in regard to native assimilation, or in the settler state’s “scientific,” “artistic,” or “historical” pursuits, the colonial and neo-colonial context must be taken into consideration.

When photographs which were “employed to embellish an unfurling historical narrative[12]”, are now presented without this critical and informed viewpoint expressed, it “limits our understanding of how photography constructed cultural and racial difference between settlers and Native Americans, largely emptying the photographic artifact of the imperial, commercial, government, or anthropological motivations behind its creation.” [13]

Present-day exhibition viewers thus risk once again being subconsciously lulled into a certain photographic tunnel-vision view of the scene, non-verbal but no less persuasive. Such presentation even in the current enlightened era teeters dangerously close to the edge of intentional disservice, and close, too, to fulfilling the prophesy hinted at during the 19th century.To lose this valuable and hard-won critical understanding, whether in an effort to hide behind nationalistic triumphalism, “academic/historical/professional objectivity,” or to simply avoid dealing with unpleasant historical realities, is not only an impediment to the furtherance of human knowledge, it also shines a bright light on the ongoing inability of a society to evolve morally, and that, to be sure, is a shame, because it guarantees that the mistakes of the past will be repeated over and over again.

[1] Carol J. Williams, Framing the West: Race, Gender, and the Photographic Frontier in the Pacific Northwest (New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2003) 8.

[2] Williams 8

[3] Williams 8

[4] Williams 51

[5] Williams 76

[6] Anne Maxwell, Colonial Photography & Exhibitions: Representations of the ‘Native’ and the Making of European Identities (London: Leicester University Press, 1999) 101.

[7] Williams 175

[8] Williams 174

[9] Maxwell 111

[10] Maxwell 111

[11] Williams 76-77

[12] Williams 7

[13] Williams 7-8

Bibliography/Further Reading

Fusco, Coco and Brian Wallis, ed. Only Skin Deep: Changing Visions of the American Self. New York: Harry N. Abrams Inc., 2003.

Hight, Eleanor M., and Gary D. Sampson, ed. Colonialist Photography: Imag(in)ing Race and Place. New York: Routledge, 2002.

Maxwell, Anne. Colonial Photography & Exhibitions: Representations of the ‘Native’ and the Making of European Identities. London: Leicester University Press, 1999.

Ryan, James R. Picturing Empire: Photography and the Visualization of the British Empire. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1998.

Williams, Carol J. Framing the West: Race, Gender, and the Photographic Frontier in the Pacific Northwest. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003.

Ask ASM

Question: I am doing the artifact of the month and have decided to put some of our trade beads out. There is one strand of beads that has bead disease. Is there any reason why the ones with bead disease should not go out on display in the exhibit case? Also could you tell me a little about what bead disease is?

ASM: Bead Disease also known as “glass disease” or “sick glass”, it is not a disease at all. It is the result of improper manufacture. Glass usually has three kinds of ingredients:

network former (usually silica)
network modifier (to make glass melt at a lower temperature and handle better)
network stabilizer (to prevent glass from dissolving in water)

If the recipe has the wrong proportions of ingredients, the result will be crizzled or weeping glass. The white cloudy or crusty look is usually from alkaline salts leeching out to the surface or cracks caused by the deterioration. There is no cure for glass disease, but high humidity makes it worse. Color of bead does not predict bead disease, and it can appear on any size bead. However, in Alaska we notice it more on the larger size of bead, the ones about the size of a chick pea. Perhaps this is because its size makes it more visible? Most crizzled glass is quite old. Crizzled glass is rarely seen after 1900 and is more common in the 1700s and 1800s.

The only concern with putting it in the case would be that once a bead (or piece of glass) starts showing signs of glass disease it is more fragile. So you need to be extra careful during handling. Glass disease is not contagious and will not spread to other beads in the case.

http://www.heritagepreservation.org/cap/index.html

Shaking the Money Tree

HERITAGE PRESERVATION

The 2012 application booklet will be mailed to institutions on the CAP application mailing list on October 3, 2011 and will be available online atwww.heritagepreservation.org/CAP/application.html. To be added to or to verify your address on the mailing list, please contact the CAP staff at cap(a)heritagepreservation.org or call 202-233-0800. The deadline to submit 2012 CAP applications will be December 1, 2011.

INSTITUTE OF MUSEUM AND LIBRARY SERVICES

October 3, 2011: Conservation Project Support
November 1, 2011: Museums for America
December 1, 2011 & July 1, 2012: Museum Assessment Program

December 15, 2011: National Medal for Museum and Library Services

January 17, 2012: Museum Grants for African American History and Culture
February 1, 2012: National Leadership Grants

February 15, 2012: Sparks! Ignition Grants for Libraries and Museums

March 15, 2012: 21st Century Museum Professionals

April 1, 2012: Native American/Native Hawaiian Museum Services

http://www.imls.gov/applicants/name.shtm

IMLS announces Museums for America grant recipients

Ilanka Cultural Center – Cordova, AK
Award Amount: $102,034; Matching Amount: $103,622
Grant Category: Engaging Communities

Contact: Ms. LaRue Barnes
Museum Director
(907)424-7738; larue@nveyak.org

The “Voices of Our Elders” project at the Ilanka Cultural Center will provide a digital exhibition accessible to all museum guests and the community that will provide educational, cultural, and historic information. The leadership of the Native Village recognized the need to document the history—particularly the oral history—of the community elders before their memories were extinguished through age or passing. This grant will allow the village to appropriately utilize previously collected oral histories by enhancing them with imagery and technology and provide a permanent collection of that history within the museum and archives.

NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES

Announces Grant Awards, July 2011

http://www.neh.gov/pdf/July2011grants_state_by_state.pdf

Kodiak

MediaAction Outright: $39,675

[Digital Humanities Start-Up Grants]

Project Director: Marie Acemah

Project Title: Rural Alaska Cultural Media Project

Project Description: The development and testing of a cultural media-making curriculumfor rural Alaskan students that incorporates instruction in ethnographic methodologies andthe use of the Omeka presentation platform as a means of enhancing Alaskan public history.

Spotlight on Grant in Aid

Sam Fox Museum, Dillingham, AK

Sam Fox Museum Before Renovations

In 2009 the Sam Fox Museum board made caring for the museum’s collection the top priority. With this goal in mind, they began in earnest seeking financial backing. At the same time, they consulted with a design engineer, laid out a floor plan, researched for a vendor of climate-controlled cases with working knowledge of museum needs and continued cataloging items in its care. The last three activities were enhanced through an intern, hosted thanks to an Alaska State Museum grant.

The new cases arrived in crates

Initially, they secured enough funding for three cases. When the order was placed, it was for fourteen cases. The Alaska Community Foundation/Pebble Mine invested over $40,231, the Rasmuson Foundation just under $25,000, the Alaska State Museum $10,000, the City of Dillingham $87,000 and individuals and small companies $8,650. Casewerks, with headquarters in Baltimore Maryland, and the manufacturing plant in Germany custom built the glass cases which include desiccant drawers.

Unpacking the new exhibit cases

Over the course of seven months, through phone calls, e-mails and letters, the case dimensions were designed thanks to significant guidance by the Casewerks staff. The museum board members decided to eliminate built-in lighting so additional cases could be ordered, thereby protecting dozens of additional artifacts previously displayed in compromised cases or stored in the museum office in metal file cabinets.

Work in progress at the museum

All the room preparation work and now the renovation has been carried out by volunteers in the community. The old cases were removed as was the old wall covering. Acoustic carpeting has been installed on all the walls. The ceiling was painted. Uncrating the cases and moving them into position in the museum required brute strength from eight men working for hours. Putting artifacts both previously on display and formerly in storage into the cases and adding labels/descriptors continues to fill the days.

The immediate advantages recognized by this project are (1) Better care of irreplaceable artifacts. (2) A few people who volunteered on this project are now interested in continuing on at the museum. This includes a few teenagers, which is exciting since it may suggest to them some career possibilities they might not have considered before. (3)

Exhibits in new cases

The descriptions being added to the displays have proven significantly educational to those who have visited thus far; especially to the summer tourists / fisherman to this area. (4) In wanting to display artifacts previously in storage, some items are being rotated through an older display case at the local Wells Fargo Bank, asking the community to help identify what the items are.

Baskets exhibited in a new case

Members of the community have expressed that now they feel as though they’re contributing to the preservation of the cultural history, especially for the younger generation. (5) The new floor plan offers improved traffic flow and promises to be efficient as a venue for social gatherings. (6) An unexpected benefit to the community was the use of the crate material. The university was teaching a construction class to young adults and had only enough funding for one dog house which was going to be made for the City of Dillingham’s dog catcher’s use. With the wood and foam donated to them from this project (estimate value of just over $1,000 per their instructor), they were able to build three dog houses and start on new bus stop kiosks.

http://www.aam-us.org/museumresources/map/index.cfm

ASM on the Road: Sitka

Alaska State Museum Curator of Museum Services Scott Carrlee traveled to the Sitka to perform a Museum Assessment Program (MAP) site visit at the Sitka Historical Museum. The MAP program is a peer review process that helps guide museums in setting priorities and in meeting national museum standards and best practices. There are 4 different MAP assessments available: Organizational, Collections Stewardship, Community Engagement, and Leadership. The Sitka Historical Museum chose the Collections Stewardship MAP to help them focus on collections policies, planning, access and documentation. MAPs are free to museums with annual operating expenses of less than $125,000 and only cost $350 for museums with annual operating expenses of $125,000 to $400,000. The deadline for the next application is December 1. For more information go to the MAP page of the AAM website:

Ellen Carrlee, Conservator

The bright, sunny morning of July 17^th, intern Crista Pack and I gingerly drove the State Archives “big white van” onto the M/V Fairweather, headed to Sitka for three days of conservation work.

Conservator Ellen Carrlee transports artifacts, supplies and intern Crista Pack on the fast ferry in the "big white van" on loan from the State Archives

The van carried a supply of surplus boxes for delivery to Jackie Fernandez and Bob Medinger at the Sitka Historical Society Museum, two new acquisitions for the Sheldon Jackson Museum (baskets), security equipment for the SJM, and supplies for our work. Usually, the conservator flies to the SJM around April for “spring cleaning” but this time we had the opportunity to bury ourselves in collections storage for some behind-the-scenes work. At the top of my list was a drawer-by-drawer condition survey of the collections in storage, which I had never had the opportunity to review in detail before. It dovetailed nicely with the summer project of University of Delaware graduate conservation student Crista Pack: “what’s that white stuff?” Searching for examples of fatty spew, old insect infestations, glass disease, corrosion, and other white accretions on the surface of artifacts provided great data for the project, complementing the conditions we observed in the ASM collection in Juneau. The project, meant to assist Alaskan museums in analyzing mysterious white substances on their collections, is available online at http://alaskawhitestuffid.wordpress.com and described elsewhere in this bulletin. It also gave me the chance to begin planning for the long-term conservation needs of the Sheldon Jackson Museum collection, a discussion that will take place with the new incoming curator, Nadia Jackinsky-Horrell.

Bottom five pieces of argillite vessel SJ-I-B-11 carved by Charles Edenshaw

I spent more time than I expected condition reporting a masterwork of argillite by Charles Edenshaw that had been requested for loan in an Edenshaw retrospective. The unusually large carving, a “compote” or covered dish, was assumed to be safe to travel because it was made in three parts. I thought I would easily discover its secrets of disassembly and make some packing recommendations. However, the vessel was considerably larger and heavier than I anticipated, and was constructed not in three pieces, but seven. The stem of the vessel was itself made of three pieces which had been adhered together during manufacture with what the Canadian Conservation Institute had identified as a collagen-based adhesive, perhaps hide glue or fish glue. A previous conservation treatment years ago had failed to get these original bonds apart, and had added in supplemental adhesive with a syringe. The central column of the stem also had a barely-visible fault line of lighter colored mineral, perhaps quartz, running across the entire diameter at a steep angle.

Lid and finial pieces of Edenshaw vessel SJ-I-B-11 depicting a woman suckling a bear cub

What do we know about argillite? We know it is heavy, brittle, tends to crumble along its edges when broken, and has rarely been used in vessels of this size and complexity. We also know that if an adhesive join is very strong, stress tends to cause breakage in new locations. The fault line on the stem happened to be in the worst possible orientation to support the stress of the heavy bowl, and the stem could not be easily separated from the bowl. A retrospective of any artist deserves the best work possible, and this was certainly a magnum opus, but the inherent vulnerabilities and risk of damage forced the decision to keep the compote safely in its exhibit case at the Sheldon Jackson Museum.

On July 19th there happened to be FOUR conservators in Sitka! Crista and I had lunch with legendary wood conservators Ron Sheetz (retired National Parks Service) and Al Levitan (NPS), who were in town working on the totem poles in Sitka National Historical Park, following up yet again on the preservation project the two of them began there twenty years ago. We were joined by Sue Thorsen and Mike Trainor of the NPS as well as Jennifer Klein of the DOT, who has been the project manager for the Totem Square project. The lunchtime discussion was lively and I wished it could have gone on for hours, but everyone had to get back to work!

Ellen Carrlee cleaning the dust from Athabascan canoe SJ-IV-X-21

Cleaning and condition reporting of the Athabascan birchbark canoe in storage was undertaken and a new dust cover made for it. When I got up on the ladder with the vacuum I was delighted to see beads still lashed into the gunwales of the canoe.

Repair of an ivory-inlaid cane was taken care of by Crista Pack on site. We also packed up a badly damaged walrus tusk cribbage board with a tiny (quite injured) sled dog team and some

Intern Crista Pack stabilizes a detached piece of ivory inlay on cane SJ-II-X-141

Tlingit hide armor with a wicked case of fatty spew for transport back to the Alaska State Museum for in-depth treatment.

Hide armor with fatty spew.

We were quite tired when we drove the big white van back onto the ferry (more confidently this time, as we had bonded with the “bread truck”). In all fairness, the exhaustion wasn’t just our packed days of conservation work. Cable TV at the hotel had episode after episode of “Storage Wars,” “Pawn Stars” and “American Restoration.” Can you imagine all the outraged and fascinated chatter that two conservators HAVE to have when they see programming like that?!?

http://www.torontosun.com/2011/07/29/rare-fossil-of-sea-reptile-found-in-alaska

Alaska Museums in the News

(July 29^th, 2011) The Museum of the North at the University of Alaska in Fairbanks announced North America’s most complete skeleton of a thalattosaur, a rare marine reptile which was found by the Forest Service near Kake. Scientists at the museum are excited about the find because the specimen includes a soft-tissue outline which could help scientists more accurately model its ancient characteristics. Check out how this reptile fit into Alaska’s Triassic climate:

(August 1^st, 2011) At the Seventh International Congress of Arctic Social Sciences (ICASS VII), held in Iceland in June 2011, National Geographic met up with Sven Haakanson, the director of the Alutiiq museum in Kodiak. In two videos included in the article, Haakanson describes the Alutiiq museum’s aim of sharing their history while repatriating cultural knowledge and historical materials to their living context. He also emphasizes the museum’s urgent work to protect the Alutiiq native language which has 24 remaining fluent speakers. Learn more about how this Northern museum is returning dignity and cultural identity to its community here:

http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/2011/08/01/for-alaskas-alutiiq-the-future-may-be-found-in-the-past/

(July 31^st, 2011) According to the Bristol Bay Times, the Samuel K. Fox Museum in Dillingham has finally completed their renovation project which will help to better preserve indigenous artifacts and local culture. 14 new climate controlled cases have been added to the exhibition floor which has allowed artifacts previously in museum storage and newly acquired works to appear on display. Read details on funding sources and the people who made the renovation possible:

http://thebristolbaytimes.com/article/1130samuel_k_fox_museum_renovation_completed

(July 15^th, 2011) Although relevant to Alaskan history and not a particular museum, the Sealaska Corp. recently announced that a 500 year old cedar canoe was discovered on Haida/Tlingit in the rainforest near Kasaan on Alaska’s Prince of Wales Island. A tribal archaeological team say that the canoe was carved from traditional hand-tools, and may be one of the only such canoes of that time period yet discovered. How did this canoe get abandoned in the woods? Learn more from a Sealaska official here:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-07-15/ancient-canoe-found-in-alaska-forest/2795460

(July 31, 2011) David Yesner, an anthropology professor at the University of Alaska, Anchorage has a big thing for one of the biggest mammals to have walked North America: the wooly mammoth. This article follows Yesner’s fascination with the mammoth, and its potential interactions with early Alaskan inhabitants. It points out that Yesner recently gave a speech at Anchorage Museum on the topic, and how his efforts contributed to the recent exhibit at Chicago’s Field Museum entitled, “the Mammoth Hunters.” Get wooly with Yesner and learn more about archeological work involving northern animals here:

http://www.thenewstribune.com/2011/07/30/1765188/uaa-professor-studies-mammoths.html

(July 12, 2011) While excavating for a new retaining wall, the Baranov Museum in Kodiak discovered a potential structure from the Russian era of colonization. Their on-site archeologist noticed wooden planks and stacked rocks that resemble Russian-style structures between 1743 and 1867. Gun flint discovered in the excavation also points to this time period. Read more about this contribution to Kodiak history:

http://juneauempire.com/state/2011-07-12/excavation-project-yields-likely-russian- structure-kodiak

Pratt picks architects
http://www.homernews.com/stories/071311/news_ppa.shtml

Converse said he is known for his knowledge of technical and aesthetic challenges of museum buildings in all regions of Alaska.

