Your organization can use this trunk:

• To train paid and unpaid staff to recognize common problems in collections and how to deal with them
• For examples of ways to properly store items
• As a simple tabletop display to explain the importance of collections care
• In a public program to explain the importance of collections care

To borrow the trunk for your organization, contact Jeannette Rooney at (317) 933-8913 or jrooney@indianahistory.org.

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MS223: Care of Metals Online Class
This online class from the Northern States Conservation Center is instructed by Helen Alten and will be held March 30 through April 24.

Outdoor sculpture, silver tea service, gold jewelry, axe head, wheel rim – metals are found in most museum collections and may be stored or displayed indoor or outdoors depending on the object. Learn how to identify different types of metal and their alloys. Gain an understanding of how and why metals deteriorate and methods for preventing deterioration from occurring or continuing. The pros and cons of different popular treatments will be covered along with recommendations for the least damaging approach to treatment. Care of Metals provides a simplified explanation of the chemistry and structure of metals, explaining the importance of the galvanic series and electrochemistry in care strategies. Starting with an overview of the history and function of metals and how they are made, the course will cover guidelines for handling, labeling, exhibiting and storing metals. An overview of treatments, including cleaning, used on metals and how appropriate they are for the long-term preservation of the metal object will help students make care decisions when consulting with conservators.

Participants in Care of Metals work through sections on their own. Materials and resources include online literature, slide lectures and dialog between students and the instructor through online forums. The course is limited to 20 participants.

The cost is $425.

Care of Metals runs four weeks. To reserve a spot in the course, please pay at http://www.collectioncare.org/tas/tas.html. If you have trouble, please contact Helen Alten at helen@collectioncare.org.



Collections Preservation Workshop
This workshop with Ramona Duncan-Huse, IHS, will be held on April 14 from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Minnetrista in Muncie.

Learn how to preserve your historical collections and avoid harm in a collection environment. Discussion will focus on current issues in preservation, such as storage and collection environmental issues, undertaking preservation efforts and exploring conservation techniques. Registration fee covers the cost of tools, which participants will keep.

• Understand essential issues in preserving historical collections
• Recognize different types of material and how the techniques to preserve them vary
• Learn how to humidify, surface clean and provide housings for paper materials
• Obtain answers to the most perplexing problems about your institution’s collections based on a pre-workshop survey

The cost for the workshop is $105 per person, $200 for two (same organization) or $295 for three (same organization).

Register by April 1.

Librarians can earn 4 LEU credits for this workshop.

This workshop is co-sponsored by Minnetrista.

For more information or to register, please e-mail localhistoryservices@indianahistory.org or call (800) 447-1830.


April Programs at the Indiana State Library
The following programs are free to the public and will be held at the Indiana State Library located at 140 N. Senate Ave. in Indianapolis.

• History/Reference Room: What’s in it for you? April 2, 5:30 to 6:30 p.m.
  Learn about the collection of materials contained in the History/Reference Room. Learn the reason for the collection, how it got started and useful sources for historians and genealogists.
  
  
• Le Bistro and les Crepes: Using the Indiana State Library’s Web Catalog April 8,
  10 to 11 a.m.
  Patrons will learn both simple and complex searching of the library’s web catalog.  Procedures and techniques to getting the most from searching the catalog and finding what you want.
  
  
• Could this Old House be Yours? April 9, 11 a.m. to noon
  Patrons will be introduced to DHPA's Interim Reports and learn different styles and architecture of some of the homes in Indiana.  Patrons are encouraged to bring in photographs of their homes.
  
  
• Do You Have Military Ancestors in Your Family? April 9, noon to 1 p.m.
  This program will teach participants in a general overview the many resources that are in the Indiana State Library, Genealogy, Indiana, Reference and Document Collections relative to military records. 
  
  
• Indiana Battle Sites April 14, 10 to 11 a.m.
  This program will examine several historical battlefield sites throughout the state and analyze how and why those sites were interpreted. Battle of Tippecanoe, Battle of Corydon/Morgan’s Raid, and Battle of Mississinewa are a few which will be discussed.
  
  
• FDSys: America’s Information Portal April 14, 2 to 3 p.m.
  Finding Congressional bills and Presidential documents online is easy, but how do you know that what you are looking at is authentic?  One way is to ensure authenticity is by using the Government Printing Office (GPO).  This presentation will walk participants through FDSys – the new GPO website for federal documents.
  
  
• Indiana State Library: A Brief History April 21, 2 to 3 p.m.
  Come learn the history of the Indiana State Library, its services and mission, including a brief discussion on the architecture of the building.
  
