Number 98    NEWSLETTER Fall 2005

LOWER HUDSON CONFERENCE of Historical Agencies & Museums

2199 Saw Mill River Road

Elmsford, New York 10523

Board of Trustees 2005

Leslie Bedford

Museum Leadership, Bank Street College of Education (NY)

Charles A. Bradley

Attorney (W)

William Burback

Independent Museum Consultant (P)

Amy Campanaro

Southeast Museum (P)

Laura Correa-Carpenter

Van Cortlandt House Museum (Bx)

Diane DeChillo

Ellenville Public Library & Museum (U)

Richard de Koster

Constitution Island Association (O/P)

Robert Engel

Museum Administrator (NY)

Annette L. Fortin, Secretary

Hudson River Museum (W)

Karen Franklin, Treasurer

Judaica Museum of the Hebrew Home for the Aged (Bx)

Dr. Trudie A. Grace

Putnam County Historical Society-FSM (P)

Jacquetta Haley

Haley Research & Consulting (CT)

Elaine Hayes

Mt. Gulian Historic Site (D)

Katie Hite

Westchester County Historical Society (W)

Rosemary Keegan

Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area (P/D)

Stephen Long

Lower East Side Tenement Museum (NY)

Charles T. Lyle, President

Museum Consultant; Director Emeritus, Boscobel Restoration (P/D)

Elizabeth T. Martin

Stephen Tilly Architect (W)

Mary McTamaney, Vice-Pres.

Newburgh City Historian (O)

Malcolm J. Mills

East Fishkill Historical Society (D)

Kathryn Slocum

Independent Development Consultant (W)

Julia M. Warger

Stony Point Battlefield & Lighthouse, S.H.S. (R)

FALL CALENDAR      Fall Newsletter # 98

September 2005

16 Deadline, NEH Consultation Grants and NEH Planning Grants. www.neh.gov.

21-24 AASLH Annual Meeting, Pittsburgh, PA. www.aaslh.org.

23 DHP Workshop: Creating Finding Aids, host site: The Hastings Center, Garrison. $10.

24-28 Second Annual Fort Ticonderoga Seminar on the American Revolution; contact Rich Strum, Director of Interpretation & Education: rstrum@fort-ticonderoga.org.

29- Patriot's Weekend: "Treason! The Arnold-Andre Affair" 225^th Anniversary events in

Oct. 2 Dutchess, Westchester and Rockland Counties. www.hudsonrivervalley.net.

October 2005

1 Deadline, IMLS Conservation Project Grant Support. www.imls.gov; 202/653-4641.

1 Hudson Valley Vernacular Architecture/ Dutch Barn Preservation Society joint   conference on Dutch Vernacular Architecture, Roslyn, Long Island. www.hvva.net.

7 Lower Hudson Conference Annual Meeting & Awards program: "The Continuum of History in the Community," at Locust Grove (The Samuel F.B. Morse Historic Site),

11 "Fundraising for Preservation & Conservation" conference, Rutgers University Library, New Brunswick, N.J.  www.ccaha.org.

 14 Grant information / Grant writing workshop at Lower Hudson Conference, Westchester County Records & Archives Center, Elmsford: 11 AM- 12: MAP, CAP, NYSCA Museum Program, and Conservation Treatment grant information; 1 PM- 3;30:

New York State Library Conservation/Preservation Discretionary Grants and DHP  Documentary Heritage Program grants information. Please register: AM or whole day: lowerhudson@msn.com; PM only: on line registration at www.nysl.nysed.gov/libdev/cp.

14-15 "Art Beyond Sight: Multi Modal Approaches to Learning" conference sponsored by Art Education for the Blind; with the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of Modern Art and American Folk Art Museum, NYC. $50. editor-at-large@artbeyondsight.org.

15 Workshop for Local Historians: "Research Tourists: Promoting the Economic Value of  History to your Community." Presented by the Center for Applied Historical Research at the Wallace Center, Hyde Park. 9:30am-4pm program ($15 including lunch & FDR tour) is co-sponsored by Lower Hudson Conference, Association of Public Historians of NYS, Dept. of History, SUNY Albany, and the National Park Service. CAHR: 518/442-4811.

20-23 Museum Trustee Association Annual Assembly, Philadelphia, PA. www.mtz-hq.org.