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Professional Development/Training Opportunities

The Reciprocal Research Network (RRN) is an online tool to facilitate reciprocal and collaborative research about cultural heritage from the Northwest Coast of British Columbia. The RRN enables communities, cultural institutions and researchers to work together. Members can build their own projects, collaborate on shared projects, upload files, hold discussions, research museum projects, and create social networks. For both communities and museums, the RRN is groundbreaking in facilitating communication and fostering lasting relationships between originating communities and institutions around the world.

Who can use the RRN? The RRN is for people who are interested in and researchers of Northwest Coast Culture. This includes but is not limited to Originating Communities, First Nations Organizations, Researchers, Students, Museum Professionals, Academic and Cultural Heritage Organizations and more. If you would like to use the RRN, you can request an account!

How is the RRN different from other sites? The RRN is different because of its collaborative nature. From conception through development and into its use the RRN sees collaborative research as the foundation of the project.

http://www.rrnpilot.org/

Intern Report

by Crista Pack, Conservation Intern

As a student finishing my first year in the Winterthur/University of Delaware Program in Art Conservation, I was expected to embark on an 8-10 week internship somewhere in the United States. These internships are meant to give students some hands-on experience in working with artifacts and reinforce our first year curriculum on various kinds of materials. My interests in art conservation are focused primarily on ethnographic and archaeological artifacts. My educational background is in pre-Columbian art history, so working with ethnographic objects from North and South America has always felt like a natural fit. I’ve had less experience with Northwest Coast material culture, so when one of my instructors asked if I would be interested in doing my internship at the Alaska State Museum – I unhesitatingly and enthusiastically said “yes!”

I arrived on June 20^th and I’ve been working on a number of projects since then. My main project for the summer has been to characterize and research different kinds of “white stuff” that is frequently found on museum artifacts in Alaska. Over the past few years, Ellen Carrlee discovered a need for this type of information to be made available to cultural caretakers across Alaska. ASM Conservator Ellen and her husband Scott, Curator of Museum Services, have both received numerous emails and phone calls over the years from people asking them to help identify white substances being found on a variety of materials. It could be anything from mold to salt to pesticide residues.

Differentiating between these on visual analysis alone can be tricky. Our task has been to compile as much information as possible on the identification of various kinds of “white stuff,” then make it easily accessible and easy to understand. What we’ve designed is a website that provides Alaskans a quick, easy, and inexpensive way to access this information. The internet address is alaskawhitestuffid.wordpress.com.

What's that white stuff? In this case, it's fatty bloom on wood. Wood bowl, collection of the Alaska State Museum.

Guests can visit the site, learn how to look at and describe what they are seeing, and then look at descriptions and images for all the various possibilities that might apply. In addition to learning the possible identification of what the white substance is, people will, perhaps most importantly, find out what could be causing it and then be able to properly address those issues. For example, the correct identification of mold raises awareness for self-protection during handling as well as what options may be available for treatment. Most importantly, finding mold may indicate the presence of inappropriate relative humidity conditions in your storage or exhibit environment that need to be addressed.

Towards the end of the summer, I was able to give a talk and participate in a discussion through the monthly online chat session hosted by the ASM’s Office of Museum Services for those involved with Alaska museums. This provides a way for the museum to reach out to numerous museum workers across the state and address concerns they may not otherwise have a chance to voice. The talk I gave was intended to give those in attendance an overview of what the “white stuff” project is about and how they may be able to use it in the future. The discussion was archived and, if you’re interested, you can access it here: http://www.museums.state.ak.us/ASMChat.html.

During my first week in Juneau, I also spent some time working with Ellen at the ASM’s off-site storage facility to condition report, photograph, sample for arsenic, and lightly vacuum a collection of taxidermy birds.

Taxidermy bird collection, Alaska State Museum.

These specimens had recently come off of exhibit from the Juneau airport. It was a really interesting experience and the following week I was able to test all of the samples we had taken for arsenic. I followed Ellen’s method for testing which uses a base (potassium hydroxide), an acid (hydrochloric acid) and zinc dust to generate arsenic gas if arsenic is present in the sample. If arsenic gas is evolved, then it will turn mercury bromide test papers (placed at the top of the tube) yellow. Ellen has her whole procedure outlined on her blog, which has been a great resource! (http://ellencarrlee.wordpress.com/2009/01/14/arsenic-testing-step-by-step/)

Performing arsenic testing on samples taken from taxidermy birds.

Additionally, I’ve been working on a condition report and treatment proposal for a sealskin parka. There are a number of large tears along the back of the parka and losses of fur around the cuffs. These will need to be stabilized in the future to prevent further loss and make the jacket stable for storage and exhibition. As part of my condition reporting for the object, I am performing a fur identification of each of the different furs on the parka using the resources made available through the Alaska Fur ID Project. Ellen and a previous intern, Lauren Horelick, did a lot of research and developed a website – the Alaska Fur ID Project – that makes fur identification a lot easier with helpful data and comparison images. So far, I’ve been able to identify the following furs using these resources: hare around the cuffs, ringed seal for the main body of the jacket, mustelid (potentially marten) on the shoulder tassels, dyed baby seal (lanugo) for decorative embellishments, and wolf along the zipper and pocket edges. I’ve learned a lot about hair and fur structure in the process…and that identification is much harder than it looks!

Sealskin parka, Collection of the Alaska State Museum.

One of the highlights of the internship has been the outreach that is so well integrated into the work the museum does. For part a week, Ellen and I spent some time down in Sitka at the Sheldon Jackson Museum. While there we delivered supplies and picked up a few artifacts that would need treatment in the conservation labs at the ASM. We also took time to survey the collection in search of white stuff for my research project. We also worked on a couple of objects that could be treated in situ. I replaced an ivory piece that had become detached from a wood cane:

Eskimo Cane, After treatment - round ivory inlay (furthest right) has been reattached

To cap off the internship, I embarked on a 10-day journey through Alaska and Canada with Ellen, Scott, their son Carson and their dog Ziggy. The five of us piled into the Carrlee minivan and headed north. We drove along the Golden Circle Route (http://goldencircleroute.com/) and made stops in Skagway and Haines in Alaska, Atlin in British Columbia, and Whitehorse and Haines Junction in the Yukon. We visited many museums along these stops, including: Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park (Rapuzzi Collection), the Red Onion Brothel museum, Skagway Museum and Archives, Corrington’s Alaskan Ivory and Museum, MacBride Museum of Yukon History, Transportation Museum, Old Log Church Museum, Beringia Interpretive Center, Hammer Museum, and the Sheldon Museum…just to name a few.

Overall the trip was a great success that allowed me to see more of Alaska and northern Canada. I also think it allowed me to have a greater appreciation for the history of the gold rush in this area and what the people endured to settle and prospect in these areas. It also gave me a deeper appreciation for the diversity of collections across the state and the challenges facing them.

My experience in Alaska was nothing short of life-changing. What I’ve learned here and the connections I have made will undoubtedly serve me for the rest of my career. I look forward to seeing where my journey takes me next, but will always be grateful for the time I spent in Juneau with the Alaska State Museum.

Book Review: Manual of Museum Exhibitions

By Miguel Rohrbacher, ASM Volunteer

Much of the work in museums happens behind the scenes – the research conservation and collection of artifacts often happens outside of the public eye. Exhibits are the public face of the museum to our Alaskan communities. The display of artifacts and objects of historical and cultural significance teaches and engages the public and brings them back to the museum time and time again.

The Manual of Museum Exhibitions is a step-by-step guide to both the practical skills required in building exhibits and the philosophical framework to why they are important. The manual focuses different chapters on different aspects of the trade and highlights museums with art, anthropological, historical and scientific collections with specific notes and suggestions on how to highlight each particular item. Rather than only showing museums in London or New York, the museum profiles feature some museums operating with similar challenges and constraints as such as the Alaska Native Heritage Center in Anchorage and the Museum of Anthropology in British Columbia. The manual is just that – a manual, and the chapters are broken into segments, each written by an expert in the museum exhibits field. The book is broad in scope yet very precise where it needs to be. There is advice on how to plan, finance and build a whole gallery to show art in, with lighting and drywall instructions as well as comparisons of which adhesive would be better when joining a display case. In addition to the practical advice for building an exhibit, the book has information on budgeting money for an exhibit and different financial options for how a museum could pay for it. Especially interesting for smaller museums is a chapter on how to integrate audio and visual presentations into the museum and how to do that in a way that fits and blends into the rest of the aesthetic and the overall theme of the museum.

The format of the book is like some other guidebooks almost like “museum exhibits for dummies” with bullet points, graphs and other illustrations, and is filled with helpful hints and information. It is quite accessible to the common reader but is also used as a textbook for graduate level exhibition courses. This book could be very useful for helping both professional museum staff and volunteers continue to develop their skills in creating thought provoking, beautiful and relevant exhibits.

http://www.npr.org/2011/08/17/139681851/scientists-crack-the-physics-of-coffee-rings

Professional Time Wasting on the Web

Scientists finally crack the physics of the coffee ring.

Lincoln image theft is a lesson

http://www.dailybreeze.com/news/ci_18495500

Brandeis does the right thing
For now, there is cause for celebration. Speaking truth to power by this small museum with a mighty collection and even mightier supporters has yielded a milestone decision for museums everywhere
http://www.theartnewspaper.com/articles/Brandeis+does+the+right+thing/24367

Mummies to chocolate in Mexico’s offbeat museums

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?f=/g/a/2011/07/27/mexico_offbeat_museums.DTL&object=%2Fc%2Fpictures%2F2011%2F07%2F26%2Fba-Mexico_Mix_0503839471.jpg

Museum security guards: Lots of art and a little eavesdropping

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/culturemonster/2011/07/museum-security-guards-dish-on-art-.html

SFMOMA conservators turn back time

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/kalw/detail?entry_id=92941

Photos on Flickr of “Cabinets of Curiosities”
WonderKammer (Wonder Cabinet) Group
http://www.flickr.com/groups/wunderkammer/

The Secret Museum Exhibition, 2010
http://www.flickr.com/photos/astropop/sets/72157623978258955/with/4624603961/

Curious Exhibitions Photostream
http://www.flickr.com/photos/curiousexpeditions/

“Chamber of Wonders” exhibit at the Walthers Art Museum
http://www.flickr.com/photos/23911267@N06/tags/cabinetofwonders/

Teylers Museum (Holland)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/geschiedenisbeleven/sets/72157624928754673/with/5033019823/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/astropop/sets/72157612836663492/with/3216462180/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/johnmelskens/sets/72157603514171932/with/2127699760/

Cabinet of Curiosities of Bonnier de la Mosson, Paris
http://www.flickr.com/photos/astropop/sets/72157615858746451/

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Alaska, Alaska Museums in the News, Alutiiq Museum and Archaeological Repository, bead disease, Colonialism, crizzeling, fatty spew, glass disease, Grants, Institute for Museums and Library Services, Manual of Museum Exhibitions, Museum Assessment Program, Museum Career Development, Museum Interns, Native photography, Sam Fox Museum, Sitka, Sitka Historical Society | Leave a comment

Alaska State Museums Bulletin 42

Posted on July 20, 2011 by Alaska State Museum Bulletin

From Cannery to Curator: Paul Gardinier shares strategies for successful exhibits

Paul Gardinier’s career in Alaska began in the seafood processing industry, but when he saw Juneau’s Alaska State Museum for the first time, he knew that would be where he would do his best work.

More than three decades later, Gardinier holds the position of Curator of Exhibits. He has designed and installed hundreds of shows at the state-owned facility, but he tends to remain out of the spotlight.

“I want to set a stage for the objects and not get in the way,” he said.

Yup'ik display with contemporary mask

Much of Gardinier’s challenge lies in presenting the appropriate level of interpretation for objects, whether they are contemporary paintings or centuries-old artifacts. He and his staff must be conscious of how an object’s context may affect its meaning, especially since nearly every item on display in a museum is inherently out of context.

Athabaskan life ways

“Once utilitarian or religious objects are in a museum, they become something different than what they originally were,” he said. “I try to set a mood in the galleries that might be something like the original context that an object would have been viewed in, knowing fully well that I can’t really recreate that environment.”

Klondike Gold Rush exhibit

Contextual aids Gardinier may use could include maps, timelines, photographs of objects in use and interactive opportunities for audiences. However, he uses these methods sparingly to avoid over-interpretation, or as he puts it, a “book on the wall.”

“My own personal learning style is to sort of wander between things and find out about the things that really interest me,” he said. “Other people are really uncomfortable with that kind of undirected learning and need more of a directed study to tell them what facts they need to take away from an exhibit.”

He has successfully worked at remaining humble in the story that he is telling through his exhibits, honing the details down to limited but poignant supplements to the objects on display.

Fran Reed exhibit

“I don’t want to get in the way of people seeing what the original artist had in mind,” he said. “It’s about presenting their work in a professional and respectful manner, in the way that the artist would want to see their own work projected.”

ON A SHOESTRING

Gardinier has risen time and time again to the challenge of creating high caliber exhibits with a very limited budget — both in funds and time. His current staff consists of himself and Exhibits Specialist Jackie Manning. Between the two of them and a handful of volunteers, they must execute Gardinier’s “grandiose” ideas.

Entry to Lure of Alaska Exhibit

Entry to Raucous Raven

Gardinier credited much of the exhibit installations to the museum’s volunteers, who log about 10,000 hours per year. However, most of the heavy lifting is done by staff members who execute everything from conceptual design to the actual fabrication and construction of exhibit elements.

Arctic Winter Games display of pins. Gardinier soldered the brass frames himself.

As if that isn’t enough work, Gardinier must also consider the needs of other museum team members, including security, curators, artists, lenders and conservators. The latter group has provided unique challenges to Gardinier during his career, but he has chosen to integrate conservation constraints as just another element of his design.

Paul discussing the finer points of a conservation appropriate exhibit mount

“I’ve always relished the challenge of working with conservators to not compromise my vision as a designer, yet not put any objects at risk in the process.”

The fact of his museum’s location and limited local resources has also posed challenges that Gardinier has risen to. He has acquired and put to use skills and techniques on jobs that in a metropolitan area may otherwise be contracted out. But by acting as designer, builder and finisher, he has “amazing control” over the entire process. By working with limited resources, he has become an expert at making something grand out of very little.

Entrance to the Ray Troll Exhibit Sharkabet

MAKING EXHIBITS PERSONAL

Presenting opportunities for audiences to connect with exhibits is key in Gardinier’s designs. He harnesses the common ground of family, relationships, religion, work and play — subjects that everyone shares no matter what country or time period they’re from. By highlighting these connections, audiences are able to engage with exhibits in a personal way, bringing more enjoyment and a higher takeaway value.

Fun and games in the Great Alaska Game Show exhibition

Gardinier is constantly taking note of the way ideas are visually displayed, whether they are in other museums, retail marketing situations or theme parks. He calls it “manipulating an environment,” and his method of doing so has the audience’s best interests in mind.

Kids can admire their own hat creations in hat shaped mirrors

“I’m not interested in controlling people,” he said. “I’m interested in putting materials out to provoke wonder, excitement and awe in people, and maybe spark some sort of interest for them to go out on their own and do further research into something.”

WWII Exhibit Case explores Alaska's important role during the war

In order to successfully reach his audience, Gardinier has to consider the range of visitors to the museum, from local members to out-of-state visitors. With each group in mind, Gardinier must attend to details such as low-light label legibility, cross-cultural interpretation and the proper translation of ideas. If given the proper tools to understand what’s being presented, visitors will implant their own stories in the objects and take their exhibit experience with them through the rest of their lives.

