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.

Performance of “Two Roses and a Thorn” - Sat. Nov. 13

A Performance of “Two Roses and a Thorn”
Saturday, November 13, 7:00PM

The Kona Historical Society is pleased to have Aloha Performing Arts Company artistic director Jerry Tracy reprise his one man performance in order to share the humor and insight of Mark Twain, as Twain recalls his visit to Hawaii and specifically the Big Island in 1866. Interlaced with comments on current events, local and nationwide and the “goings on” in the Kona district during his visit, Mr. Tracy has cleverly woven Twain’s stories of visiting with royalty in Honolulu, swimming at Kealakekua Bay, planting the Mark Twain Monkey pod Tree at Waiohinu, sailing from port to port on inter-island transport ships along the coast, through the district and around the island on horseback, culminating in a visit to the “Great Volcano of Kilauea.”

Also on the playbill for the evening, an original play, Tea for Two at Kalukalu, developed and produced by the Kona Historical Society, written by Victoria Nalani Kneubuhl and Kona historian Maile Melrose.  The setting is mauka Kona 1890 when Miss Ella Paris, the unmarried daughter of the American missionary Reverend J.D. Paris, pays an afternoon visit to Mrs. Elizabeth Greenwell, wife of the Englishman and entrepreneur H.N. Greenwell, who is, as usual, minding their store at Kalukalu.  The women interlace 19th century humor, news and gossip of the day (“Did you hear about that fellow Mark Twain?”) as they sip tea and eat Kona oranges.  Co-starring in this delightful glimpse into old Kona are UH Hilo Theater Department’s Artistic Director, Jackie Pualani Johnson as Miss Ella Paris, and veteran Kona actor and Greenwell family descendent Maile Melrose in the role of her great grandmother Mrs. E.C. Greenwell.

Adults $15 and Senior and children under ten $10.  Make your reservations now for this, sure to sell out, one night only performance by calling KHS at 808-323-3222 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              808-323-3222      end_of_the_skype_highlighting or visit Aloha Performing Arts Company at http://www.apachawaii.org for tickets.

This performance was made possible through funding by the County of Hawai`i, Dept. of Research & Development and the Hawai`i Tourism Authority.

Phillip Gordon: The Web and Indigenous People

To view lecture (51 min.) online, visit YouTube

By Melissa Rand, UH Museum Studies Program
In September, we welcomed Phillip Gordon of the Australian Museum of Sydney to lecture on the museum’s work with indigenous groups.Gordon, a Goorang Goorang Aboriginal person from Central Queensland, serves as the Aboriginal Heritage Officer at the Australian Museum. The presentation was co-sponsored by HMA, Museum Studies Graduate Certificate Program at the University of Hawai‘i, and Bishop Museum. He discussed the importance of cultural institutions building strong working relationships with Indigenous groups in order to foster successful cultural heritage projects. Consultation between the museum and an indigenous group should be the first step toward assisting these groups in gaining access to their cultural heritage. He also emphasized that such projects must be reciprocal in nature, in that the Indigenous groups should benefit in some significant way from the project. Gordon shared with the audience a number of successful web-based collaborative projects between indigenous Aboriginal groups and museums in Australia. One interesting project was the Ara Irititja Project.  The project assists Anangu Aboriginal people living in remote areas of Central Australia in retrieving and repatriating lost photographs, films, sound recordings and objects. These items are digitized and uploaded to computers in work stations located within Anangu communities. People in the community are then able to view the materials, edit and add data—which is collected and stored. For museum personnel working with indigenous people, Phillip Gordon’s lecture reinforced the fact that cultural institutions must learn to respect Indigenous people’s right to have access to their cultural property. Museum professionals should actively seek useful and sustainable ways to assist Indigenous groups in gaining access to their cultural heritage. A video of the lecture will be available on YouTube. DVD copies of two projects from the Australian Museum: Keeping Culture: Achieving Self-Determination Through the Development of Aboriginal Cultural Centres and Keeping Places; and Indigenous Objects of the Hunter Valley from the Morrison Collection can be borrowed. Contact the following:  Stacy Hoshino of HMA at hawaiimuseums@gmail.com; Noelle Kahanu of Bishop Museum at nkahanu@bishopmuseum.org; or Melissa Rand of the Museum Studies Program at UH at museum@hawaii.edu

Lyman Mission House Restoration Complete

Koa furniture crafted by Hilo Boarding School students
is featured in Rev.Lyman’s barter room

By Barbara G. Moir, Ph.D.Curator, Education & Operations, Lyman Museum
The restoration and up keep of historic houses can amount to a costly, exacting, and ongoing labor of love for those who undertake such efforts. For the past eight years the staff of the Lyman Museum in Hilo, assisted by historical architect Spencer Leineweber and several top-notch contractors, have worked to restore the adjacent Lyman Mission House (the oldest frame structure on the Big Island) to its mid 19th-century appearance and functions.Most of the work was carried out in 2002—2005, but following an extensive period of research and planning the final phase of the process was completed in 2010 when a small wing of the House resumed its former identity as Rev. David Lyman’s office and “barter room.” Added in 1845 to the 1839 Mission House, this two-room wing or annex was the locus of considerable activity.  Rev. Lyman’s role as principal of the Hilo Boarding School meant long hours of administrative work in his office. Adjoining this room was another in which cotton cloth, Bibles, candles,nails, and other desirable goods were stored and accounts kept. Currency was scarce in Hilo in the mid 1800s, so people bartered goods for the other things they needed.  The Lymans traded cloth and other items for school and family necessities. The office is arranged as if Rev. Lyman has just stepped out.  The barter room is stocked with trade goods, and one section of the room showcases exquisite koa furniture built by the Hilo Boarding School students.  A special (and possibly unique) exhibit reveals the different stages of preparing and finishing a plaster wall.  Sarah Lyman had originally finished the interior walls of the House with lime plaster, patiently patching the cracks caused by seismic tremors until a very powerful earthquake in 1868 destroyed most of the work. Thereafter Sarah papered the walls over stretched muslin. Enjoy this remarkable view of Hawai‘i’s history next time you’re in Hilo!  Complete tours of the Lyman Mission House are given Monday—Saturday at 11:00 A.M. and 2:00 P.M. and are included in the cost of Museum admission.  Visit www.lymanmuseum.org

New! Island Innovation Fund

This new fund is administered by the Hawai‘i Community Foundation (HCF)to provide new opportunities for innovative approaches to long standing social issues for Hawai‘i based nonprofits that now face growing resource constraints as they try to fulfill their missions. The rapid advancement of new human capital strategies, technological advances and networks illustrate the need—and opportunity—for innovations the non-profit sector. Innovations have the potential to generate significant impact in a given field or the entire nonprofit sector by transforming how organizations work or deliver services in response to larger forces. The Island Innovation Fund’s website will be a platform for new ideas and a way to encourage a culture of non-profit innovation through a new funding opportunity. HCF’s first online grant application targets nearly $3M over three rounds. Applications and awards will be posted publicly to share and improve ideas. Funded organizations will participate in sector discussions and share progress online. Not all good ideas maybe initially funded, but will have a chance to develop further. A multi-phased online grant process will launch this fall with awards of up to $100,000 expected in 2011. Online application launches on November 1; organizations have one month to submit innovations. HCF invites the most compelling concepts to submit full proposals in January-February 2011.  Finalists make public presentations and a panel of expert judges selects winners by March 2011. Application is available at www.hawaiicommunityfoundation.org