MUSEUMS ASSOCIATION OF SASKATCHEWAN

What’s Inside?

MAS News ............................. 2

Temporary and Traveling Exhibits Workshop ............... 3

Upcoming Peer Exchange Conference ............................ 8

Events Calendar ................... 9

Registration Form .............. 11

Evaluating Your Summer Programs.................

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Fall Calendar 2013MAS News

MAS News Subscribe to the MAS BlogDid you know that you can get new blog posts sent straight to your email inbox? Simply visit the MAS Blog, http://www.saskmuseums.org/MASblog/,

fill in your email address in the box located on the right hand column of the

page and click “subscribe”. Then sit back, relax and enjoy new blog posts from MAS on many exciting museum-related topics. Recent posts include Agents of Deterioration (Light, Pests, Temperature, Relative Humidty), CMA Conference 2013 and Creating Mass Emails with Mail Chimp.

Participate in Culture Days

Culture Days Saskatchewan is coming up quickly, from September 27-29. Don’t miss out on a great opportunity for your museum to celebrate your community and engage visitors. Register your Culture Days activities online at: www.culturedays.ca.

Lunch at MAS Courses

Lunch is now included in your registration fee for all in-person courses and workshops!

MAS Twitter

MAS is pleased to announce that we now have our very own Twitter account up and running. Follow us at @museumsassocsk Does your museum have a twitter account? Follow us and we will follow you back! <<

Save the date!2014 MAS

AGM & ConferenceMay 22nd to the 24th, 2014

Swift Current, SK

Keep an eye on E-Phemera and our website www.saskmuseums.org for all of the updates and for

your opportunity to register!

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Temporary Exhibits Workshop

Temporary and Traveling Exhibits

Temporary exhibits hold all kinds of possibilities, but they require a different approach from more traditional semi-permanent displays. From the smallest exhibit-in-a-suitcase to the biggest

international traveling exhibitions, the concerns – things like managing cost, ensuring durability, and designing for easy setup and teardown – are similar.

Instructor John Snell has worked on all kinds of exhibits from the Saskatchewan Science Centre, Parks Canada, and the Royal Saskatchewan Museum to the world’s largest traveling dinosaur exhibition. He’ll guide you through the basics of designing temporary exhibits and what makes them different.

In this workshop, you’ll review what makes an effective exhibit. You’ll discover examples of different kinds of temporary exhibits, and learn about funding options. And you’ll find out what it takes to host a traveling exhibit. If you’re planning for a temporary or traveling exhibit for Canada’s 150th in 2017, or even just curious, this is a workshop you won’t want to miss. <<

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Designing Effective Temporary Exhibits

September 20, 2013, 9:30 AM at the Humboldt Uniplex

$80 members, $120 non-members, $55 students

Cover photo: School room at the Humboldt and District Museum and Gallery

Past MAS employee, Jan Morier, with the SaskTel Centennial Traveling Exhibit

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“You’re darn right there’s a lot coming up,” you might be thinking. “That’s why I don’t have time for this ‘evaluation’ stuff.” But evaluation doesn’t have to be difficult or time-consuming: often, it just means taking a few minutes to think, talk, and write a few things down. And identifying what went well and what needs to change helps us make better use of our resources the next time. In other words, it can save us work and money.

Why are evaluations important?As a museum, you are serving your community. How will you know if you are making an impact upon the community unless evaluations are completed on your activities? Museums operate with a specific mission; this mission is usually along the lines of “acquiring, conserving, researching, communicating, and exhibiting” certain aspects of a community’s history. With this mission in mind, activities should be crafted for specific audiences while filling a need within the community.

A s the summer rapidly winds down, now is the time to sit back, put your feet up, and

relax…right? Wrong! Now is the perfect time to sit down and evaluate how the summer season went and plan for the upcoming year.

Evaluating programming is key as it helps to make decisions for the upcoming year. Though next year seems far away, planning ahead while the events of the summer are still fresh in your memory is critical. Many grants are coming up again this fall, such as the Museum Grant Program administered by SaskCulture on November 30, and there are many events between now and then (like Thanksgiving, school starting, and the harvest season) that will demand your attention.