24 Stone Strategies Cemeteries Workshop, Potsdam, NY. lowerhudson@msn.com.

29 "Crossing the Boundaries," genealogy conference 9:30 – 5:00, focused on lower NY and northern NJ. Host: Salvation Army School for Officer Training, Suffern (Rockland Co.) To register: 212/755-8532, ext 36, or www.crossingtheboundaries.org.

29-31 MAAM Annual Meeting, Baltimore, M.D. www.midatlanticmuseums.org.

November 2005

1-2 "Persistence of Memory: Stewardship of Digital Assets," NEDCC Conference/ pre-conference to the Museum Computer Network Annual Meeting; Boston, MA. $285. www.nedcc.org.

2-6 Oral History Association Annual Meeting, Providence, RI. www.dickinson.edu/oha.

4-6  Mid-Atlantic Popular Culture Association Conference: "Death in American Culture,"  New Brunswick, N.J.

7 LHC "Handling History" workshop- "Paintings and Frames," co-sponsored with and hosted by the Salmagundi Club, NYC. 10 – 4. Faculty: paintings conservator Alexander Katlan, and Suzanne Smeaton, Director of Historic Frames, Eli Wilner & Co. Registration: $55/LHC members; $65/non members (includes lunch at the Salmagundi Club). lowerhudson@msn.com.

8 Hudson Valley Museum Educators' Roundtable: Focus on State Curriculum

Standards for History. Host site: Museum of the Hudson Highlands, Cornwall-on-

Hudson. 1-3:30 pm. This Roundtable will follow the meeting of the Mid-Hudson Council for the Social Studies, also in Cornwall (Orange County). To register, contact Lower Hudson Conference, 914/592-6726; lowerhudson@msn.com. 

10-11 North American Textile Conference, "Recovering the Past: Conservation of Archaeological & Ethnographic Textiles," Institute of Anthropology and History, Mexico City, Mexico.

16-18 New England Museum Association (NEMA) Annual Meeting, "Risky Business: Museums in an Ever-Changing World," Burlington, VT. www.nemanet.org.

December 2005

1 Deadline: New York State Library Conservation/Preservation Discretionary Grants.

1 Deadline: Documentary Heritage Program grants, New York State Archives.

1 Deadline: CAP (Conservation Assessment Program) grants, Heritage Preservation/IMLS

9 Hudson Valley Museum Educators' Roundtable: Focus on State Curriculum

Standards for History. Host site: Westchester Council for the Social Studies Conference, Crowne Plaza Hotel, White Plains, NY. (Westchester County). To register, contact Lower Hudson Conference, 914/592-6726; lowerhudson@msn.com. 

WINTER PREVIEW: 2006- Year of the Museum

The American Association of Museums (AAM) celebrates its centennial anniversary and we all join to share stories of why museums matter. The campaign to "Invite the Public to Visit 100 Museums in 2006" is meant to promote all museums; AAM suggests we each open our museums for 100 hours straight to highlight our place in the community. AAM will bring the national celebration to Boston, April 27 – May 1, 2006 for their spring Annual Meeting.

LHC's  FALL HANDLING HISTORY WORKSHOPS AND PROGRAMS

September 23 DHP Workshop: Creating Finding Aids. $10 registration fee.

Faculty: Sharon Pullen, C.A. (Suffolk County Archivist)

Host: The Hastings Center, Garrison. Putnam County

October 7  LHC Annual Meeting & Awards Program. $45/455 registration fee.   Host: Locust Grove, The Samuel F.B. Morse Historic Site, Poughkeepsie. Dutchess County

October 14 Grants Information/ Grant Writing Workshop.  Free. 10am-3:30pm

Presenters: NYSCA, DHP, NYS Library and LHC grant staff.

Host: Lower Hudson Conference/ Westchester County Records & Archive Center, Elmsford. Westchester County

October 15 "Research Tourists: Promoting the Economic Value of History

 To Your Community" Workshop for local historians. $15 fee to Univ. at Albany;  includes lunch & tours of FDR Home & Library.

  Sponsors: Center for Applied Historical Research (CAHR) 518-442-4811;

   LHC, APHNYS, SUNY Albany Dept. of History, and National Park Service

   Presenters: Wint Aldrich, Joyce Ghee; Kristina Reese, Sallie Sypher

   Host: The Wallace Center, Hyde Park. Dutchess County

 October 24  Stone Strategies Workshop: Documentation & Conservation of Historic Cemeteries . $ 15-$60 registration fees. Info: www.nnyln.org.

