[Heritage] Oregon Heritage News 2009-08-07

[Heritage Info]

In this issue:
1.  Museum Computer Network affair targets efficiency 
2.  Scanning project takes center stage at Lane museum
3.  Obsidian uses to be shown Aug. 15 at OHS
4.  Humanities Council opens program grant applications season
5.  OSU site on Flickr expands photo selection
6.  Archivists group seeks poster images


MUSEUM COMPUTER NETWORK AFFAIR TARGETS EFFICIENCY

"Museum Information, Museum Efficiency: Doing More with Less!" is the theme of the 37th annual Museum Computer Network Conference that will take place Nov. 11-14 in Portland.

Panels, roundtables, case study showcases, workshops, and other formats will be used to look at cost-effective strategies in tough economic times; making, managing and delivering digital media in new and effective ways, and innovations coming soon. Case studies of work by the Portland Art Museum and the Oregon State University Archives are two of dozens of items on the conference's preliminary agenda.

For more information, visit the conference website at http://www.mcn.edu/conferences/index.asp


SCANNING PROJECT TAKES CENTER STAGE AT LANE MUSEUM

The Lane County Historical Society and Museum has moved its two-year-old nitrate negative digitization project from behind closed doors out into the public view. Weekdays, from 10 a.m.-1 p.m., project scanning activities can be observed and project staff conversed with. Museum visitors then, and later in the day, can examine the representative project images in the adjacent photographic display.

The museum began digitizing its nitrate negative collection (23,000 images) because of the inherent flammability of the nitrate film. Nitrate film was commonly used until safety film came into common use during the 1950s. The museum has determined so far that up to 11 percent of its collection was beginning to deteriorate, and so the project was quite timely. To date more than 5,600 images have been digitized and cataloged. In coming months the stored images will become publicly accessible via the museum website, www.lanecountyhistoricalsociety.org 

The project has been funded by a combination of public and private monies. The Society and Museum have been the recipients of matching grants from the Oregon Cultural Trust, Oregon Heritage Commission, and Trust Management Services, Inc.


OBSIDIAN USES TO BE SHOWN AUG. 15 at OHS

Archaeologist Dennis Jenkins will discuss cultural information stored within nature during his Aug. 15 presentation  "Obsidian: History through the Volcanic Glass Window"  at the Oregon Historical Society, 1200 SW Park, Portland.

Jenkins will talk about how obsidian use provides information on prehistoric lifeways and the development of sociopolitical areas in central Oregon during the past 15,000 years. Jenkins' talk is part of the Oregon Council for the Humanities' Chautauqua series. The talk begins at 1 p.m.

For more information, visit www.ohs.org 


HUMANITIES COUNCIL OPENS PROGRAM GRANT APPLICATION SEASON

The Oregon Council for the Humanities is offering public program grants of up to $5,000 to Oregon nonprofits to support public programs that encourage critical thinking and public engagement with the humanities, and that promote the role of thought and ideas in our lives. 

Letters of inquiry must be postmarked by Oct. 31. Full proposals, if invited, will be due by Dec. 15. Public Program Grants are awarded once a year through a competitive process. OCH grant decisions are made by its statewide volunteer board of directors.

To download grant guidelines, visit www.oregonhum.org or contact Annie Dubinsky at (503) 241-0543, ext. 116, or by e-mail at adubinsky at oregonhum.org .


OSU SITE ON FLICKR EXPANDS PHOTO SELECTION

The Oregon State University Archives has added new images to its Flickr Commons site. They include glass lantern slide images of a trip from Portland's rose gardens, through Multnomah Falls and up to the Upper Glacier of Mount Hood. Also, the Archives has added images used by instructors from the first half of the 20th century.

The site can be visited at www.flickr.com/photos/osucommons .


ARCHIVISTS GROUP SEEKS POSTER IMAGES

Organizers of the Oregon Archives Month are seeking images for possible use on a poster that will be mailed to all archives and public libraries i the state. In particular, they would like images submitted that relate to the Oregon sesquicentennial.

Images should be formatted as 400 dpi, jpg or tif formatted images scaled to 100 percent. Submissions by mail on CD (to the address below), or via an FTP server are preferred. Submissions to me no later than Aug. 15. The images can be sent to Jeremy Skinner, Aubrey Watzek Library, Box 95, Lewis & Clark College, 0615 SW Palatine Hill Road, Portland, OR 97219.
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Oregon Heritage News is a service of the Oregon Heritage Commission, which can be contacted at heritage.info at state.or.us