Gardinier said the most rewarding thing he sees in the museum is discovery and communication. Whether it’s a child dragging a parent across the gallery to explain something they’ve seen or a dialogue between friends provoked by an element in an exhibit, audience activity is confirmation that the job has been done right.

Ask ASM

Question: When you are accessioning multiple items, such as shoes…is it 2008.001.001a and b? Or do you give each shoe its own number such as 2008.001.001 for the right shoe and 2008.001.002 for the left shoe?. Just wondering. I am of the thought of a and b, but I could be wrong.

ASM : As a general rule of thumb, if something is a set it gets A, B, C such as a pair of shoes, a bottle with a lid, or the parts of a sewing machine. In general, if we would accept it on its own as a complete thing, it would get its own number. So if someone just brought in one shoe, we might tend not to take it because it was incomplete. But if someone brings in campaign buttons from the 2008 election, I would probably give Obama and McCain buttons their own separate numbers. Also, if there is a huge amount of data, I might separate things into their own numbers in order to make capturing the information easier. Ultimately, it helps if there is a guiding philosophy such as “we want to make sure people can capture and find the data,” “we want to make sure a researcher understands that all these things belong together and are incomplete without these parts,” or “we give a single number with A, B, C to parts of a thing that would generally only be exhibited or loaned all together.” Once you come to a conclusion you really believe in, write it down in your collections manual with a lot of examples. As for the stuff already in the collection? Sheesh! Who has time to change the past?

http://www.imls.gov/applicants/grants/conservProject.shtm

Shaking the Money Tree

Grant Deadlines

IMLS

Ten weeks to apply for Conservation Project Support. The deadline is October 3, 2011. These grants take a long time to write and are very competitive so don’t wait until the last minute.

If you are thinking about applying, please feel free to contact Scott Carrlee, Curator of Museum Services at 1-888-913-6873 to discuss your project.

Federal Funding Update: NEH and NEA Could Face Additional Cuts
July 8, 2011 – Yesterday the House Appropriations Subcommittee on the Interior – which provides funding for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) – passed a bill including steep cuts for both agencies for FY12. Approved by an 8-5 vote, both the NEA and the NEH would be funded at $135.2 million, representing a $20 million cut from current funding and $11 million less than the President’s FY12 request.

Submit Your Ideas on IMLS’s Strategic Plan
IMLS is developing a strategic plan to guide their work and priorities over the next five years. Your input is important. The comment period will continue until Friday, August 12. To submit feedback, please visit http://imls.ideascale.com.

Spotlight on Grant in Aid

The FY 2011 Grant in Aid program allowed the Ketchikan Museum to modernize their hydro-thermographic monitoring program which helps the museum maintain the objects in their care for the long-term benefit of the citizens of Ketchikan and visiting public. In addition to upgrading their arsenal of traditional dataloggers and monitoring software, they were able to install a wireless hydro-thermographic monitoring system using equipment from Onset Computer Corporation at both the Centennial Building and the Totem Heritage Center.

Datalogger in position

The hydro-thermographic monitoring points at the Totem Heritage Center range in location from the Chief Johnson shed on the basement level, an exterior ground level site, to the upper level of the central gallery housing the standing totem poles. The equipment at the Totem Heritage Center is monitored in the museum programming staff office. The Centennial Building has a monitoring station in the collections staff office with data gathering stations in several gallery cases, the library stacks, archives office and storage as well as collections storage, again on two levels and in several out of the way spaces. By using the HOBO ZW series wireless equipment, museum staff may now monitor in real time the current temperature and relative humidity throughout the two buildings from centrally located monitoring stations, without the need to physically retrieve the data, then upload the data to a laptop, transfer the data to the network at the Centennial Building, and print out individual graphs.

The ability to carry out statistical analyses of the data has been greatly enhanced and simplified as the data is wirelessly sent to a database maintained on a dedicated workstation in each building.

Monitoring station

The monitoring station can display the data from individual sensors, or any combination of the sensors combined on one graph covering a 4-hour, a full 24-hour, or a 7-day period. Additionally, custom graphs for longer term study are easily generated from within the HOBOware Pro software, or exported in a number of standard formats for analysis in other software applications. The period between individual sensors data collection can be adjusted from the monitoring station for any interval of one second or greater, and the period of time between data transmissions to the workstation can be adjusted the in similar fashion. They have a few sensors that are located inside cases operating battery power, but most of the sensors are attached to an AC power source with internal battery backup power. They also back up the database from the individual work stations to the City of Ketchikan’s network which is backed up on a regular schedule to insure long term data security.

The system can automatically notify museum staff via email if temperature or humidity measurements meet or exceed points set by museum staff.

Datalogger in place in an exhibit case

The grant enabled the museum to replace their dataloggers which output data via a serial cable with equipment that uses USB cabling, allowing them to continue to monitor their off-site storage spaces and individual exhibit cases during short term exhibits. They can also monitor items in transit with this equipment, as it is small enough to be incorporated in the packing crate when transporting items.

http://juneauempire.com/art/2011-07-06/juneau-douglas-city-museum-wins-2011-aaslh-award-merit

ASM on the Road

Scott Carrlee, Curator of Museum Services, traveled to Anchorage and Seward June 20-24 to assess the condition of the Kenai Fjords National Park’s artifact collection. The Park has collections stored both at their new central curation facility in Anchorage and at the Park Headquarters in Seward.

Alaska Museums in the News

Juneau Douglas City Museums Wins award

http://juneauempire.com/local/2011-07-09/juneau-douglas-museum-wins-second-leadership-history-merit-award

Alaska’s missing moon rock reappears.

http://capitalcityweekly.com/stories/062911/new_851560339.shtml

http://www.ktoo.org/audiofile.cfm?clip=5474

Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center wins IDEA award

http://www.adn.com/2011/07/16/1970882/artist-becomes-poster-art-for.html

http://www.museumsalaska.org/conferences/registration.php

Professional Development/Training Opportunities

Registration is now open for the Museums Alaska, Alaska Historical Society Joint Annual Conference! Visit museumsalaska.org and register for this amazing conference, today! Early registration ends August 31st, so register before the price goes up. Come to gorgeous Valdez!

There will be an Angels Project in connection with this year’s Museums Alaska Meeting in Valdez. The project will take place at the Maxine and Jesse Whitney Museum on Tuesday, September 20th starting at 9 am. This year we will be helping our colleague Wendy Goldstein with her artifact labeling efforts. If you are planning on attending Ellen Carrlee’s Objects labeling workshop you might want to participate in this year’s Angels project as well since she will be supervising the project and teaching the practical side of artifact labeling.

So, come a day early and take an opportunity to have fun with your colleagues while helping out another Alaska museum. Someday it might be your museum that gets the Angels project.

For more information or to sign up please contact:

Scott Carrlee

Curator of Museum Services

Alaska State Museums

1-888-913-6873

Email: scott.carrlee@alaska.gov

Connecting to Collections Online Community presents:

Cold Storage for Photographic Materials

Tuesday, August 2 at 2:00 pm EDT
Theresa Anne Voellinger, Paper/Photograph Conservator, Harpers Ferry Center, National Park Service will join us to discuss the Connecting to Collections Online Community’s Featured Resource for August – the online video series Cold Storage: A Long-Term Preservation Strategy for Film-Based Photographic Materials.

To join this event, go to http://www.connectingtocollections.org/ and click “Access Meeting Room”. We look forward to meeting you online!

http://www.alaskalamp.blogspot.com/

SLAM Dunk

The Digital Initiative Report is available online.

Book Report

By Bianca Carpeneti, Museum Volunteer

Malaro, Marie C. A Legal Primer on Managing Museum Collections. 2nd ed. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Books, 1998.

In 1985, Marie C. Malaro wrote what would come to be known as the bible of U.S. collection management. Thirteen years later, Malaro updated and revised that text in this second edition. While the title and heft of this volume, not to mention the table of contents may seem intimidating, the content is thoroughly accessible for professionals and non-specialists, alike. Moreover, the information is invaluable. And not just for large institutions, but also for more modest groups interested in collecting and caring for cultural and historical material.

Malaro, attorney for the Smithsonian Institution and acknowledged expert on the law and ethics of collections management, has spent much of her career as an educator and advisor in the field. Her organizational approach is systematic and logical, which makes this complex field manageable. Beginning with two chapters discussing the museum – what it is and to whom it is accountable – Malaro then focuses the majority of the volume on the collection, addressing issues from accession to visitor access. In each, Malaro covers the legal questions, important cases, and court decisions. Additionally, she includes sample documents and checklists that may be useful for people working in the field.

This book is an important reference that outlines the legal obligations associated with any kind of collecting. Whenever any group, no matter its size, takes responsibility for an object or collection, there is an entire host of considerations that must be addressed. Some of these issues may be obvious such as providing for proper care, but some are perhaps less apparent like transferring copyright to ensure completeness of title. Responsible caretakers must have a clear understanding of what is at stake, and Malaro provides this understanding.

http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2011/07/scientists-play-worlds-oldest-co.html

Professional Time Wasting on the Web

The Edison Museum plays 123 year recording for a talking doll.

Want to see a big Museum Crate?

http://www.indcrate.com/projects.html

Kayak X-ray

http://oliverkodiak.blogspot.com/2009/03/kayak-x-ray.html

An exhibit of hats

http://www.dezeen.com/2011/06/29/akio-hirata%e2%80%99s-exhibition-of-hats-by-nendo/#more-136015

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Alaska Museums in the News, dataloggers, exhibits on a shoestring, Grant in Aid, Grants, Ketchikan Museums, museum accessioning, Museum Career Development, successful exhibits | Leave a comment

Alaska State Museums Bulletin 41

Posted on June 30, 2011 by Alaska State Museum Bulletin

Spotlight on Grant in Aid

History in a Can

Ask ASM

Shaking the Money Tree

ASM on the Road

Conference Review

Alaska Museums in the News

Professional Development/Training Opportunities

Volunteer Viewpoint

SLAM Dunk

Professional Time Wasting on the Web

History in a Can

by Steve Henrikson, ASM Curator of Collections

Though famous for our isolation and uniqueness, the scattering of Alaskan material culture around the globe shows the extent of our engagement in the world economy. Years ago I was in Manhattan, on the “museum crawl,” and took a few minutes to browse an antique mall in the Garment District. The bottom floor was reserved for the glitziest of furnishings and decorative arts, and there, amidst the Deco and the Louis XIV, I glimpsed something so incongruous I thought I must be hallucinating. In the middle of a fashionably lit kiosk of fine porcelain and crystal was a century-old Alaskan salmon tin. I couldn’t have been happier.

Salmon can “Red Brand,” Arctic Packing Company, San Francisco. The Arctic Packing Company established the first cannery in western Alaska at Kanulik, 3 miles east of Nushagak. ASM 96-4-1

The label read “Red Brand Spring Salmon, Arctic Packing Company, Alaska,” and the can itself looked early. It was hand-soldered, with a small vent hole that was plugged with solder after the cooking process. The label appeared to be an 1890s chromolithograph, an expensive process by which master printers hand stippled designs on stone plates to produce complex designs with naturalistic shading in over a dozen colors—each color requiring its own stone plate. The Arctic Packing Company operated canneries at Larsen Bay, Olga Bay and Nushagak Bay in the 1880s and 90s. However, the latter site was in operation beginning in 1878. One of only three canneries that began operations that year, listed as Alaska’s first.

I later heard that when my procurement documents hit the street in Juneau, my recommendation to spend $70 on an old can—empty no less—met with surprise and consternation. Such unusual requests from the museum have long ago entered state procurement lore, and today generate little controversy.

Though the can was (happily) empty of its original contents, it was full of potential for the interpretation of Alaska history in the museum. When we consider objects for acquisition by the museum, we always think about the end use—can it become a primary source for future research, or something useful in educational programming, or in exhibitions? And what interpretive subjects are suggested by the object? Sometimes the lowliest object turns out to be most useful in making a variety of interpretive points.

Salmon cans are incredibly versatile artifacts that support the telling of many Alaskan stories. Early industry, industrial revolution, labor history, and racial strife; Alaska as America’s colony, and as part of the global food chain; environmental degradation; the history of advertising, marketing and branding; and even printing technology are all themes supported by salmon tins. The subject matter printed on the labels, such as “Seward Brand” (Seward’s role in the Alaska Purchase Treaty), and “Wigwam Brand” (depiction of Alaska Natives in advertising), may be subjects worthy of exploration in our museums.

A group of Salmon tins in the collection of the Alaska State Museum. Photo by Sara Boesser.

The canning of salmon in Alaska was only possible due to advances in science and technology that allowed for processing on an industrial scale. Canning in crocks, glass, and tinned iron, was developed in Europe during the 18^th century, primarily for military consumption. In New York, salmon packed in glass jars were among the first vacuum packed foods available in the United States. After the Civil War, with improvements in the production of tinned iron, and the invention of new canning equipment, canned food became increasingly available to civilians in the United States. In Alaska, the invention of canning line machinery and processes conveniently coincided with efforts to develop its vast fishery resources, early in the American period.

By the early 20^th century, much of the canning process became mechanized, but tin can construction in Alaska remained a hand operation due in part to the cost of shipping: it was cheaper to ship the tin sheets to Alaska flat. The tin itself was expensive, and a large quantity was required. In 1882, for example, the tin plate used by Alaska canneries in 1892 amounted to 49,239 boxes—each 108 pounds, with each box containing 112 14×20 inch sheets, which made 448 cans. To ship the packed cans south, crates were constructed from lumber supplied by Alaskan mills. These early cannery contracts came about at a critical time for Alaska’s fledgling lumber industry.

Bay Cannery, Alaska” Photograph by Winter and Pond, after 1907. Alaska State Library Historical Collection P87-0190″]Bay Cannery, Alaska” Photograph by Winter and Pond, after 1907. Alaska State Library Historical Collection P87-0190″]

A rare image of an Alaskan Native woman pasting labels on cans. "The Labeler, Silkof [Sitkoh

Once the cut salmon pieces were inserted in the can, the top was soldered on, but a small vent hole was left open. The food was cooked in the cans, and the vent hole was soldered closed when the food was steaming, creating a vacuum. Between 1908 and 1910, the American can company invented the sanitary can, featuring pre-soldered can bodies that were flattened for shipping, and once in Alaska, they were reconstituted and fitted with crimped ends. This eventually brought an end to hand manufacturing of cans in Alaska.

Prior to crating, the full cans were varnished (to inhibit rust) and a colorful paper label glued around the circumference. Early on, salmon cans in northern California were painted red, and consumers became so accustomed to the color that they reportedly refused to purchase anything painted another color. Habits die hard, and later paper labels in Alaska usually had bright red backgrounds—which also helped conceal spots of rust bleeding through the paper.

The labels’ designs themselves chart the birth of modern marketing techniques and branding. Competition was fierce, and consumer impressions of quality and cleanliness where based in part on the outward appearance of the can. Companies spared no expense designing their labels with colorful brand names and interesting graphics to make them stand out when displayed on shelves behind the counter of old-fashioned general stores. Consumers were loyal to brands that experience showed met their expectations of quality and purity. Over time, some brands lasted decades and became valuable assets, surviving as the company changed ownership.

“Wigwam Brand” salmon tin, packed by the Baranoff Packing Company at “Redutsky Lake” Alaska. The company operated at Redoubt Lake, near Sitka, from 1889 until 1891, when it moved to Redfish Bay (on southern Baranoff Island). The company ceased operations in 1898, when it was dismantled by the Alaska Packers Association. This can was uncovered with construction debris under the floorboards of an 1892 house in Jamestown, New York. Photograph by Sara Boesser. ASM 2000-9-1

Salmon cans symbolize the development of Alaska and its participation in the world economy.

In 1883, Alaskan canneries shipped 36,000 cases of 48 one pound cans. Just eight years later, the annual pack had increased to 789,347 cases—a rate of growth that some at the time considered alarming. Special Agent Paul S. Luttrell, Special Agent for the Salmon Fisheries in Alaska in 1895, reported that

“the salmon-packing industry… has attained the limit beyond which it is dangerous to pass; and that, if we would perpetuate the salmon industry and keep it up to its present grand proportions, measures of protection must be taken…. it should never be forgotten that there is a limit beyond which it is not safe to go, and that if we would reap an annual golden harvest we must also guard the source of supply, and see that nothing is done to either fish or stream that will change the natural order under which the fish have grown to such numbers and by which they may be perpetuated without abatement forever. Paradoxical though it may appear, it is nevertheless true, that none are more anxious to save and perpetuate the salmon than the canners themselves, and yet their methods are such as, if continued, will very soon destroy them.”

