Blog and Newsletter

The Association of Maine Archives and Museums publishes quarterly print newsletter that is sent out to members in February, May, August, and November. We also maintain the blog on this page for members to share their announcements more immediately.

Quarterly Print Newsletter

Submissions: If you are a member interested in submitting articles, dispatches, opportunities, and/or photos to the print newsletter, please review these guideline and deadlines.

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Read now: Click here to view the current and past issues of the print newsletter (members-only; log in first).

News Blog

Members and non-members of MAM may post news of interest to the field using the blog below. To post an event, see the event listings. To post a job or internship opportunity, see the job/internship board. MAM reserves the right to edit or reject postings as it deems appropriate. This service is free to members; non-members are charged $20.

Posts to this news blog are automatically shared to the MAM Facebook page to get even more exposure!

MEMBERS: Log in, then click "Add Post." If you have trouble logging in, email info@mainemuseums.org.

NON-MEMBERS: To submit your bulletin board post, please email info@mainemuseums.org.

  • 05 Dec 2012 7:23 PM | Anonymous member (Administrator)

    Job Description

    The Farnsworth Museum is seeking a Director of Finance for its day-to-day operations in Rockland. This is a senior management position working directly with the CFO and Executive Director. This individual will manage a Blackbaud Financial Edge general ledger system with related modules and supervise a part-time bookkeeper.

    Responsibilities:
    As part of the senior management team, the Finance Director shall assure the integrity of the general ledger under 403(b) FASB standards and assist management in financial analysis, cash flow planning, monthly financial reporting compared to department budgets and audit preparation. This is a hands-on position requiring skill sets that range from inputting and reconciling revenues and expense from admissions, development activities, membership, special events, and gift shop revenues to managing payables and overseeing payroll and balancing various fund accounts.

    Qualifications:
    Must have excellent verbal and written communication skills. Competent Excel skills are a necessity. Blackbaud experience is preferred but competency in other platforms is acceptable.
    A B.S. in a related field is preferred, along with a minimum of 10 years accounting experience and demonstrated ability to fulfill the position responsibilities.

    Interested Candidates should forward cover letter and resume to employment@farnsworthmuseum.org or fill out an application at the museum.



  • 05 Dec 2012 8:06 AM | Anonymous member
    Maine residents will have the chance to support public libraries by checking a box on their 2012 income tax returns.  Read more here.

    The Maine State Library will administer the fund--which must reach $10,000 in its first year in order to remain viable. All funds will be redistributed to local public libraries.

    Hawaii is the only other state in the union to include a library check-off in its income tax returns.

    MAM members are encouraged to support this new initiative when filing their income tax returns!
  • 29 Nov 2012 8:22 AM | Anonymous member
    Local & Legendary: Maine in the Civil War

    The state of Maine holds a special place in the history of the American Civil War. To recognize and celebrate the role of Mainers on the battlefield and the home front, Maine Historical Society (MHS) and Maine Humanities Council (MHC) are offering 10 Maine communities the opportunity to explore their local Civil War history through a new joint program, “Local & Legendary: Maine and the Civil War.” This project, which is meant to bring communities together around their stories, has received major support from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

    Each community involved in “Local & Legendary” will form a team consisting of a local historical institution, a library, and an education institution. The team will work collaboratively on a variety of activities including digitizing local historical collections, creating online exhibits on Maine Memory Network (www.mainememory.net<http://www.mainememory.net>), and hosting a series of “One Story, One Community” programs. Each participating community will receive a $2,000 grant and substantial training and resources to support their work. A one-day public symposium on April 27, 2013 at USM’s Hannaford Hall, featuring national and state-based speakers, formally kicks off the project.

