Monthly Museums Musings

Back by popular demand! NMA’s “Cataloging & Catching Up” has a new name and a new time. Monthly Museum Musings is the new name, and we will meet online via Zoom the 4th Friday morning of every month at 10:30am CST (9:30am MST) to discuss topics important to Nebraska Museums like the up-coming conference, how to use social media and technology to benefit your institution, educational programs going online, and many more! Hosts from across Nebraska Museums will to take turns hosting informal, round-table style chats via Zoom to talk about topics affecting Nebraska Museums. We might not have the answers, but let’s get together and share ideas. 

Grab a cup of coffee or favorite snack, and join us for your morning break to discuss all thing Nebraska Museums. 

Watch your monthly NMA Museum News membership for more information.

To submit ideas or to volunteer to lead a Monthly Museum Musing for 2023, contact communications@nebraskamuseums.org.

Up Coming Schedule:

  • February 23, 2024, 10:30am CST: Best Practices for Non-Profit Boards hosted by Micah Huyser, director of Nebraska Prairie Museum.
  • March 22, 2024, 10:30am CST: Conference Preview: The 2024 NMA Conference will be at Stuhr Museum in Grand Island on April 8-9. The Conference Committee will talk about all the exciting workshops, sessions, and events happening at this years convention.
  • April 26, 2024, 10:30am CST: Conference Post-Games, hosted by Conference Committee
  • May 24, 2024, 10:30am CST: Texas Association of Museum shares their successes and what they have been doing with Brittany Petrilli, executive director of TAM.
  • June 28, 2024, 10:30am CST: Learn how to create eNewsletters using MailChimp with April White, Director, G.W. Frank Museum.

*date move due to the holidays

If you have a suggestion or would like to host a NMA Monthly Museum Musing, please contact communications@nebraskamuseums.org

Please download and import the following iCalendar (.ics) files to your calendar system.
Monthly: https://zoom.us/meeting/tJMvduqhrDwjG90ZZfPV2oKy74dbC4KD9wS2/ics?icsToken=98tyKuCvrDopE9aSuRiORowEAIj4b_PzpmZEjfoNpiXjMxYBbSjvYbZGMJErO_yJ

Previous Monthly Museum Musings

NMA’s Work to Update the Nebraska Museum Property Act: The NMA committee has been working with District 35 Senator Aguilar to modernize the Nebraska Museum Property Act, a set of statutes for how Nebraska museums manage their collections. Learn about the changes and how it will benefit Nebraska Museums.

Read the LB926 Revisions to the Nebraska Museum Property Act.

Contact your Senator and ask them to support LB926.

Submit Comments and Support for LB926.

December 15,* 2023, 10:30am CST: Nebraska Historical Institution Overview hosted by Micah Huyser, director of Nebraska Prairie Museum.

November 17,* 2023, 10:30am CST: Story Telling hosted by April White, Director, G.W. Frank Museum

October 27, 2023, 10:30am CST: Strange Tales from the Museums. Let’s have some fun! Do you have a funny, strange, spooky story about your Museum, Historic Site? Join the discussion and share your experience.

September 22 2023, 10:30am CST: Museum Property Act hosted by Becky Matticks Deputy Director of Stuhr Museum of the Prairie Pioneer and Karen Keehr, Archivist at American Historical Society of Germans from Russia

August 25, 2023, 10:30am CST: Marketing and Social Media hosted by Curtis Gosser, Curator of Exhibits at Hastings Museum, and Becky Tideman, Marketing Director at Hastings Museums

July 28, 2023, 10:30am CST: Restricted Collections and Artifacts hosted by Erin Hauser, director of Saunders County Historical Society

June 23, 2023, 10:30am CST: Digital Imaging hosted by Karen Keehr, archivist at American Historical Society of Germans for Russia. Is your institution curious about starting a digital imaging program or want to improve the one you have? Karen has over 20 years in the field and specialized training from the Library of Congress. We will talk about standards, equipment, storage, and public access.