Evaluating Summer Programs

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May-Lin Polk . Museums Advisor . Museums Association of Saskatchewan

Know What You Did Last SummerKnow What You Did Last Summer

Evaluation doesn’t have to be difficult or time-consuming: often, it just means taking a few minutes to think, talk, and write a few things down.

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Evaluating your summer programs

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Evaluating Summer Programs

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The diagram below demonstrates the thought processes that need to be going on during the course of evaluation AND planning.

What should we be evaluating?An evaluation should be done on all programs or activities that were completed in the past year. This might include:

> School programs> Public programs> Fundraisers> Summer student employment program> Grant application processes> Facility usage> Building maintenance> Volunteer retention or attraction> Board meetings> Research activities> Collection maintenance> Old and new exhibits

If you did it this year, evaluate it. However, doing an evaluation for the first time can be a daunting task. If you feel intimidated by the process, pick one event that you think really needs reviewing.

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How do we do an evaluation?Once you have picked what it is you are evaluating, you will need to ask yourselves a few questions about the program or activity. Write down the answers to these questions for each of these programs or activities:

> What was the goal/purpose of the program or activity?> Did this program or activity achieve this goal/purpose?> How does this program or activity fit in with the museum’s purpose or mission?> Who was the target audience for this program or activity?> What concerns are there about this program or activity?> How do you feel about the future of this program or activity?> In what way did participants benefit from the program or activity?> How do you know that the participants benefited?

Who should be involved?An evaluation should be done in two parts: with your staff and as a board.

With your staff, set aside time to debrief. Go through the evaluation process. Get their thoughts and ideas written down. Summer staff may be able to provide insight into how the planning of each activity went, whether it was easy or hard, and how successful they think it was.

As a board, set aside time to assess the year. Go through the evaluation process in much more detail than what you did with your summer staff.

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Evaluating Summer Programs

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?Moving forward to planningThe same process that has been established for evaluations can be used for planning. Determine what needs or gaps are in your community and how you can participate in it.

To help with the planning of the program or activity, break it down into parts. These parts are:

1. Inputs: resources used such as staff time or money2. Components: necessary parts required to implement the activity such as planning or courses or

policies3. Outputs: products of the activity such as money generated, attendance recorded, objects

successfully labeled4. Outcomes: benefits for the participants and impact upon the museum such as increased attendance

and awareness within the community or a better understanding of town history. These are the real reason we do the activities, and they should be linked to the museum’s mission, demonstrating that you’re achieving what you set out to do.

Make a chart with each of these categories for each activity; this could be a simple and visual way to address these aspects. Take each program or activity and fill in the corresponding information.

Work backwards. Start at what outcome you would like to have and determine how to get there.

Assistance in planning and evaluationOf course, the evaluation process can be much more complicated. There are several avenues of assistance that are available to you as MAS members. In the MAS Resource Library, you can borrow:

• A Planning Guide for Small Museums • Evaluation Workbook: A Basic Understanding of

the Program Outcome Evaluation Model (also for purchase)

As always, the Internet has some great sources of assistance as well:

• Shaping Outcomes (http://www.shapingoutcomes.org/index.htm)

• Ontario Museums Association’s Outcomes-Based Program Planning and Evaluation Workbook (http://www.museumsontario.com/en/35/597/148)

• Outcomes-based Evaluation: Practical and Theoretical Applications • The United Way (http://www.yourunitedway.org/sites/uwaygrp.oneeach.org/files/Guide_for_

Logic_Models_and_Measurements.pdf) <<

Evaluating Summer Programs

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How to Participate

As a presenter: Submit a presentation or panel topic to pdcoordinator@saskmuseums.org. Include the following information: a topic summary of about 50 words, your name, institutional affiliation, and a daytime phone # and email address. Deadline for presenters to submit: 15 September. As an added incentive for you to make a presentation, presenters and panelists will not be charged a registration fee.

