ATALM and PIMA to Co-sponsor WMA Annual Meeting & Conference

    




By Stacy Hoshino

An exciting and recent development is that Association of Tribal Archives, Libraries and Museums (ATALM) has agreed to be a co-sponsor of theWMA Annual Meeting and Conference. Together with other co-sponsors, HMA and Pacific Islands Museums Association (PIMA), the WMA Annual Meeting will be an exciting time to share our knowledge and experience with a wider collective of professionals in the field of collection management. ATALM is a national non-profit membership organization.

It maintains a network of support for indigenous programs, provides culturally relevant programming and services, encourages collaboration among tribal and non-tribal cultural institutions, and articulates contemporary issues related to developing and sustaining the cultural sovereignty of Native Nations. Incorporated in 2010, the Association of Tribal Archives, Libraries, and Museums is a non-profit organization that is building on the foundation of earlier efforts that began in 2002 with the first National Conference of Tribal Archives, Libraries, and Museums held in Mesa, Arizona sponsored by the Arizona State Museum and the Arizona State Library, Archives, and Public Records.

A few of its Hawai‘i members include, Library and Information Science Department, University of Hawai‘i, Mänoa; ‘Ahahui Ka‘ahumanu; Alu Like, Inc.; Midkiff Learning Center at Kamehameha Schools; Bishop Museum; Hawai‘inuiäkea School of Hawaiian Knowledge – University of Hawai‘i at Mänoa; Papahana Kuaola; Native Hawaiian EducationCouncil; to name a few.

Honolulu Academy of Arts Appoints New Director

Stephan Jost, who has led Vermont’s Shelburne Museum for the past five years, will be the new director of the Honolulu Academy of Arts beginning May 2.

T. K. McClintock in the Forbidden City - By Liane Ikemoto

The Hawai‘i Museums Association, University of Hawai‘i Museum Studies Graduate Certificate program, and the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum co-sponsored a special presentation, Conservation of a Chinese Masterpiece: The Forbidden City’s Juanqinzhai Theater and Studio in the Qianlong Garden Complex, given by T. K. McClintock, Technical Advisor to the World Monuments Fund (WMF) for this project.

His lecture described the planning, logistics, technical studies, treatments, and outcomes of this six-year (2003-08) conservation project, which was supported by the WMF and the Palace Museum in Beijing, China.McClintock is the head of the Massachusetts-based conservation firm Studio TKM.

McClintock oversaw architectural conservation treatment; planning and developed a collaborative partnership with professionals from the Palace Museum to ensure that the project maintained a balance of the museum’s traditional techniques with a Western conservation approach. McClintock found that traditional practices used by museum staff were often restoration-based, addressing outward appearances rather than the retention of original materials, a practice popular in Western conservation. When original materials could not be salvaged with conservation treatment, McClintock encouraged the use of traditional techniques and materials to produce replacement materials as close to the original as possible, based on material studies and the Palace Museum’s historical records.  McClintock described his collaboration and information exchange with Palace museum professionals and local artisans as the most engaging and valuable aspect of the Juanqinzhai project and is crucial to the continued support of the Qianlong Garden Complex within the Forbidden City.

The event was co-sponsored by Hawai'i Museums Association, Bishop Museum and the University of Hawai`i Museums Studies Graduate Certificate Program.

Maximizing Visitor Experience

Wendy Meluch and Stephanie Weaver

On January 22, Wendy Meluch, principal of Visitor Studies Services, based in Novato, CA, and Stephanie Weaver of Experienceology, a visitor experience consultancy based in San Diego, lead the presentation and workshop,Understanding Visitor Surveys and Customer Service: A Workshop to Maximize What Your Audience Knows About Your Institution.

This professional development workshop took place at Bishop Museum’s Paki Hall and was attended by well over 30 people that were taught strategies on conducting surveys to understand what visitors are thinking about their institutions, ways to accommodate visitors to museums and informal learning centers so their experiences are good and hopefully one that resonates so they return, among other topics covered.

This workshop was co-sponsored by the HMA, the Museums Studies Graduate Certificate Program, University of Hawai‘i, Bishop Museum.

May 23-28th, 2011 - Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections

Join us in the City by the Bay, May 23-28^th, 2011 for the 26^th Annual Meeting of the Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections, hosted by the California Academy of Sciences (CAS).  We will be joined this year by our colleagues from the Natural Science Collections Alliance (NSCA) for the fourth joint meeting of these two societies.  We think that this will be an exciting and productive meeting for both groups and look forward to continuing our collaborations.