Faculty: Dianne Macpherson & Erica Blumenfeld, Hudson Valley DHP Regional Archivists; Conservator C.R. Jones, Cooperstown.

Host: Northern NY Library Network, Potsdam.  St. Lawrence County

November 7 Handling History Seminar: Examining Paintings & Historic Frames   10 – 3:30. $55/$65 registration fee to LHC, includes lunch. 914-592-6726.    Faculty: Alexander Katlan, Paintings Conservator, & Suzanne Smeaton, Director of Historic Frames, Eli Wilner & Co.

Host: The Salmagundi Club, 47 Fifth Avenue, NYC.   New York County

November 8 Hudson Valley Museum Educators Roundtable: State History

Curriculum Standards. $10 registration fee; lowerhudson@msn.com

1-3:30 pm, following Mid-Hudson Council for Social Studies Conference.

Presenter: Lawrence Paska, Associate in Social Studies, Office of

Curriculum and Instruction, NYS Education Department.

Host: Museum of the Hudson Highlands, Cornwall.    Orange County

December 9 Hudson Valley Museum Educators Roundtable: State History

Curriculum Standards. $10 registration fee; lowerhudson@msn.com

1-3:30 pm, following Westchester Council for Social Studies Conference.

Presenter: Lawrence Paska, Associate in Social Studies, Office of

Curriculum and Instruction, NYS Education Department.

Host: Crowne Plaza Hotel, White Plains.  Westchester County

RESOURCES: Opportunities, Grants and Information for the Field

New Peer Review Program:

The Museum Association of New York (MANY) and the NYS Office of Cultural Education are working to create a peer review program for museums in New York State, to be based on the new chartering standards. Would you be willing to act as a peer reviewer? It is expected that reviewers will work in teams of at least two, and each will only need to visit 1-2 institutions each year. (Peer Reviewers will receive reimbursement for travel and perhaps a small honorarium). How would you feel about your museum having to go through a peer review process before receiving its permanent charter? Any other comments or suggestions are welcomed; you may direct your comments to MANY Executive Director, Anne Ackerson at: info@manyonline.org,  or e-mail Joann Lindstrom, Coordinator, Peer Review and Mentoring Programs, MANY, 265 River Street, Troy, NY 12180; joannlindstrom@earthlink.net.

Traveling Costume Exhibit "Looking in the Mirror: Clothing and Identity" Available:

This exhibition, developed by the Upstate History Alliance (UHA) in collaboration with ten local history organizations, invites people to explore the many ways in which clothing helps shape our identity and the ways in which others view us. It is suitable for small to mid-sized museums looking for a professional exhibit that is flexible, allows for adaptation to your organization, and appeals to a wide audience. Accompanying exhibit script and high-quality photographs are included; users provide artifacts. The panel exhibit requires a total of 750-1000 sq. ft. of space, and costs $300 (in advance) for a three-month run. The exhibit is available as of October 10, 2005; organizations will be required to sign a modified version of a standard traveling exhibition contract, and bear responsibility for providing transportation as well as insurance. Contact UHA at 800/895-1648 or info@upstatehistory.org.

MAP: Museum Assessment Program Grants:

New Guidelines and a new deadline of February 15^th will allow for a limited number of applicants with operating budgets under $125,000 who can participate in MAP for free. Museums now need only be open 90 days per year to be eligible for MAP. An on-line application form is available at www.aam-us.org/map. For information: map@aam-us.org or call 202/289-9118.

NYSCA's "Sites Re-Seen" Grants:

The Museum Program of the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) announced a second year of support for its initiative, "Sites Re-Seen," through which diverse artists work with historic sites and houses to create installations that provide visitors a new perspective on the building, its landscape, its objects or its interpretive themes. The Museum Program anticipates funding 4-5 projects in 2006, with an application deadline of January 17, 2006. Applicants must be a historic house or site; funds are provided for the artist's honorarium and supplies, only. Contact Museum Program director, Kristin Herron at 212/741-7847 or mum@nysca.org.

New York Council on the Humanities (NYCH) grants:

Minigrants of $250-$2500 are available on a rolling application basis. Guidelines and forms are to be found on line at www.nyhumanities.org. Contact NYCH Grants Officer, 212/233-1131, x30.  