  
• What is WorldCat and How Do I Use It? April 23, 5:30 to 6:30 p.m.
  Learn how to use the "super" catalog called WorldCat and see why this bibliographic giant can be a treasure trove for genealogists and local history researchers. 
  
  
• Is Your Norma Listed as “Warnie” in the Census? April 30, 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. 
  This program will show researchers how to deal with a variety of indexing errors such as mangled names and misapplied geographic identifiers, as well as other types of errors evident in many indexes. 

No registration is required. For more information about these programs please call (317) 232-3675.


Cultures at the Crossroads Workshop
This workshop will be held on April 22 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Gene B. Glick Junior Achievement Education Center located at 7453 N. Keystone Ave. in Indianapolis.

This World Cafe style workshop will consider Indiana's future through multiculturalism, and will explore strategies for successful integration into a new life in Indiana and for creating and sustaining welcoming, thriving Hoosier communities for people from all over the globe.

The cost is $20 per person.

For more information or to register, please visit http://www.indianahumanities.org/CivicDiscussion/Cultures.html.


Midwest Archives Conference 2009 Annual Meeting
This conference will be held April 30 through May 2 at the Hyatt Regency St. Louis Riverfront in St. Louis, Mo.

Sessions Include:

• New Agents of Accountability: On the De-evolution of the Press and the Rise of New Information Flows
• Flight Check: Archival Metrics Toolkits as User-Based Evaluations in Archives and Special Collections
• Preparing for a Long Flight: Some Thoughts on Videotape Preservation and Access
• Who’s on First (Class)? A Case Study of a Collaborative Project between Archives and Athletics
• More than Just Amelia: Documenting the Role of Women in Aviation
• Reaching New Heights: Collaborative Digitization Initiatives in Missouri
• Avoiding Turbulence: Donors, Deeds and Descriptions
• Only Ticketed Passengers Allowed: Controlled On-line Collections
• Take Off into a Virtual World: A New Vision for Archives
• First-Class Passengers: Working with Donors
• Flying in Tandem: Developing Policies for Museums with Archives
• No More Waiting on the Runway: Case Studies in Archiving Active Electronic Records
• We Hope You Enjoyed Your Flight: Incorporating User Assessment into Digital Collections and Programs
• Coming Down from the Clouds: Perspectives on Archives and Ethics
• Advanced Flight School: The Archives Leadership Institute
• High Visibility: Working Together to Ensure Digital Image Quality
• Secured Airspace: Creative Approaches to Deterring Archives Theft
• Flying Solo: Staying Positive as a Lone Arranger
• Flying in Formation: The MetaArchive Experience

The cost for advance registration before April 10 is $65 for MAC members, $75 for nonmembers and $45 for students.

For more information and to register, please visit http://www.midwestarchives.org/2009Spring/.


The Association of College and University Museums and Galleries 2009 Annual Conference
This conference, The Museum Studies Experiment: What is it? Why do it? Who owns it?, will be held on Saturday, May 2, at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Pa.

Museum Studies as a field of inquiry exists in a great variety of forms across the academic landscape. These range from singular, supplementary courses offered in various academic departments to full degree programs. Regardless of their scale on our different campuses, they engage and sometimes emanate from our academic museums.

With a field so varied in its presence on our campuses and variously respected or not as a field of inquiry among its academic peers, this year's ACUMG Conference will attempt to determine the state of Museum Studies in academe and the role our museums play in supporting it.

In keeping with the theme of this year's AAM Meeting, questions to be posed include:

• Where does Museum Studies fit into the educational program of a university or college?
• Does it belong with professional training schools like law, medicine, journalism and business or is it properly placed within the context of academic disciplines such as art history, natural history, literature or anthropology?
• Is there in fact a field of inquiry called Museology, with distinct methodologies, a notable historiography, and an intellectual rigor that reaches beyond the day-to-day activities and functions that take place within collecting institutions?
• Or is Museum Studies ultimately limited to serve as supplementary pre-professional training in the management of not-for-profit collecting institutions for students studying academic disciplines like those mentioned above? And to the contrary, can Museum Studies possibly stand alone as a field of inquiry without such a pairing?

Fathoming the field's proper depth can very much determine its place in academe and its programmatic relationships with other fields of inquiry and academic museums, not to mention its luster for institutional moral and financial support.

The cost is $75 per person.

For more information and to register, please visit http://acumg.org/conference09.html.


