Conservation ConneCTion

12/22/2023

Thank you to everyone who participated in Museum Makeover, the Collections Assessment Grant, the Finding Aid project, the Subject Guide project and much more. We’ve enjoyed working with all of you and are looking forward to seeing you in 2024!

Found on Google from pinterest.com

02/09/2023

Excited to share the video celebrating some of the terrific projects completed during year 1 of Museum Makeover. What projects at your museum do you want to makever next year?

The Museum Makeover program provides professional on-site consultation and direct implementation funds for projects that improve the visitor experience at Co...

11/15/2022

Grant applications for Museum Makeover will be available starting on Monday, November 28th. Check the Conservation ConneCTion website for new grant guidelines (will be posted soon!) and links to the application.

Providing learning opportunities for collecting institutions through site visits, hands-on learning, and webinars/workshops.

10/05/2022

Have you applied for the Collections Assessment Grant? You have until midnight on October 11th to submit your application for a free assessment of your museum or archive collection. Visit the webpage to learn more - https://ctconservationconnection.org/collections-assess-grant

The Collections Assessment Grant Program (CAG) provides small and mid-sized museums with a free assessment of their museum or archive collections. Successful applicants will receive a free half-day site visit from a museum curator or archivist who will examine collections on exhibit and in storage, and review policies and procedures related to collection care and management. Recipients will receive a collection assessment report with a prioritized list of recommendations for improving the care and management of collections. These recommendations are intended to help institutions improve the care of their collections, alert board members to collections care concerns, provide documentation that can support development of a long-range collection/preservation plan, and be used to fundraise for collection projects.

While priority will be given to institutions with budgets under $50,000, institutions with a budget not exceeding $250,000 are eligible.

10/04/2022

This morning is the first class in the 5-part Archives 101 Webinar Series. Are you joining us this morning? Share your thoughts after the class!

09/12/2022

Did you miss today's information session on the new Collections Assessment Grant? You can watch the recording and learn about the application process here -
https://youtu.be/AGN9QfzjJ6M

08/11/2022

15 Museums and historical societies received Museum Makeover grants and the implementation of their projects are happening!

First one in the books - Wilton Historical Society. They received funding to improve the capacity of their collection storage room and improve access. Under the direction of their Traveling Curators, Maggie Dimock and Diane Lee, they migrated to moveable shelving and an improved storage design. It’s exciting to see the outcome of months of planning and work!

Congratulation to Nick Foster and everyone at Wilton!

Here are the before and after photos.

09/11/2017

Help is Available to Make Local Archives Discoverable on the Internet

Do you have collections in your archives that you want to make accessible to researchers and students?
Do you think it's important for people outside your institution
to know about the collections in your archives?
If you answered yes to these questions,
then you will want to learn more about the Finding Aid Project!

The archival collections held by Connecticut’s mid-sized and small cultural heritage organizations are incredibly important in documenting and understanding the history of our state. These repositories hold the private and public history of the people, communities, businesses and political entities that have shaped the history of Connecticut. They are the threads that tie together diverse institutions and support local identity.

The Connecticut State Library and Conservation ConneCTion invite museums, historical societies, public libraries with local history collections and other organizations with publicly accessible archives to apply to the Finding Aid Project. This grant-funded program will help cultural heritage organizations make their archive collections available on the Internet by creating new finding aids or making existing finding aids discoverable following archival best practices. This program will provide a free half-day (3 hour) site visit from a Traveling Archivist to assist sites on this project, as well as training workshops.

Any Connecticut museum, historical society, public library with a local history collection, or an organization with a publicly accessible archive, may apply. Applying institutions must have accessible collections and be able to identify 5 important, unique and/or regularly used collections for which finding aids are needed.

To apply please visit https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/FindingAidProgram.
Deadline for online applications is Monday, October 23, 2017.

This project was made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

For more information on these programs please contact Kathy Craughwell-Varda at Conservation ConneCTion – [email protected] or 203-241-0618.

About IMLS: The Institute of Museum and Library Services is the primary source of federal support for the nation’s 123,000 libraries and 35,000 museums. Our mission has been to inspire libraries and museums to advance innovation, lifelong learning, and cultural and civic engagement. For the past 20 years, our grant making, policy development, and research has helped libraries and museums deliver valuable services that make it possible for communities and individuals to thrive. To learn more, visit www.imls.gov and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

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03/06/2017

Starting our week at the last of 6 Archives Roundtables. We are at the Connecticut State Archives for a program with Kathy Foulke on Introduction to Digitization. We've had a great turn out for these programs. Thank you for participating!

02/03/2017

We're at Western Connecticut State University in the Haas Library to learn from archivist Brian Stevens on how to add finding aids to Connecticut Archives Online. Full house!

01/09/2017

Participants working together in an archival arrangement activity.

01/09/2017

Starting this cold morning at the Litchfield Historical Society learning to arrange and describe archives, 4th in our 6-part Archives Roundtable workshop series.