    The community application process for the first five communities opens on January 1, 2013, with a deadline of March 1, 2013. Five additional communities will be selected in 2014. Visit www.mainehumanities.org<http://www.mainehumanities.org> or www.mainememory.net/cwgrants<http://www.mainememory.net/cwgrants> for program details and application materials, or contact Anne Schlitt at MHC (annes@mainehumanities.org<mailto:annes@mainehumanities.org>) orLarissa Vigue Picard at MHS (lvpicard@mainehistory.org<mailto:lvpicard@mainehistory.org>) for more information.
  • 27 Nov 2012 8:11 PM | Anonymous member
    Event: Basic Archival Workshop
    Sponsor: Maine Historical Records Advisory Board/ National Historical Publications and Records Commission
    Time: Newfield and Augusta Workshops are 9:00 to 4:00; Bangor is 10:00 to 4:30.
    Price: $30

    Places and Dates (choose one):

    Tuesday, November 27th
    19th Century Willowbrook Village, Newfield
    Peter Parker, workshop presenter

    Friday, November 30th
    Bangor Public Library
    Bill Cook, workshop presenter

    Wednesday, December 12th
    Maine State Library, Augusta
    Albert Whitaker, workshop presenter


    REGISTRATION DEADLINES (registration by mail only): Nov. 19 for Newfield or Bangor; Dec. 5 for Augusta.


    Have you always wondered how to care for your historical records?
    Do you need the basic archival training that is required by the MHRAB Archival Grant Program?

    This workshop is for you! The full day workshop will cover definitions, mission statement, collecting policy, appraisal and related issues,
    arrangement, description (and use) of collections.

    Many previous workshops have been filled and had waiting lists, so don't delay.
    WE WILL NOT TAKE PHONE OR E-MAIL REGISTRATIONS for the Basic Archival Workshops, although we will answer questions using those methods. You are not registered until we receive your registration form and check.
    (The only exception is for institutional registrants who must deal with a bureacracy. In that case, we will accept a completed form with a note that a check request has been submitted and payment will follow
    shortly.) Checks should be made out to the workshop presenter listed.

    ----------------------------------------------
    Event: Grant-Writing Workshop, focussed on the Historical Records Collections Grants
    Sponsor: Maine Historical Records Advisory Board/ National Historical Publications and Records Commission
    Time: 9:30 to 3:00
    Price: Free, but you must register
    Place: Maine State Library Conference Room, Augusta

    Dates:
    December 7 (Friday),or
    January 15 (Tuesday)

    You may register for the Grant-Writing workshop by phone or e-mail (287-5791; janet.roberts@maine.gov). Be sure to include ALL the registration information, including snail mail address and phone number.

    REGISTRATION DEADLINES: Five days before the workshop
  • 20 Nov 2012 10:48 AM | Anonymous member
    The Maine Civil War Trail

    Americans, north and south, responded to the demands of the conflict
    in similar ways. Husbands, fathers and sons enlisted in the army and
    navy. Women kept the homefires burning while supporting the troops
    as nurses, Sanitary Commission workers, and spies. Children did their
    part, too, working on the farms and in mills producing weapons,
    gunpowder, uniforms, blankets and the like. Some 70,000 men and an
    uncounted number of women served on the battlefields. Thousands
    more labored at home to provide for the troops what the federal
    government could not. The exhibits along the Maine Civil War Trail tell
    their stories.

    Follow the Trail along the coast from Saco to Castine; then head inland
    to Bangor and Augusta. And don’t forget the western mountains –
    Kingfield, Bethel and Bridgton.

    The Trail opens in spring 2013

  • 16 Nov 2012 12:56 PM | Anonymous member (Administrator)

    The Androscoggin Historical Society has published a 32-page booklet to commemorate the sacrifice of men and women from Androscoggin County who had roles in the Civil War.

     

    The booklet, entitled “Faces of the Civil War,” was compiled by AHS board member Russ Burbank, a retired writer and editor who worked with other members of the board to find tales that portray the sacrifices of local men and women who were caught up in the conflict.

     

    The booklet can be purchased at the Society office (County Building, 2 Turner St., Unit 8, Auburn, ME, 04210-5978) and other locations including the Auburn and Lewiston public libraries. The cost is $4 plus sales tax, or $5 by mail including tax and postage. The office, located on the third floor of the County Courthouse, is open Wednesday and Thursday from 1 to 4:30 p.m., and Friday from 1 to 4 p.m. For information call 784-0586.

    The Board of Directors approved the project as part of a statewide effort by Maine historical societies and museums to observe the 150th anniversary of the war.

     

    Most of the stories and photos were found in files of the AHS, the Maine State Archives, and old newspapers. Internet sites such as the Library of Congress and the National Park Service also provided information.