In 1936, production in Alaska had increased astronomically to eight million cases to meet the global demand (one salmon tin recently acquired by the Alaska State Museum, a “Meteor Brand” can from the early 1900s, was recently excavated from an old garbage dump in Chile).

In terms of significance, canned salmon played a key role in Alaska’s development; between 1880 and 1937, the value of canned salmon produced in Alaska exceeded the value of minerals extracted from Alaska during the same period. Luttrell contined:

“Let it be borne in mind that all the canning factories in Alaska are owned by three or four corporations in San Francisco, who have millions invested in the salmon-canning industry, but who have no interest in the development of Alaska, and who, as a matter of fact, do not add one dollar to the wealth of the young Territory from which they take millions of dollars annually. These corporations are rivals in the salmon-canning business, and their rivalry is carried to such extremes betimes that bloodshed at any moment will not surprise those who know the real conditions existing there. Now, this bitter rivalry of great and rich corporations, if allowed to continue, will eventually destroy the salmon…”

The role of museums is not necessarily to celebrate history. Resource development remains a mainstay of life in Alaska and makes available to society many important and positive things. Yet we may not overlook the suffering and ruin that resulted. Such production levels were possible in Alaska, where civil government and resource regulation was virtually nonexistent. The harvest exploited a vast biomass that had evolved in place for thousands of years. That abundance, the lifeblood of the rainforest and of Alaska Native cultures, was the target of canning companies as they expanded up the Northwest Coast, moving northward as California, Oregon, and Washington were overfished. The vastness of Alaska’s runs, and its relatively high operating costs and isolation, spared it the decimation seen in areas south. The lessons of overharvest and colonization were learned late. Fish traps—the device that led to such rapid increase in productivity—were eventually outlawed, and Alaska’s constitution became unique with its mention of the sustained yield principal.

Too, we must not overlook the human cost of the industry—Alaskans overlooked poor and dangerous working conditions in order to have a chance to make a cash income, which enabled them to participate in the introduced economy where some cash was a necessity. Cultures clashed when cannery management played one group against the other to lower labor costs, or to circumvent strikes (a technique that one writer noted had been taught “by the more irresponsible European laborers”). In Klawock, Tlingit and Haida cannery workers fought each other for access to employment. In Sitka, clans staged an organized protest when Chinese workers were imported. Violence was averted when officials explained that the Chinese were there only to make cans, and if the Natives would learn to make them, the Chinese would be sent away. That explanation, and a threat of calling the “man-of-war” for “a little gunnery practice,” helped quell the dispute. Canneries heavily reliant on Native labor worked in cahoots with the government to ensure that strikes and ceremonial activities would not interfere with production.

Collecting Salmon Tins:

Alaska cans may appear at any time for sale the internet auction sites, or through antique dealers, usually from outside Alaska, where the vast majority of the cans were originally sold. Many cans sell for under $75, and dozens are offered annually. Currently, a rare and early “Zenith Brand” can, packed by the Yakutat and Southern Railway Company of Yakutat, is offered for $1,500—the most I’ve even seen for an Alaskan can. It is from a small cannery, with an early type label, and in nearly perfect shape. Labels are more common still, and rare examples may sell for several hundred dollars. These are mostly leftovers that were never affixed to cans, found by the bundle in old canneries and printing plants.

“Klawack Brand” salmon tin, from the one of the first salmon canneries in Alaska, opened at Klawock in 1878 by the North Pacific Trading and Packing Company. The cannery was built on the site of Hamilton's Fishery, an early Alaskan salmon saltery. Photo by Sara Boesser. ASM 2000-39-1

Condition can be an issue, given that most of them spent at least part of their existence in the garbage. Luckily, some cans survive a half century or more in the trash in a remarkably good state of preservation. One can we collected had been found in the wall of a house in upstate New York, having been deposited there by lunching carpenters—it was in great shape, and was opened from the bottom, which is nice for display purposes. Early cans were generally opened with a knife, which often chewed up the metal and sometimes even part of the label.

Online Resources:

Canneries, Canning Technology, History of Canned Salmon Industry:

Cobb, John N.

1917 Pacific Salmon Fisheries. Appendix II to the report of U.S. Commissioner of Fisheries for 1916. Bureau of Fisheries Document No. 839. Washington DC: Government Printing Office.

http://books.google.com/books?id=Ri4wAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA7&dq=John+n.+cobb&hl=en&ei=b1H-TZ2dNsnUiAKczqDoBA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCoQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false

Friday, Chris

1999 “Competing Communities at Work: Asian Americans, European Americans, and Native Alaskans in the Pacific Northwest, 1938-1947. Over the Edge: Remapping the American West. Edited by Valerie J. Matsumoto and Blake Allmendinger. Berkeley: University of California Press.

http://publishing.cdlib.org/ucpressebooks/view?docId=ft8g5008gq;brand=ucpress

Jordan, David Starr

1898 Reports on Seal and Salmon Fisheries by Officers of the Treasury Department, and Correspondence Between the State and Treasury Departments on the Bering Sea Question From January 1, 1895, to June 20, 1986, with Comments on that Portion Thereof Which Relates to Pelagic Sealing (four volumes). Washington DC: Government Printing Office.

http://books.google.com/books?id=R9cqAQAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=seal+and+salmon+fisheries&hl=en&ei=K9P7TfWzD6XOiAKIspyEBQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCoQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false

Moser, Jefferson F.

1902 “Salmon Investigations of the Steamer Albatross in the Summer of 1901.” Bulletin of the United States Fish Commission, Vol. XXI, 1901, 57th Cong. 1st sess., Ho. Doc. No. 706. Washington DC: Government Printing Office, 374-376.

http://books.google.com/books?id=bvA_AAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=jefferson+moser&hl=en&ei=qqr9TaurA4bViAKus6T-Bg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CC4Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false

Label History:

The History of Fruit Crate Labels and Can Labels

http://www.thelabelman.com/history_label.php?osCsid=d6b39e31d618220d4e071d000d91d5b1

http://www.antiquetrader.com/article/can_labels_brought_art_to_the_aisles/

Label Collecting Tips (including identification of printing techniques and dating)

http://www.thelabelman.com/collect_label_tip.php?osCsid=b394b0fa66206fdc658adb876d43c0fb

Label Collecting:

http://acn.liveauctioneers.com/index.php/component/content/article/60-style-century-magazine/1121-salmon-labels-are-a-prize-catch-from-the-great-northwest-

Schmidt Label and Lithography Company (the printer of many salmon can labels):

http://www.sfmuseum.org/hist1/schmidt.html

Finding Aid, Schmidt Lithography Company Papers, Bancroft Library:

http://cdn.calisphere.org/data/13030/j1/tf9t1nb4j1/files/tf9t1nb4j1.pdf

The Schmidt Lithography Company: Oral History Transcripts, 1967-69

http://www.archive.org/stream/schmidtlithographco01teisrich/schmidtlithographco01teisrich_djvu.txt

Finding Aids:

Alaska Packers Association

Alaska State Library:

http://www.eed.state.ak.us/temp_lam_pages/library/historical/collections01.cfm

Western Washington University:

http://nwda-db.wsulibs.wsu.edu/findaid/ark:/80444/xv77299

Pacific American Fisheries

http://nwda-db.wsulibs.wsu.edu/findaid/ark:/80444/xv45835

Southwestern Alaska Cannery Logbooks:

http://nwda-db.wsulibs.wsu.edu/findaid/ark:/80444/xv99198

Cannery Workers and Farm Laborers Union Local 7 Records 1915-1985

http://www.lib.washington.edu/specialcoll/findaids/docs/papersrecords/CanneryWorkersandFarmLaborersUnionLocal7SeattleWash3927.xml

North Pacific Cannery National Historical Site Finding Aids

http://memorybc.ca/north-pacific-cannery-village-and-museum;isdiah

Books:

Boettcher, Graham C.

1997 Canned Culture: Pacific Salmon Fisheries and the Image of the American Indian. Unpublished Manuscript in the Alaska State Museum files.

Clark, Hyla M.

1977 The Tin Can: The Can as Collectible Art, Advertising Art & High Art. New York: New American Library

Dunbar, Kurt, and Chris Friday

1994 “Salmon, Seals, and Science: The Albatross and Conservation in Alaska, 1888-1914.” Journal of the West 33 (October 1994): 6-13.

Edwards, Jack

2006 How Old Is That Label: A Celebration of Pacific Northwest Salmon Labels & Dating Guide. Long Beach, Washington: Chinook Observer Publications.

Friday, Chris

1994 Organizing Asian American Labor: The Pacific Coast Canned-Salmon Industry, 1870-1942.

Freeburn, Laurence

1976 “The Silver Years of the Alaska Canned Salmon Industry.” Alaska Geographic 3(4). Anchorge: Alaska Geographic Society.

Lorenz, Claudia, Kathryn McKay, et al

2002 Trademarks and Salmon Art: A Brand New Perspective. Vancouver BC: Gulf Of Georgia Cannery Society.

http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/folioproxy.asp?url=http://wwwjnu01.legis.state.ak.us/cgi-bin/folioisa.dll/stattx06/query=*/doc/{@6739}

Ask ASM

Question: We have started to catalog our collection for the first time ever. Unfortunately, we don’t have written records for everything. Some stuff has just been here forever. If it was a loan, the people are long gone now. Can we still claim ownership and accession these items?

ASM: Items that are “Found in Collections” can be a tricky issue for museums. You can designate them as such (or FIC for short) for the catalog record now and then claim ownership as provided by the Alaska Statutes. There are two statutes that apply here. AS 14.57.200 deals with acquiring title to loaned material and AS 14.57.210 deals with acquiring title to undocumented property. There are very specific steps to follow so it is best to consult the specific statute itself. You can find both online at this link.

http://www.heritagepreservation.org/CAP/11recipients.html

Shaking the Money Tree

Grant in Aid:

For FY2012, the Alaska State Museum has announces the awarding of 30 grants totaling $105,600 to Alaska museums and cultural centers for museum projects around the state. The annual Grant-in-Aid awards are funded by an appropriation from the Alaska Legislature.

Applicant	Project	Amount
Internship grants		$
Tenakee Historical Collections, Tenakee	Internship program	3,600
Whitney Museum, Valdez	Internship program	3,600
Bald Eagle Foundation, Haines	Internship program	3,600
Anchorage Museum Association, Anchorage	Internship program	3,600
Seldovia Museum, Seldovia	Internship program	3,600
Valdez Museum & Historical Archives, Valdez	Internship program	3,600
Regular grants:
Sheldon Museum, Haines	Redesign of permanent exhibits	9,570
Pratt Museum, Homer	Fume hood purchase	2,271
AK Museum of Natural History, Anchorage	Geology collection upgrade	9,400
Museums Alaska for Conference in Valdez	2 workshops and 1 guest speaker	6,627
Juneau-Douglas City Museum	Collection storage expansion	9,242
Alutiiq Museum & Archaeological Repository, Kodiak	Climate control restoration	10,000
Resurrection Bay Historical Society, Seward	Relocation to new facility	7,026
Kenai Visitor and Cultural Center, Kenai	Education and technology plan	2,226
Mini-grants:
Sitka Historical Society, Sitka	Storage expansion/improvement	2,000
The Hammer Museum, Haines	Business plan	2,000
Eagle Historical Society & Museum, Eagle City	New computer purchase	2,000
Pioneer Memorial Park, Fairbanks	Equipment purchase	2,000
Ahtna, Glennallen	Equipment purchase/transport	448
Baranov Museum, Kodiak	Environmental monitoring equip.	2,000
Soldotna Historical Society & Museum, Soldotna	Media and program equipment	1,541
Fairbanks Community Museum, Fairbanks	Windows/doors upgrade	1,250
Copper Valley Historical Society, Copper Center	Toyostove maintenance	800
Alpine Historical Society, Sutton	Boiler exhibit improvements	2,000
Friends of the Tanana Valley Railroad, Fairbanks	Update photographic archives	2,000
Kodiak Maritime Museum, Kodiak	Funding for intern	2,000
Port Alexander Historical Society, Sitka	PastPerfect database training	2,000
Cordova Historical Society, Cordova	Fire-proof file cabinet	1,599
Alaska Native Heritage Center, Anchorage	Indigenous language kiosk audio	2,000
Carrie McLain Memorial Museum, Nome	Computer purchase	2,000

AASLH:

Small Museum Scholarship Application

2011 AASLH Annual Meeting

Richmond, Virginia, September 14-17, 2011

DEADLINE: June 30, 2011

The AASLH Small Museums Committee is pleased to offer scholarships to the AASLH Annual Meeting. AASLH’s Annual Meetings have become a potent force for change, renewal and sustainability in the field of local history. Dynamic speakers, such as historians Adam Goodheart and Ed Ayers and Civil Rights Movement veteran Dorothy Cotton, rejuvenate our spirits at these meetings by re-affirming the importance of our work and vision.

Now in its sixth year, AASLH’s Small Museums Committee is offering scholarships to any AASLH members who are full-time, part-time, paid, or volunteer employees of small museums. The $500 scholarship will cover the cost of registration. Any remaining funds can be used to offset travel and/or lodging expenses.

To qualify, the applicant must work for a museum with a budget of $250,000 or less and either be an individual member of AASLH or work for an institutional member. The application form is available at www.aaslh.org/SmallMuseums.

Deadline for Applications is June 30, 2011. Award notification will be made by July 15. For questions, please contact Bruce Teeple, Small Museum Scholarship Subcommittee Chair at mongopawn44@hotmail.com

CAP:

Heritage Preservation Announces 2011 Conservation Assessment Program Participants
The Conservation Assessment Program (CAP) staff is pleased to announce that 101 museums in 36 states and Puerto Rico will participate in the 2011 CAP program. The participants include history museums, art museums, botanic gardens, and an aquarium. Each museum will undergo a general assessment by trained conservation professionals, which will result in a report with prioritized recommendations to improve collections care. Click here for more information about the 2011 CAP museums

IMLS:

It is not too early to start thinking about applying to the Institute for Museums and Library Services for Conservation Project Support. The deadline is October 3, 2011. These grants are good follow ups on conservation assessments where you can show that the project is your highest priority. These grants can be for up to $150,000 but do require a 1:1 match. If you want to see the projects that were funded this year follow this link. http://www.imls.gov/news/2011/052011_list.shtm

If you are thinking about applying please feel free to contact Scott Carrlee, Curator of Museum Services at 1-888-913-6873 to discuss your project.

http://www.imls.gov/applicants/grants/conservProject.shtm

Spotlight on Grant in Aid:

Eagle Historical Society Museum

By Bianca Carpenetti, ASM Volunteer

The devastating Yukon floods of May 2009 severely damaged the Custom House in Eagle, AK, which housed a local museum collection. Luckily, the museum staff, historical society members, and community were able to recover all the historical material. Three water-logged volumes—damaged beyond the scope of repair expertise in Eagle—were sent to Juneau for treatment. Seth Irwin, a visiting paper conservator at the Alaska State Museum, took on the project which was paid for using Grant in Aid funds. All three volumes are irreplaceable pieces of history from along the river and border.

Text block submerged during treatment. Photo by Seth Irwin.

The highest priority volume, a handwritten ledger from the historical “Office-Custom House” in Eagle, went through extensive work to be stabilized and preserved. First, the ledger was digitally documented. Then, mud residue was removed both manually and using a dry cleaning agent. Next, the spine and cover were removed, and the water-sensitive ink was sealed with a compound to protect it during treatment. The entire text block had to be submerged in purified water and other compounds to clean, stabilize, and buffer the damaged material. Next, the composite parts were dried through blotting, hot air treatments, and pressing. After reattaching the spine, the text block could be reinstalled in its case. Newly repaired, all three volumes returned to their home in Eagle.

Ledger before and after treatment. Photos by Seth Irwin.

ASM on the Road

Seldovia:

Seldovia Museum Displays

Scott Carrlee, ASM Curator of Museum Services went to Seldovia during the week of May 11^th to assess the progress of the Seldovia Museum. Seldovia is a lovely community situated on Kachemak Bay across from Homer. The museum has some very interesting exhibits on the history of the area and the artifact collection is growing.