Museum Marauders: Integrated Preventative Pest Management Class
This class is presented by the Intermuseum Conservation Association and will be held on May 6 from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in Fenn Tower Room 102 at 1983 E. 24th St., Cleveland State University in Cleveland, Ohio.

Cockroaches, carpet beetles and clothes moths – oh my! Join nationally-known insect expert Tom Parker as he explains how to identify, understand the habits of, and non-chemically prevent or control various insect populations. The afternoon will include practical suggestions for developing an effective, low-cost, in-house pest management program.

The class will be instructed by Dr. Thomas A. Parker, entomologist and president of Pest Control Services, Inc., and is cosponsored by Cleveland State University Library Special Collections and the Ohio Preservation Council.

The cost is $75 for ICA and OPC members or $90 for nonmembers.

For more information or to register, please visit http://www.ica-artconservation.org/education/current.htm.


Summer Rare Book Courses
The Midwest Book and Manuscript Studies program from the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at the University of Illinois is offering summer rare book courses.

These courses may be taken on a credit or non-credit basis. Formal admission to the University is not necessary, but a bachelor's degree is required.

• 590MC: Medieval Codicology: The Medieval Book from Sheep to Shelf
  This class will be held May 18 through 29 (Monday through Saturday the first week, then Tuesday through Friday) from 1 to 3:50 p.m.
  
  This course looks at the emergence of the codex as the primary form of book in the West. We shall consider the physical and intellectual developments of the codex, from the writing of the text to its final presentation on the page. Students will follow the text from the author to the book designers to the scribe to the illustrator to the binder to the reader, with stops along the way concentrating on tools, design, layout, ruling, illumination, and binding. We shall also look at modern approaches to codicology, including monastic versus commercial scriptoria, editing a medieval manuscript, paleography, dating, establishing provenance, and so forth. And we shall answer the question: What should a scholarly edition of a medieval text look like?
  
  
• 590CP: Rare Books, Crime and Punishment
  This class will be held June 1 through 12 (Monday through Friday) from 1 to 3:50 p.m.
  
  This course explores crimes against culture in the form of rare books, maps, manuscripts and archival documents. From theft for profit to counterfeiting and vandalism, this class will focus on the myriad ways that unique and irreplaceable cultural heritage items are taken from us. The professional librarian and archivist communities, the general public and law enforcement have all treated these crimes very differently. This class will look at the ways that each of these communities reacts to these crimes and the reasons for these varied reactions. The class will also trace the evolution of the way these crimes have been viewed by various communities and what recent, positive changes might mean for the future. Aside from the historical and theoretical, this class will also discuss the practical: how these crimes are committed and by whom as well as how they can be (and are being) prevented.
  
  
• 590BC: Rare Book Cataloging
  This class will be held July 20 through 31 (Monday through Friday) from 1 to 3:50 p.m.
  
  This course is an introduction to the cataloging of books from the hand-press period using the standards outlined by Descriptive Cataloging of Rare Materials (Books). The class includes the exploration of concepts particular to rare books such as bibliographic format, edition, issue and state, the application of controlled vocabularies/thesauri in a rare books context, and practical, hands-on experience cataloging rare books. Pre-requisites: Basic and advanced cataloging.

The cost for each of the two week on campus courses is $976, for either the credit or non-credit option.

For more information or to enroll, please visit http://www.lis.uiuc.edu/programs/mbms/.


A Race Against Time: Preserving Our Audiovisual Media Program
This program from the Conservation Center for Art and Historic Artifacts will be held July 29 and 30 in Denver, Colo.

Sessions include:

• Overview of Machine-Based AV Media Identification and Preservation
• Reformatting Options for AV Media
• Contracting for AV Preservation Services
• Surveying and Selecting AV Media Materials for Preservation and Access
• Funding Opportunities for AV Preservation
• Case Studies and Panel Discussions

The cost for this two-day progam is $200.

To register, please visit http://guest.cvent.com/i.aspx?5S,M3,1f784d82-9a05-4d14-bca5-9da86545c149. For more information, please visit http://www.ccaha.org/, call (215) 545-0613 or e-mail pso@ccaha.org.

A limited number of $750 stipends are available to staff from non-profit institutions with annual budgets of less than $500,000. Eligibility requirements and stipend application information are available here.

CCAHA will also conduct this program at the Atlanta History Center in Atlanta, Ga. on Oct. 20 and 21, 2009.

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Please confim event specifics with sponsoring organization, especially if traveling any distance.

Steps in Time: A Broadway Biography in Song and Dance at the Honeywell Center
This show featuring Tommy Tune and the Manhattan Rhythm Kings will be held on Friday, March 27, at 7:30 p.m. at the Honeywell Center in Wabash.

