|
* * *
PRESIDENT'S
MESSAGE
O Canada! Our home and native land!
True patriot love in all thy sons commandWelcome to Tucson, Canada south
for the TGMS show. Believe it or not I remember those lyrics from memory.
Having grown up on the northern tier of the US we had to learn the anthem
for school. But if you were a hockey fan and attended a live game, you
knew them already. There was always that great anticipation when they
played, O Canada! before the game (although you had to wait through two
national anthems in Bloomington, MN). That anticipation is much like late
January in the mineral world gearing up for Tucson. So I find myself
humming O Canada and trying to compose a worthy message for the society.
Hope I do a good job, eh?
I would like to take this opportunity
to review the state of the Society of Mineral Museum Professionals. I
receive few complaints or suggestions, so I interpret that to mean the
society seems to be serving the members to the degree they want. The list
server lights up occasionally and from the number of responses is
appreciated and well used (thanks, Tony). We maintain a presence at the
major shows with our well-received society displays (thanks, Jean). Not to
mention employment opportunities when they become public and the stolen
specimen notices (thanks again, Tony). Finally, the program at the end of
the meeting at Tucson never fails to teach me something useful or
interesting (thanks, Terry). Im especially looking forward to this years
program with a presentation on new advances in mineral research from
researchers on the forefront of the techniques. For a paltry ten dollars
we have coordinated communication, an excellent program at Tucson, and the
potential for modest funding opportunities through our own society a
good deal in my book.
What do we lack or want to do? I wish
that we could have a short scientific or curation article in each
newsletter. It would probably take someone to step up and volunteer to be
a research/curation editor to solicit and coordinate authors. In
addition, perhaps we could establish an honorary award for individuals who
have been of exceptional service to the society. I can think of a number
in our group who have dedicated a significant amount of time to making our
society work better. Perhaps a free year of membership and publication of
a list of names in each newsletter would be appropriate. Im sure you have
some suggestions as well so bounce them over the list server or bring
them up at the meeting. Better yet, consider a run for the Board new and
better ideas are always welcome.
Virgil Lueth, President
* * *
2006 Board of Directors election
Three board member terms will be expiring this year. Please
be prepared to nominate candidates and vote. Board members whose terms expire
this year are:
Virgil W. Lueth New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral
Resources
Anna Domitrovic Arizona Sonora Desert Museum
Michael Wise Smithsonian Institution, U.S. National Museum
The term
expiration dates of the other board members are provided in parentheses in the
sidebar.
* * *
MINUTES OF THE
DENVER MEETING
September 2005
Click on the link above to go to view the
minutes.
* * *
SMMP EUROPE
Report on the joint
meeting of the
IMA-Commission on Museums and SMMP-Europe
Munich, October 28th,
2005
Click on the link above to view the report.
* * *
SMMP AFFILIATIONS
American Geological Institute (AGI)
Committee openings:
Government Affairs Program
International Geoscience Advisory Committee
Natural Science
Collections Alliance NSCA)
Although the Society of Mineral
Museum Professionals maintains no official ties with the
Commission on Museums
(CM) of the
International Mineralogical Association
(IMA), the Commission resolved at its December, 2000, meeting in Melbourne,
Australia, to support SMMP's efforts in uniting mineral museum professionals
worldwide.
* * *
SMMP RESEARCH STUDY GRANTS
Click on the link above to view the announcement.
* * *
OTHER MEETINGS OF INTEREST
GIA Gemological Research Conference
August 2627, 2006
Manchester Grand Hyatt, San Diego, California
* * *
SMMP LIST SERVER
You
are encouraged to interact with your fellow SMMP members via our list server:
smmp@listserv.nhm.org
Please
remember that
when you reply to an email sent via our list server,
you will be replying to the sender, although you have the option of copying the
membership.
Tony Kampf will continue to process additions to and
deletions from the list server. That way we can limit
the list to our membership and if a member decides that they want to be dropped
from the list, Tony will know whether to send them the
SMMP Newsletter by snail mail. Note that henceforth you will only be able to
send via the list server by using your email address that is on the list server.
This should be the same one that is used in our on-line roster.
* * *
TRACKING DUES
SMMP dues
are $10.00 U.S., payable to Anna Domitrovic, treasurer,
6118 W. Lazy Heart Street,
Tucson, AZ 85713. Any directory changes or
additions should be sent to Tony Kampf. In Europe,
dues can be remitted to Peter Davidson, National Museums of Scotland,
Chambers Street,
Edinburgh EH1 1JF, SCOTLAND.
Note that you can check your dues
payment status on the SMMP on-line roster. The year shown in the last column indicates
the last year for which you have paid. If you are delinquent, please remit your
dues payment as soon as possible.
|
