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Volume 12, #2
September 2, 2009 |
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Inside: Board of Directors
President
Past President
& Newsletter Editor
Vice President Secretary Treasurer Board Members:
Bruce Geller
Terri Ottaway
Jeffery E. Post Penny Williamson |
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* * * PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
Recession, depression, forced furloughs, budget cuts…so how is your
museum doing? I'm sure the severity felt in any particular place
depends on the financial situation in that city/state. Out here in
New Mexico we never really soar with the boom, nor do we bottom out
as deeply during the bust. Regardless, I believe museums and other
public services receive a disproportionate amount of cutting when
things get tough – even though we are entrusted with the public's
treasures.
My institution (and our state budget) revolves around a July – June fiscal year. I've recently run the numbers on museum attendance, sales, and donations for the year-end reports. I noted our number of visitors dropped a bit last year, perhaps due to the high gas prices early in the fiscal year. Recently however, museum attendance has been very strong and is actually on a record pace. Is it an increased utilization of public facilities by a financially strained populace? Not to mention our free admission policy that entices folks to stop in. Although visitors were down last year, the museum gift shop sales were up! We have started selling more upscale material in our sales case and began to wholesale to dealers (we don't sell from the collections, only from donations - lest you get the wrong idea). From my business school days I remember it is always a good idea to diversify your clientele. Donations were strong in the first half of the year and have dropped precipitously since January. I interpret this pattern to a response to the economic bite even the wealthier are feeling.
Virgil Lueth, President
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* * * The first "best practices" documents about research
sampling of collections are posted on the SMMP website: BEST PRACTICES REPORT NO. 1: Research Sampling of Collections BEST PRACTICES REPORT NO. 2: Moving Specimens (DRAFT) We are looking for more in the series – please submit your idea to the board at the Denver meeting or contact Virgil Lueth (vwlueth@nmt.edu).* * *
No one
applied again this year, but here is a reminder for your next fiscal
year…
The SMMP Grant Program Awards are to support curatorial research and
methodologies that address one or more of the Society of Mineral Museum
Professionals (SMMP) mission statement goals: 1) foster recognition of
mineral science collections as essential scientific, educational and
cultural resources, 2) promote support for growth, maintenance and use
of collections and exhibits and, 3) advance museum practice through
cooperation in the development, review and dissemination of information.
Amounts vary up to a maximum of $1000 per grant. Grant awards determined
by SMMP Board of Directors. Grant applications are available on request.
Applications are due * * *
MINUTES OF THE
TUCSON MEETING Click on the link above to view the minutes. * * * American Geological Institute (AGI) 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. * * * You are encouraged to interact with your fellow SMMP members via our list server: 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 processes additions to and deletions from the list server. That way we 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 you are only able to send via the list server from your email address that is on the list server. This should be the same one that is used in our on-line roster. * * * 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. To make paying your dues easier (especially for non-US members), a PayPal account has been established and installed on our website. You can use your credit card or your own personal PayPal account. Just go to our Dues webpage. 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. Remember to renew your membership. If you are planning to pay dues at the Denver meeting, help Anna by filling out a membership application with your dues payment. Do it beforehand and save time at the meeting! |
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