Assessments Available to More Museums

More museums will be eligible to participate in the Conservation Assessment Program (CAP) as a result of changes starting in FY2006. The changes will make CAP even more accessible to the museum field and streamline the process.

The major changes affecting CAP applicants regard two modifications to the eligibility criteria. Specifically,

• the number of days per year a museum is required to be open to the public will be changed to 90 days (previously 120)
• a second CAP assessment or ReCAP will now be available to organizations who went through CAP more than seven years ago and wish to update their assessment.

CAP will be administered through a cooperative agreement between IMLS and Heritage Preservation. Although CAP’s administration is changing, the heart of the program remains the same. CAP provides two-day assessments that help small museums select a professional conservator who examines the museum’s collections, environmental conditions, and sites. The assessor then writes a report recommending priorities to improve collections care. The assessment reports can assist the museum in developing strategies for improved collections care, long-range planning, and fund-raising for collections care.

The FY 2006 CAP applications will be mailed on Friday, October 7, 2005, to museums on the CAP mailing list and will also be available on Heritage Preservation’s Web site. Applications will continue to be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis until the postmark deadline of December 1, 2005.

This fall, IMLS and Heritage Preservation staff will be attending the regional museum association meetings to discuss the changes. For additional information visit the CAP home page, call 202-233-0831, or e-mail kmarks@heritagepreservation.org.