As an observer: You don’t have to make a presentation to attend. To attend as an observer, register using the registration form (hard copy or online at http://www.saskmuseums.org/includes/edu-reg-form.php, email mas@saskmuseums.org, or call toll-free 1-866-568-7386 <<

Peer Exchange

Peer Exchange Offers Opportunities for Established and Emerging Museum Professionals

MAS Peer Exchange

November 29, 2013 at the MacKenzie Art Gallery in Regina

FREE for presenters; $80 members, $120 non-members, $55 students

Our new Peer Exchange, coming to Regina this November, will provide opportunities

for museum professionals and specialists from around the province—collections managers, conservators, curators, directors, educators, exhibit designers, and more—to network and learn about each others’ successes, challenges, and plans for the future.

This one-day conference will feature topical panels and short presentations by and for the staff and management of Saskatchewan museums. This is a chance to tell your professional peers about your work, to hear about theirs, to renew old friendships and make new connections.

Topics

The program for the day is up to those of you who make presentations: you propose a topic for a short presentation you want to make, or organize a panel of colleagues from around the province. Presentations and panel discussions will be grouped by themes so that attendees can find the content most relevant to them.

Any topic related to museum practice is fair game. You could talk about a project you’ve been working on, a technique you’ve been perfecting, a challenge you routinely face, or a plan you’re working on. Presentations should run 15-20 minutes.

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Certificate ProgramThe Certificate Program in Community Museum Studies introduce you to major areas of museum practice, and assume little or no prior knowledge of the topic area. If you want to build a broad-based working knowledge of museum operations, these courses are for you.

Museums 101>> October 18 in Esterhazy; Also available as an online course November 4-29

This course will increase your familiarity with Standards for Saskatchewan Museums, focusing on applying the standards to your work. You’ll learn what museums do, guiding principles for museum activities, the key functions of a museum, and how to access and apply the resources available for Saskatchewan museums and museum workers.

Museums and Community>> Online January 6 - February 28

How can a museum be a cultural and social hub in its community? This course explores current practices for planning, assessing, and implementing museum-community initiatives.

Collections Management>> November 1 in North Battleford

In this course, you’ll learn what collections management is, and what activities are involved in it. Find out about how to document your collection, creating policy and procedures, and laws and regulations affecting the collecting of objects.

COMING SPRING 2014!

Organization and Management>> Spring 2014, Location TBD

Organizing and running a public museum is both challenging and rewarding. In this course, you will learn about the roles and responsibilities of a non-profit board and staff, the public trust, board decision-making, policy development, financial and human resource management, and community relations.

Peer Exchange Offers Opportunities for Established and Emerging Museum Professionals

Fees for one-day or online course >> MAS members: $60 ($50 each if two or more from same institution) >> Non-members: $80 >> Student: $40 (must present ID)

Events Calendar

Course times for the Certificate Program: 9:30am to 4:30pm

Events Calendar

Did You Know?Lunch is now included in your registration

fee for all in-person courses and workshops!

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Mid- to Advanced-Level CoursesTemporary and Traveling ExhibitsThis one-day workshop will outline best practices for developing successful, affordable temporary exhibits, with a focus on topical, event-oriented exhibits (e.g., exhibits linked with commemorations or current events).>> Who it’s for: Mid- to advanced level museum practitioners interested in temporary and traveling exhibits.>> Humboldt, SK, September 20>> Cost: $80 members, $120 non-members, $55 students

Events Calendar

COMING SPRING 2014!

Youth Engagement StrategiesThis one-day workshop will examine what motivates youth engagement with community organizations, and assist museums in developing strategies for cultivating the involvement of young people.>> Who it’s for: Museum workers seeking tools to help them interest and involve young people in their museum activities.>> Spring 2014, location TBD>> Cost: $80 members, $120 non-members, $55 students

Modern Information CarriersThis workshop discusses the structure, composition, and format of various types of modern information recording media. Chemical and physical agents of deterioration and remedies for affected media are covered, as well as ways to promote longevity through selecting appropriate media, understanding both controllable and less controllable factors, and ensuring proper handling and storage.>> Who it’s for: Mid- to advanced-level practitioners interested in conserving modern information media.>> Yorkton, SK, October 3>> Cost: $125 members, $175 non-members, $75 students

Peer ExchangeThis one-day conference will provide emerging and established museum professionals with opportunities to network and to participate in presentations with their peers from around the province. Looking for an opportunity to discuss your work with other museum professionals? This is your chance!>> Who it’s for: Museum professionals such as managers, curators, conservators, educators, and exhibit designers, whether emerging or established.>> Regina, SK November 29>> Cost: FREE for presenters and panelists; $80 members, $120 non-members, $55 students

Interested in presenting or organizing a peer exchange panel?