    One of the Maine military figures portrayed is Gen. O.O. Howard, a native of Leeds who led troops in several Civil War battles including the Battle of Seven Pines, where he lost his right arm when hit by a Confederate rifle ball. After the war Howard led the Freedmen’s Bureau, which provided food, work and education to former slaves. He went on to become the second-ranking general in the U.S. Army before retiring from a 44-year military career. Congress gave him the Congressional Medal of Honor, four different universities gave him an honorary degree, and the French government made him a Chevalier of Honor in 1884.

     

    The booklet tells the stories of other local men including Dr. Alonzo Garcelon, of Lewiston, appointed Maine’s surgeon general when the war began and later elected governor of Maine; Edward W. Bartlett, of Lewiston, who fought in several battles and was confined in the infamous Andersonville prison; Horace Wright and his son Lyman, of Auburn, soldiers together in the 10th Maine Infantry Regiment; and Alonzo G. Frost, of Lisbon, who was one of 30,000 Union soldiers to die from typhoid.

     

    A love letter written by Carrie Wentworth, of Turner, to her soldier husband Edwin, describes her loneliness and her struggle to survive in poverty with her daughter Annie.

     

    Another story looks into the mystery of an unknown Confederate soldier buried in the Strout Cemetery in Durham.

  • 15 Nov 2012 2:00 PM | Anonymous member
    Join us at Portland Public Library for the following employment webinars
    generously sponsored by the *Special Library Association of New England*.
    Webinars run one hour.

    Bring a resume and stay an additional 1/2 hour for a resume swap with other
    attendees. An extra pair of eyes on your resume is *always* helpful .


    *Transferable Skills: Identifying and Marketing Your Unique Value to
    Non-LIS Employers*

    **November 15, 2012
    2:00 PM

    Lower Level, Meeting Room #5

    Transferable skills are those business skills that LIS professionals can
    deploy across a wide range of job opportunities, not necessarily within the
    “LIS” framework. How do you identify – and then compellingly market – those
    transferable skills? What language do you use to translate your business
    skills into a broader range of job opportunities? Can those skills be used
    to create and pitch new jobs? Find out how to frame – and get paid for –
    your information and business expertise. This webinar will help you to:**

    - Identify your business skills that transfer into multiple career
    opportunities;
    - Translate those skills into non-LIS language; and
    - Find opportunities (i.e., job openings) for which those skills are
    appropriate.Top of Form




    *So Tell Me About Yourself: Personal and Professional Branding for LIS
    Students and Professionals*

    December 20, 2012
    2:00 PM

    Lower Level, Meeting Room #5

    The changing job market means that LIS professionals need to think
    creatively and flexibly about the valuable and unique skills they bring to
    the marketplace – both to “traditional” library and information positions
    and to positions outside of the LIS world. What unique value do you bring
    to potential employers and how do you describe that value? What actions can
    you take to further enhance your reputation? Focusing on your professional
    brand will help you think about how to frame and position your skills in a
    way that opens up the greatest number of career opportunities.

    This webinar will enable you to:

    - Evaluate and put your “personal brand” to work for you;
    - Take practical steps to showcase your brand online; and
    - Develop a compelling “brand pitch” that showcases your value to
    various audiences.

    To sign up please visit Survey Monkey:
    https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/BRWTFFP or contact Sonya Durney @
    (207)347-1870 or durney@portland.lib.me.us
  • 07 Nov 2012 10:23 AM | Anonymous member (Administrator)
    The Archives Leadership Institute at Luther College requests applicants for its 2013 institute. The Institute provides advanced training for a cohort of 25 emerging and innovative leaders, giving them the knowledge and tools to transform the archival profession in practice, theory and attitude. The 2013 ALI@Luther Leadership Intensive will be held June 16-22, 2013.

    The program includes five elements:
    • A week-long residential Leadership Intensive held on Luther College's campus;
    • A focused practicum project that will connect leadership skills with action;
    • A practices workshop held during the annual meeting of the Society of American Archivists;
    • Global group projects that will encourage all ALI alumni to generate solutions to challenges within the profession; and
    • A moderated online network experience that will serve as a virtual space for the ALI community to share and grow.
    The core approach will intertwine strategic and advanced leadership thinking with a clear and purposeful archival curriculum that includes project management, strategic visioning and human resource development, strategies for born digital resources, and advocacy and outreach. This curriculum will be taught by Kathleen Roe, New York State Archives; Sharon Leon, The Center for History and New Media at George Mason University; Daniel Noonan, The Ohio State University; and Christopher Barth, The United States Military Academy at West Point.