Tenakee Springs:

Future home of the Tenakee Springs Museum

Scott spent May 23-25 in Tenakee Springs helping plan for a new museum to open there with artifacts from the Tenakee Historical Collection. Tenakee is known for its thermal bath and as a place for summer cabins but it has been thriving as a community for well over 100 years. That their history told through their artifacts will finally have a permanent display is very exciting.

Homer:

Bob working with the staff at the Pratt

Bob Banghart, ASM Chief Curator was in Homer working with the Pratt museum on strategic planning for a new museum building. He met both with the board and the staff of the museum giving insight into the process new construction. What the staff found most instructive was a breakdown of the various stages of the building process and what would be expected at each stage.

Conference Review

Ellen Carrlee, ASM Conservator

Reporting back to you regarding the 2011 American Institute for Conservation conference in Philadelphia…the annual national conference for conservators. Many thanks to the Rasmuson Foundation for helping fund my travel. Lauren Horelick (my 2009 intern) and I presented the fruits of the labor we began two years ago. The Alaska Fur ID Project http://alaskafurid.wordpress.com/ is a free online reference set of images and data we gathered to help identify the fur of nearly 50 Alaskan mammals. Given the quality of Alaskan furbearers and the position of Alaska in the fur trade, the info will be helpful for museums with many kinds of fur artifacts in addition to Alaska Native ones. The talk was well-received, and a nice complement to Oregon State University’s Fiber Research Identification Library (FRIL) https://fril.osu.edu/ which concentrates more heavily on plant and synthetic fibers used in the textile and fashion industries. In various informal gatherings, conservators are now discussing gutskin http://gutskin.wordpress.com/ and feather identification projects. I’ll keep you posted.

Early in the week I attended a half-day workshop, “Saving Energy in HVAC for Conservation Environments” by Bill Lull from Garrison/Lull consultants, who specialize in Museum, Library and Archive environments. A good review of this workshop can be found in the AIC blog http://www.conservators-converse.org/2011/06/aic-annual-meeting-2011-saving-energy-in-hvac-for-conservation-environments-workshop-presenter-%e2%80%93-william-p-lull-garrisonlull-inc/

and a recent publication about what works and what does not work in museum HVAC. http://www.ischool.utexas.edu/kilgarlin/gaga/proceedings2008/GAGA07-lull.pdf

One focus of the meeting was archaeology http://ellencarrlee.wordpress.com/2011/06/14/2011-aic-in-philadelphia-archaeology/ , which has been also a focus of mine this spring. I was excited to hear the discussion of reburial as a preservation tool, and a little surprised to hear that it doesn’t seem to have been used much in the U.S. so far. This reminded me of the curation crisis discussed at the 2011 Alaska Anthropological Association meeting…36 CFR 79 establishes standards for archaeological repositories, but there is not enough space for everything that gets excavated. Archaeologists in Alaska are already talking about the reburial possibility. AIC conservators were also emphasizing the importance of building relationships with State Historic Preservation Officers (SHPOs) and curation facilities that provide the guidelines for how materials need to be delivered. There has been relatively little of that going on nationwide, but Alaska should be proud that Judy Bittner and Dave McMahan in our Historic Preservation Office have been very proactive over the last few years about creating opportunities to connect archaeologists in Alaska with conservation and preservation resources. Not only that, but archaeologists and curators of storage facilities have been proactive about conservation lately too: let’s hear it for UAF’s Jim Whitney, NPS’s Kathryn Myers, Molly Proue and Andy Higgs of Northern Land Use Inc, and archaeologist Monty Rogers (he’s got his fingers in multiple pies like Stephen Braund and Associates and on the Alaska Anthropological Association board, too).

The majority of AIC conservators on archaeological sites work abroad, mainly in the Mediterranean and ancient Near East. Why? Two main reasons, I think. One, because nationally-controlled archaeological permits in many of those places require a conservator to be on the team. And secondly, because archaeologists often have only a brief window of opportunity to research the artifacts before they are secured in a museum and access is more limited. With a conservator present, artifacts can be efficiently processed, reassembled, and technically examined to help answer research questions. There was a survey about conservators who do archaeological fieldwork. Most of them get paid beyond just travel and lodging, and the average was around $1000 per week. Here in the United States, the Archaeological Discussion Group (ADG) has been working hard on outreach. They have a new ADG page http://www.conservation-us.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=page.viewpage&pageid=1519

on the AIC website. They already did a great FAQ about archaeological conservation on the Society for Historical Archaeology website http://www.sha.org/research_resources/conservation_faqs/default.cfm and they will soon post their Fieldwork Checklist for conservation materials to use on site. It’s really good! I would imagine some of the supplies listed might spark some dialogue with non-conservators about the materials we use (anyone heard of RP/Escal storage bags? EDTA? TritonXL-80?) One more cool tidbit: Day of Archaeology is July 29, an opportunity for anyone involved in archaeology to post to a weblog http://www.dayofarchaeology.com/ . I’ll be posting a snapshot of the archaeological conservation work I’ve been doing recently. If you’re involved in Alaskan archaeology somehow, maybe you could do a posting too?

I’ve done two more postings from the AIC conference…one on the general sessions http://ellencarrlee.wordpress.com/2011/06/14/2011-aic-in-philadelphia-general-sessions/

including concepts around the conference theme, “Ethos, Logos, pathos: Ethical Principles and Critical Thinking in Conservation.” Discussions ranged from a philosophy professor’s ideas about the Bamiyan Buddhas destroyed by the Taliban to whether digitizing archives preserves or destroys the originals. My other posting involves talks at specialty groups for objects, textiles and wood http://ellencarrlee.wordpress.com/2011/06/14/2011-aic-in-philadelphia-objects-textiles-and-wood/ . Alaska’s own Chuna McIntyre, (Yup’ik artist, dancer, and scholar) presented a paper in collaboration with Smithsonian conservators about restoration and access to artifacts and the enhanced understandings all around. Both the Australian Museum and the Museum of Anthropology at UBC gave papers about providing a high level of artifact access to source communities. And some good information was given about deterioration of outdoor wood in harsh environments. Susanne Grieve of Eastern Carolina University has seen the extremes: Shackleton’s wooden huts in Antarctica and beached diamond trade shipwrecks along Namibia’s desert Skeleton Coast.

For four days, I spent every waking moment with conservation colleagues, from 7am till midnight. As you can imagine, being at that conference involved a certain amount of glory in being one of the few conservators in ALASKA. I did my best to build ties and reinforce relationships that will give us folks to call when we have preservation needs beyond the expertise of the three conservators working in the state. Plus, I met my summer intern, Delaware University graduate conservation student Crista Pack. She’s beyond excited to be coming, and at the end of the summer, Scott and I will be taking her along on our summer vacation: a camping road trip (dog and four-year-old too) through the “Golden Circle Tour” of Skagway, Atlin, Whitehorse, Haines Junction, and Haines. Did you know there are a dozen museums and cultural centers on that route? Stay tuned, we’ll report on that adventure, too!

http://www.thetundradrums.com/article/1126curator_named_for_sheldon_jackson_museum

Alaska Museums in the News

Alaska State Museums:

Sheldon Jackson Museum gets new Curator

June 27, 2011

Colony House Museum:

Police sergeant puts together historical art exhibit
May 26, 2011
http://www.frontiersman.com/articles/2011/05/27/valley_life/doc4ddf3fbf32f38056839167.txt
Museums don’t just put on exhibits inside their walls, they encourage and support members of the community develop exhibits outside the institution. Here, the Colony House Museum contributed supplies to a local man’s efforts.

Talkeetna Historical Society:

Eleanor Trepte Visits Talkeetna

June 3rd, 2011
http://ktna.org/2011/06/03/eleanor-trepte-visits-talkeetna/
“[...] a dozen people gathered at the Talkeetna Historical Society Museum, the little red schoolhouse, to listen to a woman who grew up in the 1930s in the Talkeetna area”
A great audio piece featuring stories from a woman who grew up in Talkeetna in the 1930s.

Museum of the North:

Powering the future: Alaska museum exhibit offers new perspective
May 27, 2011
http://newsminer.com/bookmark/13471054-Powering-the-future-Alaska-museum-exhibit-offers-new-perspective
The Museum of the North opens its new summer exhibit “Power Play,” which explores alternative methods of “energy collection and power production.” The interactive exhibit employs games and information to get visitors thinking about the use of alternative energies in cities.

Pratt Museum:

Maritime archeology helps recreate unique history

May 18, 2011
http://homertribune.com/2011/05/tales-help-recreate-history/

“Pratt Museum launches a year-long project to collect historical information, form collaborations between artists-scientists.”

Museum of the Aleutians:

Aleutian Museum unveiling exhibit on education on the islands
June 2, 2011
http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/kial/news.newsmain/article/1/0/1811014/Local.News/Aleutian.Museum.unveiling.exhibit.on.education.on.the.islands
Three years of collaboration between the museum and community in Unalaska resulted in the new exhibit exploring the rich–and sometimes dark–history of education in the Aleutians.

Museum of Alaska Transportation and Industry:

“Blast from the Past” Highlights Valley’s History
June 4, 2011
http://www.frontiersman.com/articles/2011/06/05/local_news/doc4deb10419874b722526623.txt
Museum teams up with residents and local organizations–like the Antique Power Club–to host an all-day Saturday event featuring tractors, planes, and other historical, large-scale industrial machinery.

http://www.smithsonianconference.org/shout/conference-value/

Professional Development/Training Opportunities

Community Narratives: Citizens Recording History

The availability of low-cost recording equipment—from computers and digital cameras to mobile devices—has made it possible to gather the stories and personal points of view from a wider range of people than ever before. We invite the Shout community to seek out people who “value the land” and record their stories. Today’s three presenters will share their expertise and perspectives on the protocols and strategies for conducting an oral history project. They’ll show you how to identify a great interview subject, how to prepare for the interview, and what to do during the interview to make sure you capture great material. Join this session to experience the importance of looking for narratives and cultural histories close to home.

This session will take place online on July 13, 2011 at 10 am AK standard time and last one hour.

Volunteer Viewpoint

By Loeke Molenaar

(Loeke came to the Alaska State Museum from the Netherlands. She was interested in seeing what working in a museum in the US would be like)

Arriving in a snowstorm in Juneau after having traveled for 22 hours without any hour of sleep, the first nerves slowly started to appear. 3 months in Alaska seems to be a pretty outstanding way to spend your gap-year for Dutch standards; “Alaska? Isn’t that the place where all the Eskimo’s in igloos live?” But being an 18 year old girl who just finished high school, I felt like being ready for anything. I had no idea what the family I was staying with would be like, nor what volunteering at an Alaskan museum would mean. But as I’m looking back at the 3 months in Juneau and volunteering in The Alaska State Museum, I’m sure about one thing: it was a greater experience than I could have ever imagined!

While spending my gap year in Holland, doing a pre-training on an art academy, working with a designer and helping a photographer, I figured a good way to make my year complete would be by spending some time in a foreign country. My aunt, Malou Peabody, brought me in contact with Mark Kelley (who I am staying with) and Scott Carrlee, and soon enough 3 months in Juneau where all set; I would be volunteering at The Alaska State Museum and their exhibit department. We started off with an introduction on the 18^th of March, I met Paul Gardinier and Jackie Manning who I would be working with and got a short training on how to handle objects. My internship was all set up, ready for work!

I have been working at the museum for 2,5 months in total. We mostly worked on the hat show, making the posters, graphics, but I also helped with making the mounts for the hats, making the showcases or any other job that had to be done. Every day there was something else to do, to see or to experience. I got to know an amazing group of people, whom I am going to miss incredibly. Everybody was open and interested in my culture and art. They showed me their art, but also taught me a lot about their techniques (on for example making mounts) and the Alaskan art history.

If I will ever be able to combine another internship at The Alaska State Museum with my university in Holland, I would do that without a doubt. And if I am honest, if I would’ve been able to get a job at The Alaska State Museum, I am pretty sure I can miss my parents for a little longer than 3 months. But all in all, just these 3 months have been great and very instructive!

Statewide Library Archives Museum DOTPF Project No

SLAM Dunk

The latest updates from the State Library Archives and Museums building project.

More can be found on the blog site. http://www.alaskalamp.blogspot.com/

Professional Time Wasting on the Web

Talk about a museum lending program!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/27/leeds-artgallery-art-gall_n_884432.html

Amazing exhibit! The History of the World in 100 Objects
http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/a_history_of_the_world.aspx

Space Station Technology Benefits Fine Art

http://www.redorbit.com/news/space/2057624/space_station_technology_benefits_fine_art/index.html?source=r_space

Got culture? Museums, theaters and concert halls may be the ticket to a happy, healthy life

http://www.latimes.com/health/boostershots/la-heb-culture-health-20110524,0,1973111.story

World’s longest burning light bulb

http://old.news.yahoo.com/s/time/20110617/hl_time/httpnewsfeedtimecom20110616theworldsoldestlightbulbhasbeenonfor110yearsxidrssfullhealthsciyahoo

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged AIC, Alaska Museums in the News, Alaska Salmon Can, American Institute for Conservation, collecting salmon can labels, found in collections, Grant in Aid, Museum Career Development, museum volunteers, Pratt Museum, Seldovia museum, Tenakee Historical Collections | 3 Comments

Alaska State Museums Bulletin 40

Posted on May 18, 2011 by Alaska State Museum Bulletin

Does Your Museum Need a Docent Program

ASK ASM

Shaking the Money Tree

Spotlight on Grant in Aid

ASM on the Road

Conference Review

Alaska Museums in the News

Professional Development/Training Opportunities

Book Report

Standards And Excellence Program

Professional Time Wasting on the Web

Does Your Museum Need a Docent Program?

by Mary Irvine, State Museum Protection & Visitor Services Supervisor

A What?

Docents are volunteers who have knowledge and insight about the objects on display in a museum and conduct tours to share that knowledge and insight with museum visitors.

Volunteer docent Shauna McMahon, left, wears a sea otter pelt over her shoulder as she shows a picture of an otter to visitors. Photo by Michael Penn, Juneau Empire

A docent program consists of a group of committed volunteers who might make your museum into the inspiring and educational experience you’ve always wanted it to be.

Docent programs vary from museum to museum. The docent program at some museums caters to visiting school groups only. At other museums, the docent program is aimed at providing highlights tours for adult visitors.

Who thought up that word?

The word docent is thought to have first been used in this country at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts about the year 1903, referring to a person in the role of a museum guide. The word stems from “docere,” from the Latin, meaning, “to teach.”

Training

Ann Feinup-Riordan with docents during a docent training workshop. Photo Mary Irvine.

Most docents need training, not only in the special subject areas of the exhibits and about Alaska’s cultures and history, but also about public speaking techniques, how to create intimacy in a museum setting with large groups of people, and how to handle a crowd of visitors. Good training is key to a successful docent program. Each spring, the State Museum welcomes back a corps of experienced docents, adding in a few new ones, for a series of workshops before the summer season begins. The end of the docent training schedule dovetails with a “welcome back brunch” for all museum volunteers. In the fall, we wrap up the season with a special event to thank the docents and other volunteers and donors.

Where can you find experts to come and train your docents? Your extraordinary community, that’s where! Amateur or professional strictures fall away when one invites in a person able to inspire an interest in interpreting the time period or material culture that they are enthusiastic about. In every community in the State of Alaska, big or small, there are experts on everything from kayak building to umiak skin sewing, from Aleut bentwood hunting hat making, to the cosmology of the Tlingit clan house. In far-flung corners of Alaska, there are archaeologists at work who might love the opportunity to come talk about the projectile points on display in your galleries. Local historians may have to be gently coaxed out of their research to take time to share with your group of forming docents, but I have never met a docent trainer who regretted their time spent conversing with a group.

Tlingit Kik.sadi clan Elder Ray Wilson offers insight into cross-cultural experiences in Russia. Photo by Steve Henrikson

It is good if you can find people with a soft spot in their heart for what is on display in your galleries, so that they can impart useful things to your docents.

Having attractive, healthful food available is a great benefit to your training program. There is something wonderfully social about food and sometimes you can weave “an interpretive moment” into the mix. If, for example, your galleries display Native life ways then your snacks could reflect subsistence hunting or gathering.

Docents enjoying a snack during training. Photo Mary Irvine

“But I don’t know enough!”