Get ready! Get Set! Go! Grants for museum advancement through planning, and for travel to attend professional training or do research at peer institutions in NYS, are administered for NYSCA by UHA. Contact director Linda Norris at 800/895-1648 or info@upstatehistory.org. Information and application forms are available on line at www.upstatehistory.org.

Conservation and Preservation Grant Resources:

 CAP: Conservation Assessment Program Grants:

Administered for the IMLS by Heritage Preservation, first-come, first served CAP requests will offer your organization on-site assessment of your building and your collections over a two day period, and resulting in a written, prioritized report for use in staff and board planning. Contact the new CAP Coordinator, Kate Marks at Heritage Preservation, 1012 14^th Street, NW, Suite 1200, Washington, DC 20005. 202/233-0831; Kmarks@heritagepreservation.org. 

IMLS Conservation Project Support Program- 1:1 matching grants of up to $150,000 are awarded to museums to help identify conservation priorities and perform activities that will safeguard their collections. In this federal grant program, staff salaries are eligible to match the conservation funds requested. Additional support of up to $10,000 is available for an education component. Eligible activities include needs surveys, detailed condition reports or environmental studies; conservation treatment of priority objects or collections; and training of staff in collections care procedures.

Eligible museums are non-profit organizations or units of state or local government that exist for educational or aesthetic purposes, care for or own tangible objects; have at least one full-time staff member; and are open to the public on a regular basis. Guidelines for applications, and examples of successful past applications can be found at www.imls.gov. Contact Steve Schwartzman, Program Officer, 202/653-4641; sshwartzman@imls.gov.   

New York State Library Program for the Conservation and Preservation of Library Research Materials:

The discretionary grant program of the State Library's Division of Library Development encourages the proper care and accessibility of research materials in New York State, promotes the use and development of guidelines and standards for conservation/preservation practices, and supports the growth of local and cooperative preservation programs. These grants provide modest financial support for projects that contribute to the preservation of significant research materials in libraries, archives, historical societies and other agencies within the state, whether by conducting surveys, improving collection storage environments, reformatting or treatment collections or other preservation activities described in the guidelines. Application deadline is December 1^st. For additional application information, or to register for grants information workshops, contact Denise Breen, Division of Library Development at dbreen@mail.nysed.gov, or Program Director Barbara Lilley at blilley@mail.nysed.gov; find guidelines on line at www.nysl.nysed.gov/libdev/cp.

Conservation Treatment Grant Program:

Lower Hudson Conference administers this state wide grant program for the Museum Program of the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA). Annually grant applications are due June 1^st, and decisions announced in mid-August. 2005 grants have just been announced this summer, in which $105,000 was awarded to 32 institutions across New York State for stabilizing conservation treatment of a wide variety of objects, paintings, textiles, sculpture, and works on paper. Guidelines and application information are available each year on the web at: www.lowerhudsonconference.org, or by contacting Conservation Treatment Grant Program Director Tema Harnik at LHC: 914/592-6726; lowerhudson@msn.com.

"Fundraising for Preservation & Conservation" conference, October 11, 2005, Rutgers University Library, New Brunswick, N.J. Sponsored by Center For Conservation of Art & Historic Artifacts, www.ccaha.org.

 REVISED NYS MUSEUM/HISTORICAL SOCIETY CHARTERING RULES

June '05 NYS Museum Chartering Standards revisions are available at www.manyonline.org, and your comments are welcome to MANY director, Anne Ackerson: info@manyonline.org, or to Chartering Office director, David Palmquist: dpalmqui@mail.nysed.gov.  "Elements of Proposed Amendments to Regents Rules for Chartered Museums and Historical Societies/ Revision of Regents Rules # 3.27 and 3.30 come under statutory authority of Education Law #207 and 216.

Significant 2005 chartering revisions include:

Simplification of incorporation rules for typically small, all-volunteer historical societies that do not hold collections of artifacts, so that they need not obtain a regents charter, but instead a regents certificate of incorporation, which need not be renewed; Simplification of staffing requirements for smaller museums (with operating budgets under $100,000), so that such museums may operate with experienced and qualified paid and/or unpaid staff; Minimum "open hours" set at 1,000 hours/year for larger museums and historical societies with a facility, and with operating budgets over $100,000; Every institution is required to have a written mission statement, reviewed at least every five years; Boards are required to adopt a written code of ethics; be composed of not more than one-third related individuals; and are required to effectively advance diversity in membership and participation in mission; Boards must provide increased financial oversight, prepare an annual budget, operate with generally accepted financial policies and accounting practices, and provide financial statements for regular Board review; Every institution is required to appoint an audit committee of Board members which will review organizational financial transactions and reports; Every institution with operating budget over $100,000 is required to have an audit; Financial operations and debt must not jeopardize collections;

All institutions are required to obtain IRS tax-exempt status under section 501(C)(3).

