California: Workshops on object and archival care

Thanks to Paula Hinkel, president of the Southern California Genealogical Society, here's information on the annual Orange County Historical Commission workshop that focuses on maintaining and preserving historic records, photographs, and three-dimensional objects.

The event is held during October as part of Family History Month.

"Technology, Access and Preservation" will run from 9 a.m.-3 p.m., Saturday, October 6, at the Old Orange County Courthouse Museum in Santa Ana.

The workshop offers six concurrent classes for people with an interest in the care of museum and archival collections. Topics range from a basic beginner overview to an in-depth demonstration on how to correctly care for historic textiles.

Classes and instructors:

*Book and Paper Repair: Sheryl Davis will focus on archival paper documents, and beginner's skills for keeping a collection in good repair. Gain understanding of types of repairs, how to do them and more. Hands-on workshop will demonstrate actual repair work done with simple tools, equipment and materials.

*Fabric Care and Storage: Kevin Jones and Christina Johnson will demonstrate proper storage and care of historic textiles, show correct materials in which to store fabrics and how to pack them. They will bring garment examples to demonstrate damage by incorrect storage or other problems.

*Describing Collections and Providing Access: Robert Marshall will discuss stages of collection description and access, show how to write the most helpful finding aid and collections descriptions, demonstrate how to make these tools available to the public through the internet and other technologies. Good for anyone who is organizing their collections and need pointers on how make sure it will be accessible to the public.

*Genealogy: An Archivist's Best Friend: Ken McGuire will discuss two worlds of historians: genealogists and archivists, focus on how they can work more closely together, highlight how historians can use influence and resources to encourage preservation and use of local and family records. Good workshop for historians and genealogists.

*Archival Products A to Z: Larry Proctor will focus on various available products. Learn about the different materials used and why. Environment will be discussed, as well as digital issues.

The event is sponsored by Light Impressions, Inc., a leading provider of archival products to museums, photographers and archival repositories. The California company began with three archival items and now offers some 2,500, used by international professional organizations.

Cost: $10 in advance; $15 at the door; includes continental breakfast and lunch. Attendance is limited. The registration form is here