This is something you might hear from potential docent applicants. Interpreters of all skill levels experience those start-of-the-season qualms that are the particular occupational hazard to the museum docent. However, if docents were to wait until they had learned everything there is to know about everything on display in your museum, there would be no docenting going on at all. If we think about a typical tour for a moment, however, this fear subsides a bit: 45 minutes of conversational interaction is hardly enough time to talk about all of the objects on display in the museum. I encourage docents to take a good look at each gallery and choose five or six objects per gallery to highlight.

Juneau School District Indian Studies instructor Goldie Barr demonstrates how to process seal intestine during a docent training workshop. Photo by Mary Irvine

The role of the docent isn’t necessarily to transmit volumes of information, but to give insights into a few well-chosen objects, to work with themes, and to set the stage for the visitors to experience the museum personally. In fact, one might argue that the job of any teacher isn’t to teach at all, but rather to simply put their students in the mood to learn. This is true in terms of docent trainers and true for docents too.

Judge Tom Stewart offers insights into the history of the Alaska Court System during a docent training workshop. Photo by Mary Irvine

Manual and reference materials

A notebook with information about the items on display, background information on the cultures and historic timeframes exhibited, and bullet point quick answers for typical or tough questions is essential.

Terrific books on docent programs and techniques for docents include Alison Grinder’s excellent The Good Guide. In the “oldie but a goodie” category is original Chief of the Park Service’s Interpretation branch, Freeman Tilden’s, Interpreting our Heritage, in which he lays out his 5 or 6 Principles of Interpretation, just when “interpretation” was beginning to be considered a professional skill.

The Good Guide by Grinder and McCoy

Interpreting Our Heritage by Freeman Tilden

Questions

Martha Crow answering visitors' questions about growing up in Igiugig, Alaska. Photo by Mary Irvine

A good docent leaves time and room enough for questions. Some docents ask for questions in every gallery in the museum, and others encourage them at the very end of their tour, or on a one-on-one basis after their tour.

At the ASM, docents tell visitors that if they can’t answer a question, to ask the question of the front desk staff (who are also trained as interpreters during the spring docent training). If the front desk staff can’t answer the question, or if the visitor would like a more in-depth answer, the visitor is asked to fill out a comment card, posing their particular question and leaving their name, address and e-mail. Typically these questions will be answered by a curator, and the information sent to the patron. This information is also disseminated amongst staff and docents.

However, one of the gifts of a truly skilled docent is not just to answer questions, but rather to inspire wondering in the minds and hearts of visitors about the things they are seeing and the cultures they are learning about. While some visitors may be uncomfortable with less than 100% of their questions answered, visitors will treasure the intellectual space that valuing curiosity and encouraging wonderment creates.

Inspiring Ah-Ha Moments

Another of the fascinating things about the interpretive experience for docents is learning to set the stage for the “ah-ha moments” for visitors. While it is important, or rather, imperative, that the docents have those self-same “ah-ha moments,” their work as docents is to set the stage for that to occur for the visitor. Thus, during our docent training sessions, we might explore the personal interests and connections docents have to the items in the museum that fostered in them the motivation to want to become docents. When summer – and the service component of docenting – comes around, the emphasis shifts to creating and inspiring those moments in the experience of the visitors. The docent’s work is to describe, in terms as simple and precise as possible, exactly what set of factors creates their own enthusiasm for the object. A fun exercise that helps docents discover some of the tractable and intelligible facets of their object interests is to issue a challenge to them to describe an object without using any “value” adjectives such as “beautiful,” “lovely,” or “extraordinary.”

Costs, Benefits, Commitments, and Requirements

There are no costs to the volunteers associated with the program at the State Museum, although some museums defray cost of materials by charging a nominal fee or asking that their docents buy a membership or pay dues to belong to a docent council. At the State Museum, honorary membership in the Friends group (our nonprofit corporation which supports the museum) is a perk provided to docents in thanks for their service, including the standard Friends’ 10% discount in the Museum Store.

Docent tours are included in the price of admission at most museums. The tradition is that docents are volunteers who offer their insights gratis. If visitors proffer tips, a gracious docent might point out the donation box in the lobby of the museum.

The cost to your museum is, of course, the staff person’s time in coordinating the program, and any honoraria you may wish to provide to the people you invite in to speak to the group. However, it is tough to quantify the extraordinary rewards your museum will reap by having its own docent program. Community support and esteem can be invaluable.

The benefits volunteer docents reap from participating in the program are personal to each docent. Docents learn about Alaska history, cultures and art. They usually make interesting friends with similar interests, and docents spend time with the most beautiful objects in Alaska, reflecting on our relationships with these objects and each other.

Being a docent requires a serious commitment. It is important to have the requirements in place at the outset, and to communicate this to people interested in volunteering and becoming docents. This way, they know what to expect, they also know what is expected of them, and it will make it simpler for them to either commit or opt out of the program.

At the ASM, docents sign up to do tours on the docent calendar – a blank calendar on a clipboard, kept at the front desk of the museum. Since docents pencil in their own names on the calendar, the tours reflect the docent’s availability. The cruise ship calendar showing the number of visitors in town on any given day of the summer is consulted and docents sign up on the calendar as the summer progresses. Our front desk staff and docent program coordinator periodically review the schedule to check for conflicts –empty gaps when we know it’s going to be busy and need a docent, and sometimes schedule a docent at the request of a special group or VIP.

And “Poof!” You’re a Docent!

Becoming a docent is a gradual process. Often, docent trainees will attend the training and self select out the first year, demurring that they don’t know enough or lack the confidence. Sometimes reluctant new docents are willing to try doing “partner co-tours” with an experienced docent so that the experienced person can field any tough questions or lay down a tour structure and segues. But sometimes, docent candidates really do beg off. No one is expected to become an expert in all subject matters, but an adept docent manager will clue in to various docents’ areas of interest and expertise and tap them to lead short tours for the group during training, or provide a talk on a particular historical subject matter.

Tips for starting up a Program

Recruit enthusiastic people. Almost anything can be taught, but volunteers need to come fully equipped with that one indispensable thing: the initial spark of enthusiasm.
Recruit broadly. Docents are not learned experts who know everything about a collection. In fact, usually, the more similarly situated to his or her audience a docent is, the better. Visitors are comforted to hear their docent say, “Now when I first looked at this art form, I was pretty intimidated and more than a little bit confused. But when I learned a few simple things about this art style, such as X, Y and Z, I learned to focus specifically on ….” Visitors may be more willing to be led into learning, rather than being lectured to by someone who has spent their entire life loving and learning the fine intricacies of a particular art form
Have a little oversight in place as the program begins. Even though critical feedback is tough to provide, there should be some sort of mechanism in place for that feedback to occur. Make sure that your volunteers understand that their liaison staff person is there to help them, and that this role sometimes may include offering critical feedback. At the State Museum, one staff member heads up the program and goes on new docents’ tours, and periodically goes on experienced docents’ tours, and offers suggestions and feedback. At other museums, peer review may be the evaluation of choice, with a standardized form designed by docents themselves used as a helpful evaluation tool.
Time docent tours for the optimal use of visitors’ time. For example, it is particularly not useful if a tour bus arrives 3/4 the way into a docent’s tour. However, we do want to offer tours to the general museum public, and not simply for specific van or bus tours.
There is a happy medium regarding the perfect the size group for a docent tour. Giving a tour for two can be satisfying, but can be somewhat awkward as the visitors might like to break away to tour on their own after a while but feel reticent to interject and risk hurting the docent’s feelings. Giving a tour for more than 25 visitors is either a miracle to see done well, or a flop in the making. Generally group size will depend upon the size of the galleries the docent is working in, as well as the pace and abilities of the individual docent.
Thank your docents. They will do far more work in your museum (and out in the community doing great PR) than you realize.

If you’re thinking of starting a docent program at your museum or cultural center, or want to toss around a few ideas on making yours better, I’d love to talk with you. You can e-mail me at mary.irvine@alaska.gov.

Ask ASM

Question: I am trying to remove 4 x 6 color photographs from an old photo album. It’s the kind of album that came with stiff cardboard pages coated with sticky glue on each side that were overlaid with clear cellophane. The method to put pictures in the album was to pull back the cellophane and press down the photos on the sticky surface, and then cover again with the cellophane. Now the pictures don’t want to come up.

ASM: Here is the method that our conservator uses to deal with albums like this:

Peel off and discard cellophane.
Get your fingernail in the corner of the album page and peel the back and the front halves of the page apart. Usually the page is thin cardboard and you can get in between the layers of cardboard and peel the two apart. This needs to be done carefully, but after doing a few, it gets easier and you can go faster. It is good to be slow and cautious at the start so you know how much force to use. Sliding a finger back and forth in the separation is better than allowing the photos to curl and flex. The less flexing of the photo the better, try to keep the photos as flat as possible through the whole process. The gelatin layer that has the image is often dry and brittle and the photo emulsion layer can crack badly if flexed too much.
Now you have two pages where before there was one. Cut between the photos so each photo is by itself with a margin of the peeled page all around it.
Turn the photo face-down on a piece of smooth plastic, like Mylar, and carefully peel the rest of the cardboard off the back. It might need to come off layer by layer. Sometimes leaving a little bit on the back is safer than peeling off too much. You’ll get a feel for your situation after the first few. With this method, the photo stays perfectly flat and it is the page itself that is peeled from the back.
Stop working when you feel like you’re not being as careful. Tasks like this seem to go better if you do them in short spurts over a few days. Don’t wait too long between spurts, though, as your hands forget the muscle lessons they learned if you wait too long.
You might want to come up with a system to note the order that the photos were in, because that is sometimes useful information later on.

http://www.imls.gov/pdf/FY11BudgetAllocation.pdf

Shaking the Money Tree

Grant in Aid

The deadline for Grant in Aid applications is approaching. Emailed applications with attachments should be sent to scott.carrlee@alaska.gov before 4:30 pm AKST on June 1. All mailed applications should have a postmark on or before June 1. Remember there are three programs within Grant in Aid:

Regular grant

Mini-grant

Internship Grant

You can only apply for one program each year. For more information please go to the grants page of the Alaska State Museums website. http://www.museums.state.ak.us/grants.html or call Scott Carrlee at 1-888-913-6873

IMLS Budget Allocations

American Association of Museums, Museum Assessment Program (MAP)

Since 1981, MAP has helped museums maintain and improve operations through a confidential, consultative process. We provide guidance in meeting priorities and goals and understanding how your museum compares to standards and best practices. Participating in MAP can help:

prioritize goals so you can allocate resources wisely,
document your needs so that you can make a stronger case to funders,
provide recommendations on ways to become an even stronger institution.

In less than a year, your museum can complete a self-study, have a site visit by a peer reviewer and begin implementing recommendations.

The next application deadline is July 1, 2011

http://www.aam-us.org/museumresources/map/index.cfm

The following museums in Alaska were recently accepted into the MAP program:

Alaska Museum of Natural History, Anchorage, AK, Organizational MAP

Sitka Historical Society, Sitka, AK, Collections Stewardship MAP

A full list of participants can be found at www.aam-us.org/map.

New Grant Program from Bank of America

Bank of America Art Conservation Project

Works of art can provide a lasting reflection of peoples and cultures but, over time, they are subject to deterioration. This unique program provides grants to nonprofit institutions to conserve works that are significant to the cultural heritage of a country or region, or important to the history of art. Launched in 2010 in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), the program is expanding to the United States and Asia in 2011.

Cultural institutions are invited to apply for a grant to conserve essential works of art that are:

Paintings; works on paper; manuscripts; photographs; sculpture; architectural or archeological pieces; and tapestries and other works of decorative or applied art
On view to the public (or will be on view once conservation work is completed)

Proposals Museum be submitted by June 30, 2011

http://museums.bankofamerica.com/arts/ArtConservation.aspx

Spotlight on Grant in Aid

GIA reporting revamp.

For those who received a grant for FY2011 (last year) you will probably notice a difference in the final accounting report letter you received or are about to receive. In an effort to make the final accounting and report more user friendly, we are changing the way our final accounting gets done. The main change is to ask for a narrative report rather than answering questions and to require at least one photograph that represents the project. You will also be required to provide photocopies of receipts for the project.

ASM on the Road: Artifact Conservation in Anchorage

by Ellen Carrlee

I traveled to Anchorage in mid-April to provide training and build relationships with colleagues in various cultural heritage professions. Travel was funded by the Office of History and Archaeology thanks to State Historic Preservation Officer Judy Bittner. I visited the Office of History and Archaeology (OHA) for the first time, finally able to put faces to names I’d known for years. I had a great chat with Doug Gasek and Emily Lochart about their upcoming preservation plan for the Independence Mine and ideas for collections care priorities. Then I attended the OHA training on their new Integrated Business System, which includes the Alaska Heritage Resources Survey database. If archaeologists want to know the sites already identified in Alaska, they have to know this resource. I gave a presentation about artifact conservation to about 30 archaeologists and Cultural Resource Management professionals, emphasizing challenging artifacts such as metals and waterlogged organics and discussing the considerations involved in treatment decisions. There was a lively Q&A afterward, and I was pleased that most of my business cards disappeared.

I spent the evening with a few archaeologists discussing the ins and outs of the Alaskan archaeology world. The next day, I went to the OHA archaeology lab to look at artifacts and treatments underway.

Artifacts at the OHA lab photo by Ellen Carrlee

Unfortunately, State Archaeologist Dave McMahan had to be out of town, but he did a good job of setting up my visit and OHA archaeologists Dan Thompson and Randy Tedor were able to meet with me and discuss various aspects of artifact labeling, adhesive choices, silicone oil treatment, waterlogged artifacts, and various curation issues. Linda Finn Yarborough brought by some waterlogged wood and we all had a long discussion about PEG treatment and the challenges of organic materials.

Conference Review

Alaska Native Libraries, Archives and Museums Summit Anchorage AK April 27-30 2011

Registration Desk photo by Scott Carrlee

The theme of the conference was “Northern Light: Keeping Our Stories Alive.” This apt motto was referred to often and taken to heart by many of the presenters and attendees. There was a palpable feeling that something big was going on and that we were all working together on something good. For many of the participants, the majority of whom were Alaska Native, this was their first professional conference. For everyone, it was the first conference to specifically address the needs of people working at libraries archives and museums that support Alaska Native Communities.

Dancers at the Native Heritage Center Photo by Scott Carrlee

The sessions, designed to be informative and inspiring, often blurred the institutional boundaries between libraries, archives and museums. Attendees who do not necessarily identify as working with or in only one kind of institution were able to learn and benefit from information and networking in all areas. The take-away was that we were all working towards the same goals, promoting the cultures of Alaska Natives in Alaska. People realized that what unites us is stronger that what makes us different as institutions and that what we were all really trying to do was to keep the stories alive.

The museum track sessions were as follows:

Museums 101 Q & A

Panel of Museum Professionals

This session introduced the various professions within the museum world and gave an opportunity for discussion and questions on museum issues.

Introduction to Museum Curatorship

Steve Henrikson, Alaska State Museum, Juneau

This session provided an introduction to the field, and basic information on such topics as museum ethics, the importance of trust, working with communities to develop exhibits, relationships with the public, repatriation, and dealing with sensitive topics. Also, the presentation covered many “nuts and bolts” of curating a collection: collections development, authenticating and documenting the history of the objects, basic research skills, analyzing collections, developing “wish lists” and how to handle donations and loans.

Community Based Curatorial Practices in an Integrated Facility

Brian Meissner, ECI/Hyer Architecture & Interiors, Anchorage

Bob Banghart, Chief Curator, Alaska State Museums

Bob and Brian discussing the finer points of Community Curation Photo by Scott Carrlee

This session illustrated how an ‘open-source’ approach to community-based curatorial practices can lead to unexpected results and a deeper understanding of who we are. The concept of an exhibit ‘notebook’ was presented and discussed.

Past Perfect Q&A

Marnie Leist, Alutiiq Museum & Scott Neel, Alaska Native Heritage Center

This session provided information about the software PastPerfect, a relatively inexpensive software to store collection data. Marnie Leist discussed basic use of the program, and Scott Neel shared his experience with a recent conversion to a new version of the program, with reminders for back-ups!

Shu Sit’aa Dm Lukil Amani’its’a Malask: A New Start for the Care of Our History at the Duncan Cottage Museum

Mique’l Askren, Director, Duncan Cottage Museum, Metlakatla

This session focused on the efforts to recover and transform the Duncan Cottage Museum, which was once considered the center of Native cultural oppression, into a place of healing and growth that is truly a home for our culture.