    ALI@Luther will be influenced by a steering committee of experienced leaders in the archival profession who will also serve as mentors to ALI participants. The steering committee includes Terry Baxter, Multnomah County Records Program, Portland, Ore.; Brenda Gunn, The Dolph Briscoe Center for American History at The University of Texas-Austin; Geof Huth, New York State Archives; Beth Myers, Women and Leadership Archives at Loyola University; Daniel Noonan, The Ohio State University; and Tanya Zanish-Belcher, Iowa State University.

    The entire program will be facilitated by Luther Snow, consultant, author and facilitator. Rachel Vagts, Luther College Archivist and a 2010 Archives Leadership Institute alumna, will serve as ALI@Luther program director. Sasha Griffin, Luther College Digital Archivist, will serve as program coordinator.

    Tuition for the Institute is $500 and covers the cost of the program, lodging and most meals. Transportation will be provided from the Rochester, MN, airport as necessary. The institute provides a number of awards for tuition and/or travel assistance.

    The Archives Leadership Institute is supported by a grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission, the granting agency of the National Archives and Records Administration. The NHPRC supports projects that promote the preservation and use of America's documentary heritage and the continuing development of professional skills for archivists, records managers and historical editors. First funded in 2008, the Archives Leadership Institute seeks to bring to tomorrow's leaders the insights and understanding necessary for increasing public use and appreciation of archives.

    For further information about ALI@Luther, contact us at ALI@luther.edu or visit the Institutes's website at http://www.luther.edu/archivesleadershipinstitute/.


  • 01 Nov 2012 10:42 AM | Anonymous member
    LibraryThing for Libraries, LibraryThing's groundbreaking suite of
    catalog enhancements, is getting bigger--and we need help!

    The core skills are organization and communication. You need a mind like
    a steel trap. You also need to be very comfortable with computers. A
    library or information-science degree is a big plus.

    We're a fun company, with cool technology and room to grow.

    We're accepting applications from everywhere. All things being equal
    we'll favor employees in the Northeast. But standouts elsewhere will
    definitely be considered.

    Read more about it here:
    http://www.librarything.com/blogs/thingology/2012/10/hiring-customer-support-for-librarything-for-libraries/
  • 01 Nov 2012 9:05 AM | Anonymous member (Administrator)

     

    Saco, Maineundefined--Leslie Rounds, Executive Director of the Dyer Library and Saco Museum, announced today that Tara Vose Raiselis has been selected as the new director of the Saco Museum. She most recently served as Curator and Manager of Collections at Strawbery Banke Museum in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, where she worked for twelve years. Both her BA and MA are in History from Pennsylvania State University and she is ABD from the College of William and Mary, also in History.  While at William and Mary, Ms. Raiselis was in the joint Museum Studies program with the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, where she interned in the Programs, Collections and Historic Trades Departments. Prior to moving to New England she worked as Curator of the History Media Center at the University of Delaware.

     

    Through avocation and practice, Ms. Raiselis brings to her new position a wealth of knowledge of material culture and decorative arts. She is a Proprietor of the Portsmouth Athenaeum, serves as a board member for two house museums in New Hampshire, is a member of the China Students Club of Boston and the Costume Society of America, and a juror for Early American Life magazine's annual Directory of Traditional Crafts. Ms. Raiselis lives in southern Maine.

     

    Leslie Rounds said, "We're very pleased to have Tara join our staff. We believe that, under her dynamic leadership, the Saco Museum is going to continue with the exciting progress that we have been enjoying." Ms. Raiselis begins her new position on October 29th where her first two major projects will be the 2012 Festival of Trees in November and December, 2012, and the upcoming exhibit of Maine schoolgirl needlework, "I My Needle Ply With Skill" that opens January 6, 2013.

     

    FOR MORE INFORMATION

    (207) 283-3861 general information

    Website: www.dyerlibrarysacomuseum.org

    Email: lrounds@dyer.lib.me.us (for library information) or education@sacomuseum.org (for museum/program information).

    ###

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