Dancer, choreographer, singer, director and actor Tommy Tune has won nine Tony awards, two Astaire awards, two Obie awards and a National Medal of Arts. He will be joined by the Manhattan Rhythm Kings, a trio renowned for their close-harmony singing, instrumental work and spectacular tap dancing.

Tickets are $45, $35 and $20, and can be purchased at the box office from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, by calling (260) 563-1102, visiting http://www.honeywellcenter.org/ or by dialing *tix from your Centennial Wireless phone.

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IMLS Seeks Applications for Save America's Treasures Program
The Institute of Museum and Library Services is seeking applicants for the Save America's Treasures 2009 grant program.

These grants support the preservation and conservation of nationally significant intellectual and cultural artifacts such as collections, documents, sculpture, and art, and historic structures and sites. IMLS partners on the project with the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities, the National Park Service, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the National Endowment for the Humanities. The National Trust for Historic Preservation, the program's principal private partner, raises private matching funds for projects and provides resources and assistance to a host of SAT grantees and preservation projects all across the country.

Last year, IMLS and its partners awarded 40 grants totaling $10.52 million. The grants were used to conserve prehistoric artifacts at the Utah Museum of Natural History, collections of Historic Jamestowne and Valley Forge, and the USS Becuna, the only remaining World War II fleet submarine of its class.

In 2009, grant amounts range from $25,000 to $700,000 for collections and from $125,000 to $700,000 for historic property and sites projects. All the awards must be matched 1:1. Eligible applicants include nonprofit, tax-exempt 501(c), U.S. organizations, units of state or local government, and federally recognized Indian Tribes.

The Save America's Treasures program accepts online applications through http://www.grants.gov/, the federal online grantmaking portal. Paper applications will not be accepted. The deadline for applications is May 22, 2009.

Applicants can address questions to staff at the following agencies:

• For Collections Projects:
  • Christine Henry, IMLS, (202) 653-4641 or chenry@imls.gov
  • Michael McLaughlin, National Endowment for the Arts, (202) 682-5457 or mclaughm@arts.gov
  • Laura Word, NEH, (202) 606-8570 or lword@neh.gov
    
    
• For Historic Property Projects:
  • National Park Service, (202) 354-2020 or NPS_treasures@nps.gov

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In Your Neighborhood Meeting in Crawfordsville
Local History Services staff will be available for short consultations at the sites below. You are invited to meet, share and connect with other historical organizations and county historians. Feel free to call in advance about issues you are facing or just drop in to ask a question or share a success story.

• Thursday, April 2, 10:30 to 11:30 a.m.
  Old Jail Museum, 225 N. Washington St., Crawfordsville
   

Volunteer for the National History Day in Indiana Contests!
The Indiana Historical Society is recruiting volunteers for the 2009 National History Day in Indiana district and state contests. 

National History Day is a yearlong education program dedicated to improving history education in elementary and secondary schools throughout the country. State finalists compete against students from all over the country in College Park, Md. 

The NHDI student competition engages about 3,500 students each year. Students in grades four through 12 explore a historical subject related to an annual theme and then use their research to create imaginative exhibits, original performances, media documentaries, papers and Web sites. The 2009 theme is The Individual in History: Actions and Legacies.

We are looking for volunteers to help with our district contests and the state contest in Indianapolis. Volunteers assist students and parents, act as judges evaluating the projects based on their research, and help IHS staff manage the contests. 

Contest dates for Indiana are:

• April 4: East District at Muncie Central High School
• April 4: Southeast District at Brown County High School in Nashville
• May 9: State Contest at the University of Indianapolis

For more information or to volunteer, please contact Aileen Novick at anovick@indianahistory.org or (317) 234-0085.

For more information on National History Day in Indiana, please visit www.indianahistory.org/historyday.

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National Trust Preservation Grants Awarded
The first round of grants, totaling $276,000, is being awarded by the Midwest Office of the National Trust for Historic Preservation to 13 historic preservation projects in six states across the Midwest, providing critical funding that will help ensure that vital historic resources in small-towns in the Midwest are not lost.

The grants are from the Jeffris' Heartland Fund – a new fund targeting more than $500,000 to historic preservation projects in smaller Midwestern communities, made available to the National Trust by the Jeffris Family Foundation of Janesville, Wisconsin.

In determining the grant recipients for the first round of grants, the Midwest Office of the National Trust for Historic Preservation was guided by four criteria: historic significance of the site; overall quality of the project's plan; organizational excellence of the recipient organization; and the project's potential both to positively impact the community and to demonstrate a high level of community support for the project.