Mique'l Askren describing the rebirth of her museum Photo by Scott Carrlee

Introduction to Museum Registration

Ryan Kenny and Julie Farnham, Anchorage Museum

This program described basic procedures and techniques for documenting new objects entering a collection or objects borrowed for loan from another individual or institution. Examples of useful registration forms, methods, and a brief introduction to condition reporting and photography were discussed. A list of useful references was also provided.

Discovering Opportunities for Professional Development

Jill Norwood, National Museum of the American Indian

Various opportunities available to tribal museum professionals at the National Museum of the American Indian and other organizations were presented. Additionally, there was a discussion of the resources for emerging museum professionals and mid-career museum professionals as well as a general introduction to the history and program at the NMAI.

NAGPRA in Alaska

Panelists: Jim Pepper Henry, Anchorage Museum; Judy Ramos, Yakutat Tlingit Tribal Council; and Steve Henrikson, Alaska State Museum

A panel of museum professionals who have worked on both sides of a repatriation claim offered their insights into the process.

From left to right Judy Ramos Yakutat Tlingit Tribe, Jim Pepper Henry, Anchorage Museum, Steve Henrikson, Alaska State Museum Photo by Scott Carrlee

Caring for Regalia

Scott Carrlee and Sorrel Goodwin, Alaska State Museum

This session covered the basics of caring for clan regalia both at home and in transport. Simple suggestions were made that will make a big difference when it comes to protecting valued cultural objects. The talk also discussed how museums care for artifacts and how to strike a balance between the ideal with the reality of how regalia is used.

Sorrel Goodwin discusses caring for regalia Photo by Scott Carrlee

Collecting Contemporary Alaska Native Art

Michael Hawfield, UAA Homer Campus

The Art Acquisition Fund administrator presented and discussed funding and collecting opportunities. He answered questions regarding how to collect contemporary Alaska Native art, what to collect and why collect.

Michael Hawfield discuss the Rasmuson Art Aquisition Fund Photo by Scott Carrlee

Keynote Speakers

The Keynote speakers were very inspiring and they gave speeches that came straight from the heart.

Photo by Scott Carrlee

Sven Haakanson talked about building trust between cultural institutions and how such partnerships can reverse the flow of knowledge so that it is returned to the communities. This has helped Alutiiq people rediscover and bring to life long quiet aspects of their culture.

Photo by Scott Carrlee

Willy Hensley spoke eloquently about growing up on Kotzebue Sound and how he kept waiting for the History of Alaska Natives to be taught in school only to find out that it was not coming. His experience of the dichotomy between the two worlds he lived in led him to a lifelong commitment to sharing the history of Alaska’s indigenous people.

Photo by Sven Haakanson

Paul Ongtogook gave a very personal talk about his experiences growing up and how it was only outside of Alaska that he discovered the immense resources about the Alaska Native records, histories, essays and other documents.

Photo by John Wynne

Sheryl Metoyer gave an inspirational speech about how we all must think of ourselves as artists in our work. Even if it seems that we are only caring for the work of others, in reality, we are creating opportunities for people to see those works in a different way.

Review: Bob Banghart, Chief Curator, Alaska State Museums

The ANLAM Conference held the week of April 25, 2011, in Anchorage, in my opinion heralds the beginning of a new era of development for community created small museum, archive, library and cultural facilities. Besides being an impressive array of participants and presenters, the event brought old and new friends and colleagues together for four days of discussion, exploration and sharing. Topics were varied but centered on the state of material and cultural preservation, programming and purpose in Alaska, how it is being successfully supported and what resources are available to strengthen the collective mission in communities across the state.

I participated in a couple of sessions: Museums 101 and Community Curatorial Process. The first session was a round table discussion with a variety of museum professionals sharing about their backgrounds and what brought them to the field. We each put forward the core elements of museum work; what we find fulfilling and what we find frustrating. Responses to questions from the audience ranged from anecdotes to advice for folks interested in or just starting out in the business. The second session focus was demonstrating the opportunity for a community to drive their interpretive programming from the inside, as contrasted to hiring an “out-of-house” design/interpretive firm. We shared a methodology on “community curated exhibits” complete with a notebook formatting tool that walked the participants through the cycle of exhibit development. The response was very encouraging and indicated folks are ready to define for themselves their stories, life ways and histories.

My overall assessment of the event outstripped my expectations by a large margin. If we, as established institutions, can nurture this effort for a few years I foresee a dynamic shift in how communities within Alaska will view themselves, their relationships to the obligation of preservation, collection, and interpretation of material culture and the sharing of their collective stories.

Review: Sorrel Goodwin, Registrar, Alaska State Museums

The conference for me was wonderful; as an Alaska Native museum professional working in a non-native institution, having the opportunity to receive the type of cultural and spiritual reinforcement that I encountered at this conference was a much needed dose of medicine. It is often a challenge working in non-Native institutions, as a clash of worldviews and values is often the norm. It was nice to be around other native professionals who encounter the same challenges and the mutual support and affirmation has re-energized me! Although it has become a cliché, as Alaska Native professionals, we really do walk a fine line between two very different worlds, and without this type of support, it is easy to forget the Life ways that have kept us grounded for millennia.

One of the top sessions for me was the Duncan Cottage Museum project by Mique’l Askren in Metlakatla. This project personifies the re-claiming of space and “Cultural Aikido” that has been at the heart of our people’s ability to endure and survive 200 years of colonialism. The sessions by David George-Shongo were also at the top of my list. David is from the Seneca Nation in Upstate New York and is the Archivist for his Nation. As I have come to expect from our Six Nation’s relatives, the Seneca Nation Archives are firmly grounded in the Seneca-Haudenosaunee worldview, culture, and languages. The Haudenosaunee, in my experience, do not use words like “sovereignty” and “self-determination” lightly, and the Seneca Nation Archives and its Archivist personify how they walk the talk.

Review: Scott Carrlee, Curator of Museum Services, Alaska State Museums

What inspired me most was Mique’l Askren’s session describing the rebirth of the Duncan Cottage Museum. This moving description of how a building and a museum can be both a source of pain and an opportunity for community healing was truly inspiring. Father Duncan who lived in the house is (in the words of Mique’l) still a divisive figure in the community. As the museum director she had to navigate a mine field of community emotions related to this historical figure. The first thing Mique’l did was probably unheard of in the annals of museology for a new director: she closed the museum. The museum was a shell of what it had been under the first curator who ran it with a good knowledge of museum practices. For 10 years it had been mostly used as an occasional stop for tourist at best or for vandalism at its worst. Mique’l realized, to her credit, that there was no sense bringing people into a broken facility. She spent her time otherwise and more wisely. She wrote grants, got the museum assessed, and hosted interns and part time workers. To her tremendous credit, she managed to get a budget for the museum. It is nothing short of amazing that she was able to present a new exhibit, start doing museum programming and reopen the museum in the short span of three years working seasonally.

The other session that I attended that really excited me was the one on the Community Curatorial Process. Brian Meissner and Bob Banghart presented a great session on how small community museums can remain in control of the process by which they present their story to visitors and their community. I was excited by this session because it not only presented great information and an inspiring message (three people came up to me afterwards and said it was the best session they attended) but also because the format was very new and interesting. Brian presented the information using a new presentation method called “Prezi” which allows for a non-linear presentation style. Watching this session made me want to try this out as a presentation tool.

http://juneauempire.com/art/2011-05-11/museum-day-be-celebrated-saturday-all-over-town

Alaska Museums in the News

Museum Day in Juneau

Chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities visits Alaska

http://www.anchoragepress.com/news/article_bb770f1a-7c27-11e0-99b5-001cc4c002e0.html

Sitka Assembly supports Historical Museum

http://kcaw.org/modules/local_news/index.php?op=centerBlock&ID=1226

Yankee trader influenced Alaska art, science, business

http://www.adn.com/2011/04/16/1813727/yankee-trader-influenced-alaska.html

Bill Kills Off Program on Whaling Industry

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704547604576263312147864034.html

Professional Development/Training Opportunities

National Native Museum Training Program

Establishing a Tribal Museum

Location: online at www.museumclasses.org

Instructor: Stacey Halfmoon

Stacey Halfmoon is a member of the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma. She has been the Director of Community Outreach and Public Programs for the American Indian Cultural Center and Museum in Oklahoma City, OK since 2007. She graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a Bachelor of Arts and Sciences Degree in Anthropology and began working for the Caddo Nation’s Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) program shortly thereafter (2004) where she continued to serve in many cultural capacities until 2004. Stacey was instrumental in the tribe’s first repatriation of ancestral remains and constructing the tribe’s first repatriation cemetery. Stacey has since served as Senior Tribal Liaison for the U.S. Department of Defense, where she managed a $10 million dollar Indian lands cleanup program. In 2005, Stacey was appointed Interim Director of the Caddo Heritage Museum. She has served on the Caddo Nation Heritage Museum Board of Trustees since 2004. Stacey also serves on the Oklahoma Museums Association Board of Directors.

Claudia Nicholson Claudia Nicholson is Executive Director of the North Star Museum of Boy Scouting and Girl Scouting in North St. Paul, MN. Claudia began her career in museums at the National Archives in Washington, DC. After earning her Master’s Degree in History Museum Studies from the Cooperstown Graduate Program, she became Curator of Collections for the South Dakota State Historical Society in Pierre. While there, she worked with a Native American advisory committee to create a groundbreaking exhibit on Sioux life in South Dakota. After seven years, she moved to St. Paul to become a curator at the Minnesota Historical Society. She has 32 years experience in museums and historical organizations.

Description: Establishing a Tribal museum – or even just expanding or enhancing one – can be quite daunting. It is a job that demands a clear community vision and an organized approach, which make a tremendous difference for the museum’s future. Establishing a Tribal Museum will provide the facts and comprehensive advice you need to undertake this endeavor. This includes considering how your Tribe’s museum can get the community and financial support it needs. The course walks students through specific steps and considerations to clarify the process of establishing and maintaining a successful Tribal museum. These steps include writing a mission statement, understanding community expectations, and establishing a collections policy. Students will explore the potential role of the museum within their Native community and key considerations when establishing a tribal museum. Topics include collections care, community expectations and benefit, registration, the role of traditional culture and language within the museum setting, exhibitions, conservation, staffing and financial management.

Outline

First Steps: Community Input – What will our museum do/be? Develop Purpose, Incorporation, Bylaws
Organizing: Forming Your Group What is the role of the museum in the community? Structure? Governance: Mission Statement, Policies, Procedures, Leadership Structure (Board of Directors, etc)
Financial Management: Budgets, Fundraising, Endowments, Cash Flow
Location: Buildings, Grounds, Accessibility
Collection: Obtaining, Classifying, Registering, Accessioning; No collection
Staffing: Volunteers, Employees, Docents
Storage: Methods, Integrity, Security, Traditional methods
Exhibits: Planning, Spaces, Viewer Dynamics, Security, Use of Native Language & Concepts
Museum Programming: Exploring opportunities to work with Elders, Community involvement, Using artifacts, Being of benefit to the community, Being of benefit to the non-native community (education)

Required Textbook: Starting Right: A Basic Guide to Museum Planning (American Association for State and Local History Book Series) by Gerald George and Cindy Sherrell-Leo, Altamira Press 1986

Course Dates: May 31 – Jun 25, 2011

Application Deadline: May 20, 2011

Registration Fee: $150

AASLH Board Development Webinars

There is still time to sign up for the second one of these Board Development webinar through AASLH

Are you working on making your board more effective? Then, register now for the AASLH Board Development Webinar Series.

Finding Good Board Members, Building Strong Boards

Date: May 17, 2011 (Registration Now Open)

Time/Duration: 2-3:30 pm eastern

Day-to-Day and Long-Term Board Operations to Ensure Success

Date: May 24, 2011 (Registration Now Open)

Time/Duration: 2-3:30 pm eastern

Cost: $50 per webinar member/$110 per webinar nonmember or register for both for $85 members/$155 nonmember. Price is per connection, not per person. Registration Deadline is May 13!

After completing these live webinars, you will:

Understand the characteristics of a good board
Understand how boards evolve and mature into a good working board
Understand the characteristics of a good board member and be able to use that knowledge to select the best candidates for their organization’s board;
Know the best ways to invite a community member to sit on their board
Be Able to write a job description for board members
Understand how to use the board committee structure to develop a good working board
Understand the relationship between board members and the organization’s director or CEO
Understand the legal, ethical, and financial responsibilities of a non-profit board member
Build a board training manual that equips each board member to be prepared to enter in to board discussions
Know how to deal with difficult board members and situations
Be able to provide board members with appropriate appreciation for their service to the organization.

You can also learn more about the course through this special audio message from Carolyn Brackett with the National Trust for Historic Preservation, who will be leading the webinar. To hear the Audio Postcard, turn up your speakers, and click on this link: http://audiopostcard-007.com/X.asp?7055433X4611

Book Report

by Jennifer Brown, Museum Intern

In continuing the review of the resources on the Institute of Museum and Library Services Connecting to Collections Bookshelf (commonly referred to as the IMLS Bookshelf for short), let’s take a look at the Heritage Foundation’s Caring for Your Family’s Treasures.

Photo by Jennifer Brown

The Heritage Foundation’s publications “provide information from top professionals on caring for photographs, historic documents, books, works of art, buildings, natural science specimens, and family heirlooms.” This book is no exception, as its pages contain a wide array of very practical solutions centered on caring for a collection. It would be not only handy for a family historian, but for managing a small museum collection as well. The book is a very basic and straightforward read, made interesting by all of the sample images and examples for reference (not to mention the nice array of friendly quotes interspersed throughout).

One of the things that I appreciated about this read was that it included a starting point for dealing with many different types of heirlooms: from musical instruments to a variety of photograph types and fabric pieces such as wedding dresses. The chapters are broken down accordingly and sectioned off by different types of heirlooms. What I found particularly helpful was the easily found checklist included at the end of each chapter, which was highly customized for the subject at hand. One might need a more detailed text for conquering major damage, but there is definitely enough information in this book to give a good sense of direction for basic care and handling. The final chapters include information on what to do in case of disaster, as well as invaluable references on where to search for help.

You can borrow any of the IMLS Collections Bookshelf texts, including Caring for Your Family’s Treasures, from the Alaska State Museum Lending Library. For a listing of the collection and more details go to http://www.museums.state.ak.us/lending_library.html

http://www.aam-us.org/upload/ACME11-report-FINAL.pdf

Standards and Excellence Program (StEPs)

AASLH is pleased to announce the new date for the webinar, “Hope is Not a Strategy: Fundraising in Tough Times,” that many of you registered for earlier this year. This free 90-minute webinar will be presented on Tuesday, June 21st beginning at 2 p.m. Eastern (10 am AKST) and concluding at 3:30 Eastern (11:30 AKST).

Although there’s no need to re-register for the webinar, if you would like to read more about the agenda and guest speakers, please visit http://www.aaslhnetwork.org/steps2011/#3.

Professional Time Wasting on the Web

AAM Report on the status of US museums during the recession

A film of JFK’s last parade in Dallas has an Alaska connection.

http://www.history.com/videos/jfks-last-parade#jfks-last-parade

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Alaska, Alaska Museum Day, Alaska Museums in the News, Alaska Native Libraries, Alaska State Museum, Archives and Museums Summit, Conservation Bookshelf, Docent, Grant in Aid, Grants, IMLS Bookshelf, Institute for Museums and Library Services, Museum, Museum Career Development, Museum Docent program, National Native Museum Training Program, Office of History and Archaeology, photo removal from album, Standard in Excellence Program | 2 Comments

Alaska State Museums Bulletin 39

Posted on April 20, 2011 by Alaska State Museum Bulletin

Printable version

Spherically speaking
Ask ASM
Shaking the Money Tree
Spotlight on Grant in Aid
ASM on the Road
Alaska Museums in the News
Professional Development/Training Opportunities
Internship Report
Standard and Excellence Program
Professional Time Wasting on the Web

Spherically Speaking!
Using the “Science on a Sphere” to Communicate Science and History

by Sara Lee, Museum Protection and Visitor Services Assistant

Science on a Sphere was developed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) as a means of visualizing scientific models of planetary processes. The system uses fairly ordinary desktop computers to drive four digital projectors that cast seamless synchronized images onto a six-foot suspended globe. Available datasets range from real-time earthquakes to airplane traffic and current weather patterns. There is even imagery of the moon and the other planets.

Visitors viewing the "Blue Marble" satellite imagery that gives the sense of the wonder of our world as seen in true colors from outer space.

