Nebraska State Historical Society

Through a program modeled on the popular public television show "Antiques Roadshow," the Nebraska State Historical Society, Nebraska Library Commission and statewide public television network Nebraska Educational Telecommunications (NET) will show families and museum and library staff how to preserve their treasures. Professional conservators will offer information and advice about family heirlooms at three community-based conservation clinics. NET will produce and broadcast a television program based on the clinics and on visits to the Gerald R. Ford Conservation Center in Omaha to illustrate more detailed conservation techniques. Building on the interest generated by the clinics and broadcasts - which are expected to reach 55,000 Nebraskans -- the conservators will present three in-depth workshops on paper, textiles, and metal to be delivered statewide via distance learning video conferences for staff and volunteers of the more than 600 not-for-profit museums and libraries in the state, many of whom have very limited access to training opportunities. The Nebraska Library Commission will present a fourth workshop to help local libraries properly handle primary source materials. Through these activities and a complementary website, the project will help Nebraskans save personal and public historical materials, educate staff in cultural heritage institutions in conservation techniques and increase community knowledge and appreciation of the past.