Call (306-780-9241) or email (pdcoordinator@saskmuseums.org) and let Dan know. You can organize a panel yourself, or MAS staff can group

presentations into themed sessions.

Inquiry-based LearningThis one-day workshop will introduce participants to inquiry-based learning and demonstrate how it can be applied to improve engagement levels and learning outcomes in museum educational programs.>> Who it’s for: Museum workers with a general understanding of museum education interested in learning about and using inquiry-based learning in their programs.>> Spring 2014, location TBD>> Cost: $80 members, $120 non-members, $55 students

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Certificate Program courses are

only $50 each if two or more are registering

from the same institution

q Add me to your mailing list

Form continues on back of page

Register early. Space is limited for all courses - please register by the registration deadline and register early to ensure your space! Registration forms can be found at the end of the calendar and on our website. We can also fax you a registration form. We accept registrations via fax, e-mail or mail. If you are mailing your form, please call us to reserve your space.

First Name: Last Name:

Institution / Affiliation:

Address:

City: Province:

Postal Code: Phone:

Please print

q Museums 101>> October 18 in Esterhazy>> $60 members, $80 non-members,

q Online Museums 101>> November 4-29>> $60 members, $80 non-members, $40 students

q Online Museums and Community>> Online January 6 - February 28>> $60 members, $80 non-members, $40 students

q Organization and Management>> TBD (Spring 2014)>> $60 members, $80 non-members, $40 students

q Collections Management >> November 1 in North Battleford>> $60 members, $80 non-members, $40 students

q Temporary and Traveling Exhibits >> September 20 in Humboldt >> $80 members, $120 non-members, $55 students

q Inquiry-base Learning>> TBD (Spring 2014)>> $80 members, $120 non-members, $55 students

q Modern Information Carriers >> October 3 in Yorkton >> $125 members, $175 non-members, $75 students

q Youth Engagement Strategies >> TBD (Spring 2014) >> $80 members, $120 non-members, $55 students

Certificate Program

Mid- to Advanced-Level Courses

Fax:E-mail:

*Please provide either an e-mail address or a fax number.

Registration Form

q Peer Exchange>> November 29 in Regina>> FREE for presenters and panelists; $80 members, $120 non-members, $55 students

$40 students

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Registration Form

If you require an invoice send to:

Same as above

Cheque Money Order / Cash VISA MasterCard

Payment:

Expiry Date: Signature:

Card Number: Cardholder:

Return one form per person to:Museums Association of

Saskatchewan424 McDonald Street, Regina, SK, S4N 6E1

Fax with credit card information to

(306) 780-9463

or email mas@saskmuseums.org

or phone(306) 780-9279

Toll free in SK: 1-866-568-7386

Payment may be made with VISA, MasterCard, cheque or cash. Please make cheques payable to Museums Association of Saskatchewan. If you require an invoice, please indicate this on your registration form.

CancellationCourses may be cancelled due to insufficient enrollment - if you see a course you would like, please enroll right away!

RefundsThe registration fee will only be refunded if you withdraw your application five days prior to the course date or if the course is cancelled. In cases of weather conditions, illness and family emergencies, the five-day requirement may be waived by MAS.MAS reserves the right to cancel any course at any time for any reason. The Association cannot guarantee continuation of any program should funding cease. The availability, date and location of the course offerings are subject to change at any time.

Please print

Certificate Program FeesAll prices include GST.

Fees for one-day or online course >> MAS members: $60 ($50 each if two or more from same institution) >> Non-members: $80 >> Student: $40 (must present ID)

Total Amount: $