At first, I viewed the big globe with some trepidation when it was installed at Alaska State Museum in the spring of 2009. As a relatively new employee, I was just beginning to feel comfortable with my many duties focused on interpreting Alaska culture and history through the extraordinary objects exhibited in the permanent galleries. SOS seemed to have little to do with Alaska or cultural history and appeared to be a complication to my busy workday. However, the Sphere also had a strange gravitational pull, perhaps because of my background in the biological sciences, and my love of maps as a geographer’s daughter.

I soon became the primary SOS presenter, giving over 500 formal programs and countless impromptu spins of the sphere. Many other staff and long-time dedicated volunteer docents were reticent to incorporate SOS into their regular tours. The” hightech-iness” was a barrier, and many of the datasets were well removed from our usual Alaskan cultural topics. The Visitor Services section staff had automated playlists with the most appropriate imagery cued for play; however, during the first year we did not have explanatory signage and we often needed someone posted near the Sphere to answer questions. Visitors loved the Sphere and their questions and requests to see additional imagery would often take us far from Alaska history delving into contemporary issues like global climate change and even spinning into outer space!

Sara Lee in front of the Alaska State Museum Science on a Sphere exhibit presenting the real-time dataset on the earthquakes of the world.

Science on a Sphere definitely pushed, pulled, and extended us beyond our normal sphere of operations. And in some cases, we were taken out of our comfort zone not only into the realm of complicated technology and science but also into the bewildering universe of politics. NOAA has developed a number of datasets that address climate change. Satellite imagery of the changes in sea ice coverage are perhaps the most compelling and relevant to Alaskans. Playing the dataset showing the modeled change in global temperatures would often spark heated discussion. In December 2010, we were linked up with all of the 50 or so other SOS installations through a live sphere-cast, hearing and seeing some of the presentations at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Copenhagen.

During the second year of conducting spherical programs, the State Museum invested in a large flat-screen monitor to concurrently display information on the datasets being played. More energy could be diverted into answering visitors’ deeper questions and developing presentations customized to visitor interests. I turned my attention to creating additional datasets to help us better use SOS to display and discuss topics relevant to Alaska. New datasets include climatic zones, permafrost coverage, glacier status, top 10 earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, major oil spills, important archeological and shipwreck sites, epic animal migrations, and routes of the early European explorers. I primarily used lower cost software and freeware to assist in dataset development. Some datasets originated from information already in a map format, but I developed some datasets by compiling the original research data and then spatially plotting it. I used Photoshop to do final preparation with graphics and labeling. My next step will be animating some of the images in order to better display time sequences. It will be fun to watch a tiny version of Vancouver’s ship, the Discovery sail, around the world and visit sites in Alaska. Seeing the imagery in the spherical context is great, but viewing those images animated with movement is even better!

By demonstrating that this inexperienced “low techie” can create SOS imagery, I hope to inspire artists, scientists, students, historians, and educators to create their own imagery. I’d love to hear what other Alaskans might envision being shown on the Sphere, and if any researchers have some data that might be interesting to show in the spherical context. I also foresee opportunities for youth to make global connections through the Sphere. The technology is in place for classes to create and then present their imagery through live simultaneous sphere-casts to students at other SOS locations on the other side of the world. What a way for Alaskans to act locally, think globally, and speak spherically!

Ask ASM

Question: I want to store my dance regalia on roll storage tubes and tissue – what is the better diameter for the rolls and should I use buffered or un-buffered tissue?

ASM: Most of our regalia are rolled on 6 or 8 inch rolls. We use washed unbleached cotton muslin to cover them. Also if you can’t get acid free rolls, you need to cover the roll with Mylar or marvelseal before you put the regalia on it. Un-buffered tissue is best for regalia. There is some concern with buffered tissue paper that the buffering agent which is alkaline (to absorb acids) might affect the artifact it is in contact with.

http://www.mynewsletterbuilder.com/email/newsletter/1410719137

Shaking the Money Tree

Grants Grants and More Grants

Alaska State Museums Grant in Aid

The FY2012 Grant applications are now available. The deadline is June 1^st 2011. You can do the mini-grant entirely online and get an immediate confirmation that your application is filed. You can also attach any of the applications to an email by 4:30 pm AKST on June 1 and I will send you a confirmation email. If you mail your application, the postmark must be no later than June 1^st.

You can download the applications from our website http://www.museums.state.ak.us/grants.html

National Endowment for the Humanities

You should already be writing your National Endowment for the Humanities “Preservation Assistance Grant for Smaller Institutions.”

Deadline: May 3, 2011
Eligible organizations:
United States nonprofit organizations; state and local government agencies
Complete guidelines:
Visit NEH’s website (http://www.neh.gov/grants/guidelines/pag.html)

The next Institute for Museums and Library Services grant opportunity is for the “Save America’s Treasures” program

Deadline: May 21, 2010. This is NOT a postmark deadline.

For more information: http://www.nps.gov/history/hps/treasures/index.htm

IMLS Contacts: Connie Bodner, Senior Program Officer
Phone: 202/653-4636
E-mail: cbodner@imls.gov

Mark Feitl, Program Specialist
Phone: 202/653-4635
E-mail: mfeitl@imls.gov

Save America’s Treasures

Save America’s Treasures makes critical investments in the preservation of our nation’s most significant and endangered cultural treasures, which illustrate, interpret, and embody the great events, ideas, and individuals that contribute to America’s history and culture. This legacy includes the built environment as well as documents, records, artifacts, and artistic works. Collectively, Save America’s Treasures projects tell our nation’s story and ensure that our legacy is passed on to future generations.

Administered by the National Park Service in collaboration with the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities, Save America’s Treasures involves other federal agency partners, including the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Institute of Museum and Library Services. The National Trust for Historic Preservation has been the program’s principal private partner since its inception. Museums and libraries are encouraged to apply.

View Save America’s Treasures application instructions
(http://www.nps.gov/history/hps/treasures/application.htm)

View sample narratives from past grantees
(http://www.imls.gov/applicants/sample.shtm#SAT)

Other news for grants

Unfortunately, the budget pain was spread broadly across nearly every federal agency, including the Office of Museum Services within the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). Although information about the specific allocation of funds within IMLS is not yet available, AAM issued a statement yesterday that the agency funding would fall from $265,869,000 in FY10 to just $237,393,262 in FY11. This represents a 10.7% reduction over current levels, and will have to be absorbed within the remaining six months of the current fiscal year (FY11) that ends September 30, 2011.

Let your Members of Congress know how important funding for the Office of Museum Services is to you by visiting http://www.congressweb.com/cweb2/index.cfm/siteid/AAM/action/TakeAction.Contact/lettergroupid/9.

The newsletter of the AASLH Small Museum Affinity Group has a an article on “Small Museum Friendly Grants.” You should check it out.

Spotlight on Grant-in-Aid
Juneau Douglas City Museum

by Jennifer Brown

Collections Processing Room at the beginning of the project

In 2007, The Juneau Douglas City Museum assembled a team of professionals to make an assessment of where the facility was meeting needs and where it was not. One of the recommendations provided by this study was to better utilize existing collections processing and storage areas in the basement by moving the archival, photograph and reference collections out of the compactor storage unit into underutilized areas of the basement. As part of the FY2010 Grant-in-Aid program, the Alaska State Museum awarded the City Museum $5,654 to assist with the improvement of their archival storage area, as suggested by this assessment.

Collections Processing Room at the end of the project

This grant allowed the Juneau-Douglas City Museum to buy new archival storage materials and to move archives and photograph collections from the coveted space in the compactor storage unit to new shelving units. The new shelves were placed in a freshly painted area of the Collections Processing Room. The museum hired contractor Brenda Wright to assist with moving the collection materials to the new shelves. Through this process, they changed the location on 2,634 historic photographs and 1,683 archive records, as well as partially creating digital images for the catalog database and correcting cataloging errors. The long-term physical safety of the collections was also improved by the installation of a new water alarm system. As a result of these changes, the museum improved access to the collections while gaining much needed additional storage space.

ASM on the Road

On the Road in Fairbanks

Fairbanks Art Association

From March 27 – 29, 2011, Exhibit Specialist Jackie Manning traveled to Fairbanks, Alaska to jury the 26th Interior Artisans Exhibit and give a lecture. This is an annual exhibit sponsored by the Fairbanks Art Association to showcase original works by artists of Alaska’s Interior Doyon Region. The exhibit showcases works created through various artistic processes that use a diverse range of media. Sculpture, quilts, jewelry, and mixed media paintings take a contemporary twist on traditional media. Interior Artisans will be on display at the Bear Gallery through the month of April.

On the Road in Kodiak

By Ellen Carrlee, Conservator

Ellen in Kodiak

The Alutiiq Museum and Archaeological Repository (http://alutiiqmuseum.org/) in Kodiak recently received an IMLS grant to improve storage, inventory and access to the Karluk One (http://alutiiqmuseum.org/files/News/alutiiq-autumn10-newsletter-web.pdf) collection. As part of the grant, I was brought to Kodiak for four days in March to provide a conservation survey and training workshops.

The Karluk One archaeological site dates from 1400AD to 1800AD, and was remarkable for its preservation of organic materials such as wood, basketry, baleen, fur, feather and leather. Organics account for perhaps 70% of the more than 20,000 archaeological artifacts recovered. Most of the organic collection was treated from 1987-1996 with Carbowax (polyethylene glycol or PEG) or Acrysol WS-24 (aqueous acrylic dispersion.) Treatment and condition records are sparse and difficult to correlate to specific artifacts. This issue is compounded by the multiple cataloging systems the current project intends to resolve.

Crumbly gravel-tempered pottery is a condition issue in many Alaskan archaeological collections.

Wooden artifact treated with a low molecular weight polyethylene glycol. If too much is used or there is no secondary cell wall left in the wood for bonding, the liquid-y PEG 400 slowly oozes back out of the wood and stains the surrounding tissue paper. Wooden artifacts treated with higher molecular weight PEG are not oozing.

Some artifacts were more deteriorated than others when collected, making condition assessment and evaluation of treatment protocols challenging. Overall the bone, antler, ivory and baleen artifacts are in good condition. The majority of wood and basketry is also well-preserved, although a few artifacts suffered from incorrect PEG treatment based on misunderstandings of the treatment protocols.

Recent improvements in collections storage have drastically improved the preservation forecast for this collection. Many of the housing and storage mounts, mainly implemented by Registrar Marnie Leist, are as good as any I have seen.

Drawer of beautifully stored ivory, bone and antler archaeological artifacts

Several Alutiiq Museum staff, Baranov Museum (http://www.baranovmuseum.org/) staff and volunteers attended two days of workshops. Topics the first day included Agents of Deterioration, Object Handling (http://ellencarrlee.wordpress.com/2009/10/13/museum-object-handling/) , Artifact Cleaning, and Artifact Labeling. On the second day, we discussed the condition issues of various material groupings in the Karluk One collection with special emphasis on issues of consolidants, adhesives and impregnants that affect the collection. Perhaps the most dynamic workshop was “Do It Yourself or Get A Conservator?” We discussed the ethics and guidelines for appropriate conservation treatments, strategies to determine the risks and consequences of various treatments, and the importance of conservation documentation including the main sections of a proper treatment report.

The opportunity to view the Karluk One material has been part of a busy spring of archaeology-related activities for me, which have also included the Alaska Anthropological Association (http://www.alaskaanthropology.org/) Conference in March and the annual archaeology workshop at the Office of History and Archaeology (http://www.mapper.landrecords.info/parks/oha/index.htm) in April.

http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/community/2011/03/30/alaskan-museum-hires-latina-curator/

Alaska Museums in the News

Another great article about Jacqueline Fernandez, the new Curator at the Sitka Historical Museum.

Totem Poles: Myth and Fact From cultural emblems to kitsch souvenirs, it seems everyone takes a different view of this iconic Northwest art form.
http://thetyee.ca/Books/2011/03/31/TotemPoles/

Professional Development/Training Opportunities

The George Washington University’s Distance Education Graduate Certificate Program in Museum Collections Management and Care is accepting applications for fall 2011.

The graduate certificate consists of 4 courses and is earned completely online. It is designed for those working or volunteering in museums with collections management responsibilities. The courses are ideal for museum professionals either lacking prior formal museum studies training or desiring a refresher.

For more information, please visit our website http://ccas.gwu.edu/museum
or contact:

Mary Coughlin
Assistant Professor
Administrator of Distance Education Program Museum Studies
The George Washington University
202-994-9936 or musede@gwu.edu

Internship Report

by Jennifer Brown

Jennifer hanging labels for the All Alaska Juried Exhibition

Last fall I jumped back into my unfinished degree program at the University of Alaska Southeast after a ten year break for working, moving across the country and back, and raising my three young kids. My background at UAS had been primarily in the studio arts, but I had learned in my years away that I wanted to develop a more composed academic goal. I figured that taking Zachary Jones’ class “Introduction to Archives and Museums Theory and Practice” would be a good balance for my creative side as well as give me the structure that I was craving after years of being away from academia. Opportunely for me, the class was being offered for the first time and brought an added bonus of the chance to apply for a competitive internship at a local repository during the spring semester. I applied for the position at the Alaska State Museum and was very excited to accept the position, and especially appreciative to learn that the Friends of the Museum had also offered me a scholarship that paid for my class.

I started my internship in January and have since been able to work with most of the museum staff on a wide variety of projects. My first task was to help move the museum newsletter from its old paper format into a more modern electronic publication. I have experience using WordPress software for my own personal blog, so I was able to hone those skills and collaborate with Museum Services Curator Scott Carrlee to create the new Alaska State Museums Bulletin blog. The blog will create a better avenue to connect with other museums around the state, share more information, and enable a more visual experience as the new form allows sharing more photos and other media.

I was lucky enough to be at the museum during the planning phases and the pulling together of the next big summer show, Old Hats. Not only did I gain exposure to the immense amount of work that goes into putting such a show together, I was able to see how all of the museum staff contribute to the big picture in their respective roles. Registrar Sorrel Goodwin gave me a briefing on ASM’s collections database software and I was able to search for hats in the vast collection and organize them in a spreadsheet to help plan the show’s layout. I attended a meeting in which I listened to Conservator Ellen Carrlee talk about issues that might arise with displaying these fragile hats and was intrigued by Curator of Exhibitions Paul Gardinier’s suggestions for building mounts that would both be safe for the hats and visually appealing to the audience. I worked closely with Paul and Exhibits Specialist Jackie Manning to pull hats from the collections, measure them, and build the appropriate mounts for each hat. This experience provided such wide exposure to so many details, that I now feel confident that I understand the basic dynamics of creating an exhibition.

Measuring hats with the exhibits team for the upcoming hat show

Preparing to carve a hat mount

There were many other tasks that contributed to this wonderful learning experience. Notably, I helped with the hanging and take down of several shows which was a great opportunity to learn about the different issues that arise with each piece and strategies for arranging objects. Also, I was able to write the Condition Report for the All Alaska Juried Show. This was a neat chance to familiarize myself with many different types of media in the gallery.

Through my experiences, I was allowed great exposure to the ins and outs of the museum industry. Being hands on and working so closely with such experienced professionals was the highlight of my college experience. I was offered a perspective that no classroom setting could have achieved. Professor Jones says that there is talk of UAS offering both a Certificate of Museum Studies and a Certificate of Archival Studies, but nothing is official yet. For now, the introductory museums and archives class has been accepted as part of the UA curriculum and there is hope that the program will expand across the state. I am honored to have been the first in what will certainly be a wonderful learning opportunity for many more students to come. I also feel very grateful to the museum staff, who were all overly generous in sharing their knowledge with me.

Standards and Excellence Program (StEPs)

AASLH regrets to announce that the webinar, “Hope is Not a Strategy: Raising Money in a Challenging Economy,” originally scheduled for Thursday, March 10th, 2011, has been postponed. They plan to reschedule the webinar for late April. There will be a posting of the new date as soon as the information is available.

In the meantime, check out the free recorded webinars of the previous two StEPs programs.

Roadmap or Wheel of Fortune? Which Would You Stake Your Organization’s Future On?
(http://www.aaslhnetwork.org/steps2011/webinar-1-archive/)
Recorded Jan. 27, 2011 – click on webinar title above to view archive

Juggling Balls and Other High Wire Acts: How a Well-crafted Collections Management Policy Can be the Safety Net that Saves Your Collections
(http://www.aaslhnetwork.org/steps2011/webinar-2-archive/)
Recorded Feb. 17, 2011 – click on webinar title above to view archive