The following list includes webinars and online courses discussing a variety of topics that could benefit our partners! Know of any opportunities that are not listed but should be? Let us know! Contact Special Projects Coordinator
Liz Hobson.
OCTOBER 2017Online Course
Assessing Risk to Cultural Property 1
Museum StudyOctober 2, 4-week course
Assessing risks to cultural property, including but not limited to Museum, Library, and Archive collections, is becoming a fundamental ability for collection care professionals. This introductory course provides a firm foundation on which to build an understanding of risk-based approaches to cultural property protection. Ideas associated with the terms hazard, risk,
deterioration, damage, and loss are clarified. Risks are defined as departures from the goal of shepherding a collection forward in time without it suffering damage or loss. We will explore the importance of comprehensiveness and of clear definitions of risks. Tools are provided and practiced to ensure comprehensive sets of well defined risks can be developed based on agents of
change and types of risk. Participants will develop a useful set of defined type 1 (rare and potentially catastrophic) specific risks relevant to their institution. The potential impact of those risks will be ranked according to estimates of likelihood and impact. This will provide focus in the development of emergency preparedness plans and resources. It will also provide a platform
for more effective communication among functional groups within your institution including collection management, registration, conservation, facilities management, security, finance, and possibly others.
Online Course
Understanding Photographic and Graphic Arts Materials
Museum Study
October 2, 4-week course
This course introduces the various non-paper supports that contain both positive and negative images from the dawn of photography through the 20th C. Using the resources and materials/media available to them, the participants will get practice in identification of the photographic materials that will strengthen their newly learned skills and help them gain confidence in their knowledge.
Online Course
Creating Exhibitions Through the Collective
Museum Study
October 2, 4-week course
Want to create an exhibit that utilizes your community? If so, Creating Exhibitions through the Collective is for you. This class will be focused on community co-curation. We will investigate how community involvement during all stages of the exhibit development process can lead to more interpretation that is credible, community empowerment, and advocacy. Tips and strategies will be provided to build sustainable frameworks for this type of engagement. The topics covered in this class are heavily dependent on seeking out a multitude of community voices and developing strategies for external participatory engagements in a collective manner. Participants will be encouraged to generate and refine their own strategies for community engagement.
Online Course Project Management for History Professionals
American Association for State and Local History
October 16-November 10
Do you often juggle several projects, trying to keep each one focused and on track? Project management provides valuable training that will help you organize, manage, and successfully complete projects. This online course shows you how to implement internationally recognized project management principles in a history context.
Webinar
Inclusive Storytelling in Museums
American Alliance of Museums
October 19, 2-3 p.m. Eastern Time
Join this talk-show style online conversation to discuss “Out West: LGBT Stories of the American West”, a program series designed to illuminate positive contributions of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) community to the history and culture of the American West. Attendees will gain a deeper understanding of the power of storytelling in our practice and how it relates to our audiences.
Webinar
Best Practices for Developing History Internships
American Association for State and Local History
October 24, 3 p.m. Eastern Time
Creating an internship program at your historic site can not only benefit your organization, but should also benefit your interns and lets you help develop the next generation of history professionals. This webinar will give you tips and strategies for creating an internship program that both you and your interns will get something out of. We’ll cover the ethics of internships, best practices for managing interns, and a look at some common challenges and possible solutions. You’ll leave with ideas you can use at every organization, no matter its size.
Webinar
WWI Resources for the Classroom
The National Archives
October 24, 7-8 p.m. Eastern Time
Connect with new resources for teaching WWI during this fun and informative webinar! Remembering WWI is an app for iPads and Android tablets for exploring, collaborating, and engaging with our extensive collection of WWI photographs and moving images, along with contributions from other organizations and individuals. App developer Historypin will introduce the app and demonstrate how teachers can navigate thousands of WWI photo and film primary sources from the holdings of the National Archives, and build their own narratives using the core collection-creation feature. Dive into analyzing thematic content within the app and explore how you can use this rich content in the classroom. Participants are invited to follow along on the Remembering WWI app, but access to the app is not required to participate in the webinar. We will also highlight additional classroom tools for engaging students with WWI resources through DocsTeach.org.
Webinar
Virtual Genealogy Fair
National Archives Kansas City
October 25, 10am-4pm Eastern Time
On Wednesday, October 25, the National Archives will host the fifth virtual Genealogy Fair via webcast. Viewers can participate with the presenters and other family historians during the live event on YouTube. All of the session videos and handouts will be available from this web page free of charge. You can watch the sessions and download the materials at your convenience.
