Central Michigan University

CMU museum selected for national conservation bookshelf

Thursday, March 6, 2008

Topics in this story: Arts and entertainment, Awards, College of Humanities and Social and Behavioral Sciences, Museum of Cultural and Natural History

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Media Contact(s):

Heather Smith
989-774-1702

Program Contact(s):

William Pretzer
989-774-7165

Valuable museum collections and artifacts at Central Michigan University will be preserved for future generations with the help of a national conservation effort.

CMU's Museum of Cultural and Natural History has been selected to receive the Connecting to Collections Bookshelf, a core set of conservation books, a variety of DVDs and access to valuable online resources awarded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

"IMLS has targeted small museums for this program since they often don't have the resources to acquire this type of technical information on their own," said William Pretzer, history faculty member and director of CMU's Museum of Cultural and Natural History. "These materials will aid in the museum's conservation efforts and be a tangible asset to students in the museum studies program."

The IMLS bookshelf is part of the organization's "Connecting to Collections: A Call to Action" campaign, which began in 2005 in response to a study that uncovered the dire state of the nation's collections as millions of archaeological pieces and historical objects, photographs, and manuscripts are threatened with destruction due to lack of proper care.

With a focus on special collections typically found in art or history museums and a selection of texts for zoos, aquaria, public gardens and nature centers, the bookshelf addresses such topics as the philosophy and ethics of collecting, collections management and planning, emergency preparedness, and culturally specific conservation issues.

The IMLS is the primary source of federal support for libraries and museums in the United States. The IMLS and its cooperator, the American Association for State and Local History, will award a total of 2,000 free sets of the IMLS bookshelf by the end of 2008.

According to the organization's Web site, http://www.imls.gov, the mission of the IMLS is to create strong libraries and museums that connect people to information and ideas. More information on CMU's Museum of Cultural and Natural History can be found at http://www.museum.cmich.edu.