The link for the site is: http://research.calacademy.org/spnhc
1) To register for the meeting, you can register yourself and you can add a guest to your registration for all of the evening social events by choosing the ADD A Guest options.  You will be charged for all of the options that you selection in one transaction.  However, if you want to bring a guest on the field trips you will need to start from the beginning of the registration process, choose “Guest” as the registration type, and then you will be given only field trip choices to pick from.  You will have to run your credit card through again to pay for that transaction.  We apologize for the clumsiness of this process, but we had a short time to get the system set up and this was the quickest way to do it.  There are instructions on the meeting registration web page, and if you have any trouble, please be sure to contact us

2) We have negotiated with the hotel for a few rooms for students.  A double occupancy room is normally $134 with the 3rd & 4th people paying an additional $20 each.  For students they will allow 4 students per room without paying the additional $20 for the 3rd and 4th people.  Since most institutions will not likely have 4 students attending, please encourage your students to try to pair up with other students to save some money!!

3) While the dates of the conference are 23-28 May, please note that the workshop on georeferencing will take place on 21-22 May.

We are looking forward to seeing you in San Francisco in May!

1 Day Workshop: Understanding Visitors Surveys and Customer Service

Understanding Visitor Surveys and Customer Service: A Workshop to Maximize What Your Audience Knows About Your Institution

One-Day workshop led by Wendy Meluch and Stephanie Weaver
January 22, 2011, 9:30 am to 3:00 pm
Paki Hall, Bishop Museum
$25 Student Members, $45 HMA Members; $75 Non-members

9:30 - 11:30: Learn to design and to collection info on visitor expectations, satisfaction and demographics, and how to analyze data. Wendy Meluch, instructor.

1:30 - 3:30: Learn to engage the visitor by reviewing "how an understanding of visitor motivations can inform and influence marketing and programming." Stephanie Weaver, instructor.

Wendy Meluch, is principal of Visitor Studies Services, and worked with a wide variety of institutions to help them bring the visitor voice into exhibit and program development. Clients include Bishop Museum; the Exploratorium; Chabot Space & Science Center; Anchorage Museum; & San Francisco Zoo. Her special interests in the field include visitor satisfaction, serving populations with special needs, and bilingualism in the museum environment. She holds an MA in Museum Studies from San Francisco State University and BAs in Anthropology and Tourism Management.

Stephanie Weaver is principal of Experienceology, a visitor experience consultancy based in San Diego, CA. She has a BA in film & design, and an MPH in health education. She developed her problem-solving approach working in the healthcare and museum fields. She has the ability to distill and synthesize key information and is a highly rated workshop presenter and meeting facilitator. She has created a how-to handbook- Creating Great Visitor Experiences: A Guide for Museums, Parks, Zoos, Gardens & Libraries. Clients include the San Diego Natural History Museums, California State Parks, Midway Aircraft Carrier Museums, Quail Botanical Gardens, Oakland Museum of California, Philbrook Museum of Art.

Lecture Dec. 9, 6-7pm. Conservation of a Chinese Masterpiece, Juanqinzhai in the Forbidden City.

Conservation of a Chinese Masterpiece, Juanqinzhai in the Forbidden City.

a special presentation by T.K. McClintock Chief Technical Advisor to the World Monuments Fund for the conservation of Juanqinzhai

at Bishop Museum in the Atherton Halau

Thursday, December 9, 2010

6:00-7:00 pm (arrive early for refreshments at 5:30pm)

Juanqinzhai is the most private building in a group of pavilions, gardens and courtyards that was built under the direct supervision of the Qianlong Emperor from 1771 to 1776 to serve as his retirement complex within the Forbidden City.  In a collaboration between the Palace Museum, Beijing and the World Monuments Fund it was conserved as the first phase of a project for the conservation of the entire Qianlong Garden complex.

From 2002 to 2008 T.K. McClintock served as Chief Technical Advisor to the World Monuments Fund in their collaboration with the Palace Museum Beijing to conserve Juanqinzhai, a theater and studio in the Qianlong Garden complex in the Forbidden City. He was trained in conservation at the Cooperstown Graduate program and since 1990 has directed Studio TKM, a private studio for the conservation of fine art and historic works on paper that serves institutions, private and public agencies, galleries and individuals in North America, Europe and Asia. He is a Fellow of the American Institute for Conservation, the International Institute for Conservation and the American Academy in Rome.

Co-sponsored by Hawai’i Museums Association, Bishop Museum and the University of Hawai`i Museums Studies Graduate Certificate Program.