Preserving Colorado History: A virtual conference for small rural Colorado museums and libraries

Registration is now open for a one-day virtual conference, being held on Friday October 9, to provide professional education and networking opportunities for rural museums and libraries of Colorado.

Through partnerships between History Colorado, the Colorado State Library, Western Colorado University, and the Crested Butte Mountain Heritage Museum, small and rural organizations are invited to learn from historic collection specialists and develop a network of support.

Conference Goals

1. Provide education on how to care for historic collections for small and rural organizations that rely on volunteers, a small staff, and limited budgets to care for their local and state history.
2. Create a network among Colorado’s small and rural museums and libraries, recognizing that our historic organizations share similar challenges as well as unique talent and expertise. Through this conference, we aim to build support systems and recognize resources that can help us all better preserve and share history.
3. Connect students with museums and libraries in need of interns and volunteers, providing students with the opportunity to gain real world experience.

In this 2020 conference, sessions will focus on the preservation and sharing of historic photograph collections.

Conference Sessions Descriptions

10:00 am – 11:00 am 
Identification of Photographs and Processes – Kevin Smith, History Colorado

This session will briefly outline the history of photography and photographic processes and the development of different photographic formats.  Several types of processes and formats will be covered, as well as tips in identifying them for dating and preservation purposes.  Examples of processes include cased photographs like Daguerreotypes and Ambrotypes, unique processes like tintype and cyanotype, glass plates and lantern slides, nitrate and acetate film, various kinds of prints, and more contemporary color processes.

Zoom Webinar: Participants cannot be seen or heard, but can interact with questions.

11:15 am – 12:15 pm
Preservation and Care of Photograph Collections – Kevin Smith, History Colorado

This session will cover standards and best practices for museums to implement long term preservation of their photograph collections.  Topics include; environmental controls and standards, ideal storage, handling, types of damage or deterioration and ways to address it, and process-specific preservation tips.  Session material will accommodate for museums and organizations of all sizes so attendees can best plan for their unique photographic collections.

Zoom Webinar: Participants cannot be seen or heard, but can interact with questions.

12:15 pm – 1:30 pm
Break for lunch

1:30 pm – 2:30 pm
Copyright and Use – Melissa de Bie, History Colorado

This session will define and explain rights and reproductions in museums, giving guidance for standards and best practices.  Topics will include applicable guidelines for identifying differences between copyright and license, fair use and rights laws, risk assessment, and other typical permission and use situations for museums and cultural institutions.

Zoom Webinar: Participants cannot be seen or heard, but can interact with questions.

2:45 pm – 3:45 pm
Care of Digital Collections – Leigh Jeremias, Colorado State Library

Caring for digital collection is not simply about collecting or making a digital copy of an object. It is a process of collecting, reformatting, cataloging, storing, and sharing digital objects. With this session, you will learn the fundamentals of digital collections care including collecting or selection for digitization, digital capture, preservation, description, and sharing.

Zoom Webinar: Participants cannot be seen or heard, but can interact with questions.

4:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Strategy and Application- All Presenters

This open forum session will address practical strategies and applications for photograph care and preservation, rights and reproductions, and digital preservation and care.

Zoom Meeting: Participants can be seen and heard. You are encouraged to discuss and ask questions.

5:00pm – 5:30pm
Happy Hour: Connecting Museums, Libraries, and Students

This open session will provide the opportunity for any museums and libraries to connect with each other, share contact information, and for students to connect with organizations.

Zoom Meeting: Participants can be seen and heard. You are encouraged to discuss and ask questions.

Registration

Registration for students is free.  For more information about the event and to register visit the Crested Butte Mountain Heritage site, here.  If you have questions about the event please contact Nel Burkett, Curator, Crested Butte Mountain Heritage Museum, at 970-349-1880 or at curator@crestedbuttemuseum.com