Provision of standards for programs, operations and facilities, requiring written leases or agreements; requiring that a physical plant be accessible to individuals with disabilities to the extent required by law; requiring an emergency action and disaster preparedness plan for facilities; and requiring an adequate, working alarm system for structures.

Institutions holding collections will meet higher standards for acquisition, accessioning, protection and care of collections; Collections may not be used as collateral for a loan; Collections will not be capitalized (treated as financial assets or listed on a financial balance sheet); Institutions are forbidden from acquiring property known to or believed to have unclear provenance, including property misappropriated during the Nazi occupation of Europe.

The Regents provide standards for education interpretation and presentation; The Regents clarify practices with respect to corporate names; It is required that any plan for dissolution or dispersal of assets follow State law.

REGIONAL FOCUS:

HYDE PARK (Dutchess)

The Center for Applied Historical Research (CAHR) presents a workshop for local historians: "Research Tourists: Promoting the Economic Value of History to your Community" Oct. 15^th, at the Wallace Center, FDR Library in Hyde Park, in a program co-sponsored with Lower Hudson Conference, the Association of Public Historians of New York State (APHNYS), the Department of History, University at Albany, and the National Park Service. Speakers Winthrop Aldrich (Red Hook Town Historian) and Joyce Ghee (Historical Consultant) will address "Creating a Tourist Environment;" Lunch and a tour of the FDR Home will be followed by a session of case studies with panelists Kristina Saddlemire Reese (Saratoga County Historian) and Sallie Sypher (Deputy Putnam County Historian). A 4 pm tour of the FDR Library concludes the full day program. Registration Fee $15 includes refreshments, lunch and tours). Checks payable to "University at Albany"; send to: CAHR, Univ. at Albany, 105 Ten Broeck, Albany, NY 12222. Information at 518-442-4811.

NEWBURGH (Orange)

The 1835, A.J. Davis-designed Dutch Reformed Church of Newburgh has made the list of only eight U.S. sites posted by the 2006 World Monuments Watch of the World Monuments Fund. Find out more at www.newburghdrc.org.

SUFFERN (Rockland)

On Saturday, October 29, from 9:30am – 5:00pm, the Genealogical Group of New York & New Jersey presents "Crossing the Boundaries," an all-day conference focusing on the people and history of lower New York and northern New Jersey, exploring the factors which brought immigrants into the region, and the reasons why they stayed or moved on. Among the several speakers will be Thomas Riley, author of The Orphans of New York: a History of the Orphan Train Era, 1854-1929.

The conference will take place at the Salvation Army School for Officer Training, 201 Lafayette Avenue, Suffern. The Genealogical Group of New York & New Jersey is comprised of the New City Public Library, The Genealogical Society of Rockland County, The Orange County Genealogical Society, the New York Genealogical & Biographical Society and the Genealogical Societies of Bergen County and Passaic county, NJ. Registration fees: $60/members of co-sponsoring organization; $90/non-members. For information, or to register, contact NYG&B's Lauren Maehrlein at 212/755-8532; education@nygbs.org, or www.crossingtheboundaries.org.

ELMSFORD (Westchester)

In celebration of its 20^th anniversary, the Westchester County Archives has launched "Historical Treasures of Westchester County", the latest addition to the county's Virtual Archives at www.westchesterarchives.com. A sampling of over 100 rich historical documents representing every era of the county's 300-year-plus history, the website results from a unique partnership between the Archives and the Westchester County Historical Society, the agency that serves as county historian. The treasures are not only from these two partner agencies, but also from local communities of Ardsley, Eastchester, Port Chester, Scarsdale and White Plains. Patty Dohrenwend, director of the Westchester County Archives, outlines their plan to add unique records, including Indian deeds, hand-drawn maps, photographs, paintings, court records, newspapers, engineering drawings, private letters and wills, that will represent the "best" historical documentation from each of the county's 45 communities.

