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MINUTES OF THE TUCSON MEETING
February 2013

Click on the link above to view the minutes.

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BEST PRACTICES PROJECT

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

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SMMP GRANT PROGRAM

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 August 1^st and award notification on October 1^st. Guidelines are available on our website: http://www.agiweb.org/smmp/support-SMMP.htm

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SMMP Europe 2013 Meeting

Dear Colleagues,

We will, as in previous years, be organising a meeting of the SMMP(Europe) and IMA-CM during the Munich Mineral Show. However this year will be slightly different than previous years.
     We will start proceedings on Friday 25^th October with a meeting of the SMMP/IMA-CM beginning at 16:00 and running to 17:00. This will be followed by a half-hour presentation and discussion by Christoph Keilmann entitled "The Story of the Munich Mineral Show Special Exhibition and Working with Museums in the Future". We conclude our afternoon with a meeting of the Working Group Mineralogical Museums and Collections of Germany which will run from 17:30 to 18:30. All three meetings will be held in the International Press Reception Room on the Ground Floor at the East Entrance.
     As part of the Show's 50^th Anniversary Celebrations, Herr Keilmann will be reserving VIP places for all attendees of the meetings at a buffet reception at the Messe after the meetings. In addition, all meeting attendees will be given a VIP Pass covering four days at the Show. To obtain your pass ally with you name and museum to curators-meeting@munichshow.com

Peter Davidson

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IMA 2014

21st General Meeting of the International Mineralogical Association (IMA2014) will be hosted in South Africa from September 1 to 5, 2014. Early registration closes on January 15, 2014. The IMA Meeting, which takes place every four years, brings together mineral scientists and curators from around the world. Many interesting field trips are planned. For more information, click on the link above.

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BEST PLACE TO DONATE INITIATIVE

Mary Johnson began a survey of our membership in order to compile donation information for museums. The results of her survey are available on an excel spreadsheet. To download this spreadsheet, click on the link above.

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SMMP AFFILIATIONS

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.

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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 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.

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PAYING 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.

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!