Connecting to Collections – Planning for a Florida Collections Assessment

[StephGaub]

From the Florida Association of Museums' website

The 2005 Heritage Health Index Report found that American collections are at risk of damage because of improper environmental conditions and storage and are vulnerable to catastrophic loss. 77% of institutions do not specifically allocate funds for preservation in their budgets. The condition of 30 % of artifacts in the nation’s collections is not known. What of Florida’s collections?

Join colleagues from museums, libraries, archives, and historic and archaeological collections to plan a statewide assessment of Florida’s collections and to develop strategies to educate legislators and public officials about their responsibility to preserve and conserve Florida’s collections.

The first of three Forums will be held in Miami on Saturday September 6 at the Lowe Art Museum at the University of Miami from 1:30 to 5 pm. The second Forum will take place in Orlando in the fall, and the third in Tallahassee in March 2009. Each Forum will be followed by a reception for area legislators. The Forums are scheduled in three cities to allow professionals from around the state to participate.

This is a collaborative project of the Florida Association of Museums, Florida Art Museum Directors Association, Florida Library Association, Florida Public Archaeology Network, Florida Trust for Historic Preservation, Department of State, and Society of Florida Archivists. Nineteen states received funding from the Institute of Museum and Library Services to plan a statewide assessment. This is Florida’s opportunity to assess the state of our collections, and with the results of the assessment in hand, develop statewide policies and identify funding sources to secure Florida’s collections. Come help shape this important initiative.

To register for the Forum (there is no fee to attend) please go to
www.flamuseums.org
For questions about the project please contact Myriam Springuel, Project Manager at
Myriam@SpringuelConsulting.com

To learn more about Connecting to Collections, please go to
http://www.imls.gov/collections/index.htm

To learn more about the Heritage Health Index, please go to
http://www.heritagepreservation.org/HHI/index.html

The Forum is scheduled the day before the Florida Association of Museums annual conference, which includes a Sunday workshop on Collections Care. For information about the FAM conference and its discounted hotel please go to:
www.flamuseums.org/programming/conference/