Grants were awarded to the following organizations:

• Illinois
  • Old State Capitol Foundation, for sustainability and innovation at Illinois' Historic Sites
• Indiana
  • Switzerland County Historical Society, Inc., for an historic structure report of the Thiebaud House
• Iowa
  • Corning Opera House Cultural Center, for a condition report and design development for rehabilitation of the town's historic opera house
  • E.E. Warren Opera House Association, for a historic structure report of the Opera House
• Michigan
  • Bay Arts Council, Inc., for the Bay Arts Council Masonic Temple Planning Project
  • Eaton Rapids Area Historical Society, for a master plan of Red Ribbon Hall
  • Wexford County Historical Society, for a rehabilitation master plan of the town's Carnegie Library
  • Peter Dougherty Society, for an interpretive and space use plan for the Peter Dougherty House
• Minnesota
  • Armory Arts and Music Center, for a capital campaign study and architectural renderings of a proposed housing redevelopment near the Armory
  • Friends of B'Nai Abraham, for completion of design work to allow restoration of the lone synagogue on Minnesota's Iron Range to move ahead
  • River Town Restoration, Inc., for an historic bridge management plan for the Point Douglas-St. Louis River Road Bridge
• Missouri
  • Banneker School Foundation, for a master plan for restoration of the Banneker School
• Ohio
  • Ohio Historical Society, for an historic structures report of the Rankin House 

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New Server Installed at the Working Men’s Institute
The Working Men’s Institute has recently installed a new server to allow for further growth of their digital collections. The server was made possible by an LSTA grant. 

Over the past three years, the WMI has digitized selected portions of their archives by means of LSTA grants and the help of the Indiana Digital Library. In addition, this spring they launched a new Web site that offers online collections, online finding aids, a photographic history of New Harmony and a virtual tour of the institute.

For more information, please visit http://www.workingmensinstitute.org/.

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Local:

Director of the General Lew Wallace Study and Museum in Crawfordsville, Ind.
The General Lew Wallace Study and Museum is searching for a Director that is creative, dynamic and energized to plan and direct all museum activities and operations.

Situated in west central Indiana, the General Lew Wallace Study and Museum is approximately 60 minutes from Indianapolis and 3 hours from Chicago. The Museum houses the private study of Major General Lew Wallace, author of Ben-Hur, and contains items collected by Wallace during his life as author, soldier, statesman, artist and inventor. The Museum was honored in 2008 with the prestigious National Medal for Museum and Library Service awarded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services, one of only five winners in the nation.

The new Director will be expected to work successfully in a team-based environment with three staff members and a large volunteer base. Strong networking skills as well as honed interpersonal and communication skills are required for success. The new Director will proactively cultivate high-level donors and develop key relationships with current and potential individual, corporate and government supporters to ensure the Museum’s financial wellness as well as exploring and applying for grant opportunities. The successful candidate will implement the strategic initiatives as outlined by the Board of Trustees recently adopted five year plan that will continue to advance the Museum’s position as a vibrant and integral institution of national distinction. The position has a dual reporting responsibility to the Board of Trustees of the Lew Wallace Study Preservation Society and the Director of the Parks and Recreation Department of the City of Crawfordsville.

Education requirements: Master’s degree in Museum Studies, Public History, History, Art History, Anthropology or related field. A Bachelor’s degree with relevant experience will also be considered.

The salary range is $33,150 to $37,142 per year.

To apply, send cover letter, resume, references and a writing sample to:

Search Committee
General Lew Wallace Study and Museum
P.O. Box 662
200 Wallace Ave.
Crawfordsville, IN 47933

Electronic applications and submissions will not be accepted. This posting will close on May 15, 2009.

For more information about the General Lew Wallace Study and Museum, please visit http://www.ben-hur.com/.

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History Under Siege: A Guide to America’s Most Endangered Civil War Battlefields Report
This report from the Civil War Preservation Trust is now available online. The report lists the 10 most endangered battlefields and 15 “at risk” sites.

To view the report, please visit http://www.civilwar.org/historyundersiege/.

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Do you know someone who might want to receive Communique Online? Anyone may join the mailing list by e-mailing col@indianahistory.org.

If your historical organization, genealogical society or museum has changed its address or phone number in the past six months, please send the updated information to Coordinator, Local History Services, at the above e-mail, or Eugene and Marilyn Glick Indiana History Center, 450 W. Ohio St., Indianapolis, IN 46202.