The National Archives holds the permanently valuable records of the Federal government. These include records of interest to genealogists, such as pension files, ship passenger lists, census and Freedmen’s Bureau materials. Live captioning will be available online. If you require an alternative or additional accommodation for an event (such as a sign-language interpreter), please send an email to KYR@nara.gov or call 202-357-5260 in advance. Click here for the day's schedule.
Webinar
Bringing the Past to the Present: Contemporary Issues at Historic Sites and Museums
American Association for State and Local History
October 25, 3 p.m. Eastern Time
Are you interested in connecting your site’s history with a current issue? Or wondering how you can use your site to spark dialogue and encourage visitors to take action? Or to navigate sensitive conversations with co-workers and visitors who might be resistant to discussing contemporary topics? This interactive webinar will explore how historic sites and museums can bring contemporary issues to light at their sites. Using Eastern State Penitentiary Historic Site as a case study, speakers Lauren Zalut and Annie Anderson will discuss their work linking the past and the present through the stories of incarceration. The presenters will discuss their site’s progression from solely interpreting the past to interpreting both historic and current events. They will also provide participants with a toolkit of actionable steps and resources that can be scaled up or down, depending on the size of each participant’s site.
NOVEMBER 2017
Webinar
Historic House Call: Interpreting Historic Landscapes
American Association for State and Local History
November 2
Over the past decade there has been much hand-wringing about the decline and fall of the historic house museum and much attention paid to strategies for resuscitating or abandoning them. All the while, a key resource for expanding the meaning of historic sites, deepening the visitor experience, and enhancing sustainability lay right outside the door: the historic landscape. This webinar will examine the variety of ways in which sites across the country are approaching the interpretation of diverse historic landscapes, from large estates to small urban sites, in order to expand a site's significance and stimulate engagement for contemporary audiences. Join Sean Sawyer as he presents case studies focused on extracting lessons from the front lines of historic landscape interpretation. Issues examined will include: shifting organizational culture and public perception to understand the significance and value of historic landscapes; the development of site-wide interpretation to include historic landscapes as integral, rather than supplementary; the inclusion of viewsheds within the interpretation of historic landscapes; the logistics of landscape tours, including pricing, guide training, interpretive technologies, accessibility, and weather concerns; and tactics for community engagement through the historic landscape.
At the conclusion of the webinar, participants will: 1) look at their site’s landscapes with fresh eyes and be inspired to promote and support their research and interpretation; 2) appreciate historic landscapes as integral, rather than supplementary, to historic structures and collections; 3) understand the concept of viewsheds as integral to historic landscapes; 4) learn about addressing the logistics of landscape tours, including pricing, guide training, interpretive technologies, accessibility, and weather concerns; and 5) appreciate historic landscapes as offering potent opportunities for community engagement.
Online Course
Interpretive Writing
Museum Study
November 6, 4-week course
This is a basic interpretive writing course designed to be a follow-up course for the Introduction to Heritage Interpretation course, and future interpretation courses. It will give participants an understanding of and skill in development of actual "interpretive" writing based on Tilden's Interpretive Principles.
Online Course
Care and Management for Archives and Works on Paper
Museum Study
November 6, 4-week course
Conservators and Archivists often work together to develop the most successful approaches to care and preservation while allowing access for research and exhibition. Best practices, including practical policies and procedures are key to good archives management and care. This 4 week course will introduce basic professional standards and procedures for archives collections management and recognize the roles of archivists and conservators in the care of archives collections. Topics covered will include collections governance, policies, and procedural guidelines for condition assessments, handling, housing, storage, exhibition and use in research.
Webinar
Active Collections: How to Create a Leaner Collection for Greater Impact
American Association for State and Local History
November 7, 3 p.m. Eastern Time
Looking to explore options of what it means to steward leaner, more sustainable collections with greater impact? Join Elee Wood, Rainey Tisdale, and Trevor Jones for a lively interactive discussion of ideas and action items on innovative and possibly unconventional ideas for collections stewardship and management. Topics will include new approaches to collections development, cataloging, policy, deaccessioning. Participants will gain practical strategies and tools to shape your collection for greater impact.
Webinar
New Member Orientation
American Association for State and Local History
November 8, 3 p.m. Eastern Time
Are you a new member of AASLH? Interested in AASLH membership? Eager to make the most of your important role in this community? Join AASLH staff for an interactive orientation on the services, programs, events, resources, and networking opportunities available to AASLH members.
Webinar
Interpreting Difficult History: Histories of Slavery, Violence and Oppression
American Association for State and Local History
November 10, 3 p.m. Eastern Time
How do history workers engage audiences in learning about difficult histories? These are the tough stories. These are the recollections from history that can be upsetting, uncomfortable and at times even shocking to learn. This session will involve participants in learning about how to develop and deliver interpretations of difficult histories with strategies that are sensitive and offer ethical representations of historical Others. Historical representations of difficult histories can go beyond informing audiences by encouraging audience members to empathize deeply with the historical suffering of Others and to be encouraged to make meaningful connections to those who suffered and how their suffering is meaningful to society today.
