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Book and Paper Group

BPG Education & Programs Committee

Minutes of Preliminary Meeting – October 4, 2001 – Smithsonian Institution

Attending:

  • Kathy Ludwig, ACDG Chair
  • Meg Brown, LCCDG Co-Chair
  • Dianne van der Reyden, BPG Education and Program Chair

At this preliminary meeting we discussed the following:

Mandate and Directives

The Mandate and Directives compiled by an Ad Hoc Committee of the American Institute for Conservation's Book and Paper Group Board.

Committee Composition

The composition (per the Ad Hoc Committee's specifications) of the BPG Education and Program Committee.

The Goals of the Mandate

Survey to profile the BPG membership as to type of training, work activities and employment

The attending members of the BPG Education and Programs Committee put together the first draft of a preliminary survey to be distributed to the BPG membership early in 2002, perhaps in the regularly scheduled Spring mailing. The committee plans to review and incorporate (into a final BPG survey) data from the 2001 AIC Member Continuing Education Survey, once AIC compiles and distributes that information. The committee hopes that the final BPG survey will be computerized and available in some form on the Internet at the BPG website. The committee would like to schedule a time at the AIC Annual Meeting to discuss the findings with BPG members.

Identify current training opportunities in book and paper conservation

The attending members identified a comprehensive training calendar listing courses and training sites of interest to BPG. We recommend that the site (http://www.coshrc.org/arc/infoclhse/TrainingCalend8_01) be linked to the BPG web page. The committee should seek to expand this listing to include training activities offered by conservation Regional Guilds, as well as Regional Centers and University and Graduate Programs. With regard to location of courses, options discussed included the following possibilities: conservation graduate programs hosting courses in the summer, when participants could stay in dorms; regional guilds hosting video conferences and/or distance training courses for local guild/BPG members; BPG sponsoring courses at the Campbell Center or Harper's Ferry or similar sites; tours of conservation operations in Europe, similar to one organized by IPC for its members. Apparently, some AIC members organized a tour of 'Furniture (Conservation) in France' which some BPG members feel could serve as a model.

Plan a self-supporting 1–2 day workshop to be repeated in various locations

Specific workshops considered included humidification and flattening; disaster mitigation; mold removal; and several others, depending on the findings of the AIC and BPG surveys. Courses that would lend themselves to video conferencing distance training (as explained by Irene Bruckle and Paul Messier at AIC in 1999, and at http://paulmessier.com/PM/PDF/VidConf.PDF) included RIT's preservation environmental monitoring system (http://www.rit.edu/~661www1/sub_pages/page21.htm), or sessions at AIC or Guild meetings, which could be simulcast or broadcast live to other parts of the country at sites hosted by museums, universities, or any other of the many facilities having video conference set-ups.

We concluded by putting together a schedule of assignments for the attendees, to correspond with AIC.