STONE STRATEGIES, COMMUNITY STORIES & RESEARCH TOURISM

New Paltz (Ulster County)

On Huguenot Street the public has been invited to discover parts of the history of New Paltz on an educational tour of the Huguenot Street Burial Ground, in active use through the 1860's, where the oldest tombstone is that of Abraham DuBois, the last surviving original patentee of New Paltz, who passed away in 1731.

Staten Island (Richmond County)

The Staten Island Institute of Arts & Sciences' new exhibit "Realms of History: The Cemeteries of Staten Island", examines the community's burial grounds from the 17^th c. Port Richmond cemetery at the Dutch Reformed Church, to the neglected and abandoned Fountain/Staten Island cemeteries in West New Brighton. Richmond's cemeteries – like historic cemeteries in all of our counties-- are major repositories of information for all historians, researchers, genealogists and people interested in local history, enabling students to encounter a range of humanities topics, including community history, religion, women's studies, African-American history, art, historic preservation and land-marking. For information contact Pat Salmon, Curator of History, Historical Archives & Library, SIIAS; salmonf@aol.com.

Morrisville (Madison County)

Morrisville was the site of LHC's first upstate Stone Strategies workshop last August 19^th. More than 50 people clamored to register for the all-day session at the Town of Eaton Town Hall and adjacent cemetery where conservator C.R. Jones of the New York State Historical Association, Cooperstown, walked us through identification of stones, cleaning, conservation & maintenance problems, demonstrating replicable, low-tech techniques that the participants are eager to put into effect in local historic cemeteries over the coming year as part of Madison County's bi-centennial celebrations. LHC's next Stone Strategies foray takes us to Potsdam October 24^th.

Menands (Albany County)

A ramble through Albany Rural Cemetery's wooded ravines with waterfalls, past various gravesites and monuments of historic and architectural interest, and by several of the architecturally significant 19^th century buildings still in use, will take place as part of the Hudson River Valley Ramble, Saturday, September 17^th at 10am. Tours meet at the Cemetery Chapel; $5 tour; $10 horse-drawn carriage tour; reservations required.

New York City (New York County)

The Historic Districts Council and the Museum of the City of New York present fall programs exploring the history and preservation of the city's historic cemeteries. Sept. 7: Historic Potter's Fields of New York City; Sept. 14: Buried in New York: Preserving Historic Cemeteries, and Sept. 21: Green-Wood Cemetery Evening Tour and Chapel Reception with preservation architects Adrienne & Joseph Bresnan. www.hdc.org ; 212-614-9107.

At Merchant's House Museum, 29 E. Fourth St. (212-777-1089; www.merchantshouse.org, the exhibition "Coffins and Crepe: Death in a 19^th century Home" will interpret the house in mourning (October 6 – November 7).

RESOURCES IN PRINT & ON-LINE:

The 2004-05 MANY Salary Survey is available from the Museum Association of New York (MANY), 265 River Street, Troy, NY 12180; $35/members, $70 retail + s&h. Do your salary research on-line at www.manyonline.org.

The Employer's Handbook: A Guide to Personnel Policies & Practices for Museums. (revised, June 2004), published by New England Museum Assoc. www.nema.org.

The National Park Service Museum Handbook is at www.cr.nps.gov/museum/publications/MH/mushbkl.html.

Covering Your Assets: Facilities & Risk Management in Museums, edited by Elizabeth Merrit, is a new publication of the AAM, along with recent books: The Interpreters Training Manual for Museums, and Stewards of the Sacred. www.aam-us.org/bookstore.

The Art of Deaccession: An Ethical Perspective, is an article from the 2005 Legal Problems of Museum Administration seminar, now online at www.aam-us.org/museumresources/informationcenter. The article considers the ethical and legal issues of removing an object against the donor's wishes; selling objects to cover financial obligations, and returning a stolen object to its true owner

The Minnesota Historical Society's Historic Housekeeping Handbook is on line at: www.mnhs.org/preserve/conservation/reports/manual-0102.pdf.

Lower Hudson Conference's illustrated Emergency Preparedness and Response Handbook and an appendix Materials & Techniques for Recovery of Paper Research Materials from Fire & Flood, are fully down-loadable from the LHC website: www.lowerhudsonconference.org.

"A Layperson's Guide to Preservation Law," including federal, state and local laws governing historic resource protection, including the regulation of historic religious properties, by Julia Miller, editor of The Preservation Law Reporter. The Guide (#2199) can be ordered from www.preservationbooks.org; or call 202/588-6296. $15.