The North Star Museum of Boy Scouting and Girl Scouting plans to produce a traveling exhibit that would be available to county and local historical societies beginning in the Boy Scouts of America’s centennial year of 2010.  The exhibit will be similar to the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibit Service’s (SITES) “Museum on Main Street” program:

• easy-to-install
• general content that establishes a context for your own local collections.
• includes program ideas, educational materials, publicity materials,
• helps identify and make sense of your local Boy Scout collections, and more.

As with most of the exhibits available from SITES:

• a small rental fee will be charged, and
• the borrower will arrange for delivery, and
• pay incoming shipping costs. 

Space requirements are to be determined. The exhibit would be available for 6 or 8-week bookings. Since many details (content, size, time, cost, etc.) have not yet been decided, this is your opportunity to help us determine in what ways a traveling Boy Scout history exhibit would be the most useful to you and your community. 

If you are potentially interested in booking such an exhibit, please either e-mail Claudia Nicholson, Executive Director of the museum, or write to her at North Star Museum of Boy Scouting and Girl Scouting, 2640 E. Seventh Avenue, North St. Paul, MN  55109.

Over the years a lot has been said about what government and nonprofits could learn from business. In the latest issue of the McKinsey Quarterly, Richard Haass says in an interview that businesses could learn much from government. such as building up protections from man-made and natural disasters, or investing in literacy to create a more skilled workforce. Thinking about what businesses could learn from government is an appropriate reversal of common assertions to the contrary. The article then prompts the next question: what could businesses learn from nonprofits? In this case, specifically what could businesses learn from nonprofit historical organizations?

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With the death of Mona Nelson on February 6, 2008, a moment of reflection is appropriate. Mona led the Kandiyohi County Historical Society and formation of the Minnesota Alliance of Local History Museums. Other leaders since the 1920s, both volunteer and paid staff, have shaped local history in Minnesota, too. However, collectively the record and analysis of Minnesota’s vibrant historical organization community certainly is difficult to find. Many of the blog’s subscribers know many of the legendary leaders of this community. If you could  nominate one of those leaders as worthy to be remembered, who would that be, and why?

Is there anyone out there with archives training who is now using PastPerfect for archives? I would like to find a resource person to talk to about the best way to set things up and the most efficient way of using PastPerfect for archival management.

Thanks,

Bobbie Scott
Programs Manager
Sherburne History Center

The Minnesota Association of Museums is looking for a way to accept online conference registrations and memberships. Being a small, all volunteer non-profit with a very small (really) budget, we need something affordable and easy to use. Does anyone have experience with a good, affordable, reliable online system or company?

Thanks -
Shana Crosson and Megan Schaack, for MAM