Steve Keller has made several important and troubling recent postings concerning the continued integrity of security systems (Mosler to liquidate, Software House bought up, Safe guarding "dongles").
It is my opinion that any time there is a contract for security services, there must be a legally enforceable clause that third party security services can not be unilaterally stopped by the third party, but disputes must be taken to arbitration or Court in a very expedited fashion, and also a government watch-dog organization to take over the continuation of the security services during the resolution period if the third-party vendor refuses.
Are there already such provisions, or should there be a world wide concerted effort by museums and the like to get such legislation passed?
C.J. Scheiner
From: Michele Pagan michele_johnpagan@yahoo.com Subject:
Workshop on fire recovery
Holy Smokes, the House Is On Fire!
National Institute of Standards and Technology Washington DC October 30,2001
The Washington Conservation Guild is once again offering our unique and popular disaster workshop, formerly known as "Burn, Baby, Burn". This year we are focusing on fire recovery in historic houses. We will set up a 12 foot by 12 foot room to recreate an interior of an historic house and will set it on fire. To add to the realism, no sprinklers will be used during the suppression phase. After the fire has been extinguished and the room has cooled, participants will develop a plan of attack, and will salvage what's left.
This is a one day workshop that runs from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm and will include lectures on the nature of fires and fire suppression systems, methods of developing disaster recovery plans and real life experiences in disaster recovery in the wake of a fire. The afternoon session will focus on experiencing the aftermath of a fire. This will be a wet, dirty, smelly and psychologically action-packed several hours. Participants are therefore asked to wear comfortable clothing and shoes they don't mind getting wet. Many participants in the past have brought clean dry clothes to change into at the end of the day.
This workshop is ideal for anyone responsible for the care of historic collections. The workshop takes place at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, just north of Washington DC, and is supported by the American Institute for Conservation. Registration for WCG members is $150 and for non-WCG members, $180. Registration for non- members ncludes a one year membership in WCG. For more information and registration forms, at http://palimpsest.stanford.edu/wcg
Contributions from personal collections to burn as part of the demonstration are being solicited at this point.
Please contact Michele Pagan if you have items to donate, or if you need to request registration form though the mail by calling Michele at 202-546-5439, or writing her at michele_johnpagan@yahoo.com
Former curator investigating appeal grounds
By Marjorie Cook
Former Dunedin Public Art Gallery curator Peter Entwisle has instructed his lawyer to investigate whether an Employment Tribunal decision this week was wrong in law. Mr Entwisle lost a personal grievance case against the Dunedin City Council, in which he claimed his manager Priscilla Pitts was biased against him when he was made redundant in January last year. Mr Entwisle outlined his disappointment with the tribunal's findings on the facts in a brief press release last night and went on to say: "It seems the decision may also be wrong in law. For that reason I have instructed my solicitors to consider appealing it." Mr Entwisle said the issue had "never been management's right to pursue even the most wrong-headed policies while running the art gallery but whether or not someone used a position of power to pursue a personal vendetta". "The adjudicator chose to believe a number of people in suits against the testimony of two artists and a waiter. Not everyone will follow him in this. History will be the judge." He also thanked the numerous people who had offered him support since 1999. Mr Miller said, in his judgement, the events that led to a gallery restructuring in 1999 did not amount to a predetermined plan to get rid of Mr Entwisle. http://www1.odt.co.nz/
Detective investigates Bradman fakes
05aug01
THE Bradman Museum has hired a forensic detective to combat a lucrative black market in Bradman fakes.
Cricket bats and books bearing the signature of Australia's most famous cricket player bring in thousands of dollars at auction. Since his death in February at the age of 92, interest in Bradman-related items has intensified. The Bradman Museum has appointed former Australian Federal Police detective Chris Anderson to authenticate Bradman signatures. Mr Anderson now has a database which includes 120 Bradman signatures dated between 1926 and 2000. "If someone is looking for a quick return or a good profit, it is far better to trade on the Bradman name than anybody else," Mr Anderson said. Last week, two controversial letters from Bradman to former Test captain Greg Chappell sold at auction for nearly $19,000, while last September Federal Police seized fake autographed Bradman bats and photographs in Melbourne. Mr Anderson, who runs a forensic document examination business in Carlingford, started certifying Bradman items after a request from a fan who bought a cricket bat signed by Bradman in the 1930s. "If you look at the signature on the letters that sold for $19,000 the other night, one of the features of that would immediately put that signature as being signed in the 1960s to the early '80s. "If you look at his signature before or after then, you hardly see that feature. "After 1995, there were certain aspects of his signature that became tell-tale." http://www.theadvertiser.news.com.au/