Join Julie Rose as she leads a discussion based on participants’ front line experiences working with visitors and fellow history workers in working through difficult histories. We will talk about how the narratives we use to interpret slavery, war, and mass violence can be met with resistances, challenges and expressions of disbelief from our audiences. We will briefly discuss why difficult histories matter and why they feel upsetting and uncomfortable. We will discuss sensitive methods to encourage resistant learners to reconsider the tough stories that are not only important histories to recall but can be used to motivate feelings of historical empathy as part of social justice education.
Webinar
Policies and Procedures of Deaccessioning
American Association for State and Local History
November 14, 3 p.m. Eastern Time
This webinar will examine the necessary components of an effective deaccessioning policy, including options for removal, ethical considerations, broad-level legal concerns (not from a legal professional!), and general best practices. Options for dealing with items such as found-in-collections and abandoned property will also be addressed.
Online Course
Basics of Archives
American Association for State and Local History
November 15-December 15
The newly revised Basics of Archives online course is designed to give organizations and individuals who are responsible for the care of historical records an introduction to the core aspects of managing and protecting historical records collections, using appropriate principles and best practices.
Webinar
New Museum Member Welcome
American Alliance of Museums
November 15, 2-3 p.m. (Eastern)
This orientation is targeted at new museum members, although any member wishing to gain better knowledge of AAM benefits is welcome. The webinar will lead participants through their benefits and explain how to connect to AAM resources and how to connect with other museum professionals through networking and social media. We’ll also cover tips for getting started on advocacy.
DECEMBER 2017
Webinar
Caring for Photograph Collections
American Association for State and Local History
December 5, 3 p.m. Eastern Time
Photographic media are sensitive materials that require special housing to ensure their longevity. This webinar will examine suitable housing supplies, including paper, plastics, interleaving papers, boxes, and more. Environmental parameters for storage, proper labeling techniques, and safe handling of photographs will also be discussed.
Webinar
Environmental Sustainability Best Practices from the Field
American Alliance of Museums
December 6, 2-3:30 p.m. Eastern Time
Join museum professionals from the Smithsonian Institution Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage and the Smithsonian Office of Facilities Management and Reliability as they discuss the environmentally sustainable best practices they instituted within their institutions. This webinar will feature colleagues that have been able to set and match realistic goals in relation to available resources; and, in doing so, were able to significantly impact their institutions. These organizations are winners of the 2017 Sustainability Excellence Awards, a signature program of AAM PIC Green.
Webinar
New Member Orientation
American Association for State and Local History
December 6, 3 p.m. Eastern Time
Are you a new member of AASLH? Interested in AASLH membership? Eager to make the most of your important role in this community? Join AASLH staff for an interactive orientation on the services, programs, events, resources, and networking opportunities available to AASLH members.
Webinar
Digital Humanities for State and Local History
American Association for State and Local History
December 7, 3 p.m.
This webinar is designed to introduce digital technologies, approaches, and platforms to those interested in developing digital state and local history in low and no-cost environments. We will define the field, explore a subset of projects that can serve as a model for one’s own, and discuss common issues beginners face in becoming fluent in digital humanities. Digital archiving, storytelling, visualization, and data analysis will all be discussed through explorations of OpenRefine, Scalar, Tableau, Carto, Murkutu, and other tools. In addition reading lists, hyperlinks, and resources will be shared following the Q&A.
Webinar
Caring for Paper Collections
American Association for State and Local History
December 12, 3 p.m. Eastern Time
This webinar will give an introduction to best practices in caring for any paper-based collection. Topics covered will include: handling guidelines, assessing storage materials and special needs items, prioritizing for treatment, and understanding preservation and conservation terminology. This program is appropriate for those looking to develop new skills, as well as for individuals wanting to increase their knowledge about best practices in the care of paper-based collections.
Webinar
Designing for Outrage: Inviting Disruption into Exhibitions
American Alliance of Museums
December 14, 2-3:30 p.m. Eastern Time
Violent murders, rampant xenophobia, homophobia, racism, and gender and economic injustices vibrate around us. Is there a way that exhibitions can create spaces that authentically address these issues in all of their moral messiness without rushing to feel-good emotions, harmony or even empathy? Can there be space for outrage? An exploration of four sites that are innovating to startle, puzzle, enrage, delight, surprise, and evoke outrage will offer critical examples and challenges for creating exhibits that invite marginal, subversive, or fragmented narratives and that give visitors an opportunity to explore a full range of issues and emotions. Find out how you can design for outrage in your institution.