AHSGR Digital Imaging Policies, Procedures, and Training Material

May 26, 2023, 10:30am CST: Insurance Issues: With changing insurance costs, small museums across Nebraska are facing tough choices. Let’s talk about what other museums are doing and possible solutions.

April 28, 2023, 10:30am CST: Conference Post-Game hosted by Conference Committee

March 24, 2023, 10:30am CST: Conference Preview hosted by Conference Committee (no recording available)

February 28, 2023, 10:30am CST: Accessibility and School Programs hosted by Katie Karr, Education Assistant at the Hastings Museum

January 27, 2023, 10:30 CST: Museums Tours hosted by Becky Matticks, Deputy Director of Stuhr Museum of the Prairie Pioneer.

December 16, 2022*, 10:30 CST: Holiday Celebration (not recorded due to low attendance)

November 18, 2022*, 10:30 CST: Interactive Exhibitions hosted by Micah Huyser, director of Nebraska Prairie Museum.

October 28, 2022, 10:30am CST: Paranormal Investigation hosted by Broc Anderson from Buffalo County Trails and Rails Museum

September 23, 2022, 10:30am CST: DIY Preservation hosted by Jessica Noyd, Registrar, Hastings Museum

August 26, 2022, 10:30am CST: Historic Interpretation hosted by April White, Director, G.W. Frank Museum

July 22, 2022, 10:30am CST: Ensure the Best Guest Experience

June 24, 2022, 10:30am CST: Volunteers hosted by Tammy Hendrickson, Director of the Custer County Museum

May 27, 2022, 10:30am CST: Summer Programming hosted by Katie Karr, Education Assistant and Volunteer Coordinator, Hastings Museums

April 22, 2022, 10:30am CST: Conference Post-Game Evaluation

March 18, 2022, 10:30am CST: Conference Preview hosted by the NMA Conference Planning Committee. Do you have questions about the 2022 NMA Conference April 4-5 in Holdrege? Ask the experts as they discuss the session topics, the keynote speaker and the half-workshop.

November 19, 2021, 10:30am CST: Museum Stores, led by Kirsten Parker of the Golden Spike Tower

October 22, 2021, 10:30am CST: Security at Your Museum

August 27, 2021, 10:30am CST: When Things Go Off the Rails: Museum professionals try our best to create detail plans for our events. Our backup plans have backup plans, but what happens when things go completely off the rails? The strength, quick thinking, and sense of humor of your staff, volunteers and board shines brightest during these times. This month’s NMA Museum Musing join the discussion as we talk about these wild, wacky and endearing moments.

July 23, 2021, 10:30am CST: Canceled due to low attendance

June 2021: postpone to July 23, 2021

May 21, 2021: Getting Back to Summer Programming

April 5-6: 2021 Virtual Conference

March 26, 2021: Podcasts for Museums. David Wolf, Director of Legacy of the Plains Museum, and staff from Stuhr Museum discuss the benefits of podcasting for your museum.

February 26, 2021, 10:30am CST: Tips and Tricks for Virtual Field Trips. With site closures and schools turning to virtual learning, the past year challenged Nebraska Museums to find new and innovative ways to reach audiences and share resources. Virtual Field Trips (VFT) have become a popular method of connecting with students and teachers. Are you curious about what to use and set? Or how to market virtual field trips? Do you want to learn about connecting to teachers and ESUs? Want to learn more how to do VFTs including ways to get students to interact with you?Join Katie Karr, Education Assistant and Volunteer Coordinator for the Hastings Museum, and Annie Mumgaard, Virtual Learning Coordinator for the University of Nebraska State Museum as they lead the NMA Monthly Museum Musing.

January 22, 2021: We discussed plans for the 2021 NMA Annual Meeting and Conference. The conference is tentatively scheduled for April 12-13 at the Nebraska Prairie Museum in Holdrege, NE. However, questions about social distancing and concerns over COVID-19 has the NMA board exploring our options. Should we postpone until fall? Go virtual? Or a combination?

September 25, 2020: How to Positively and Responsibly Deaccession from your Museum’s Collection. NMA members discussed how to positively and responsibly deaccession items from permanent collections, as well as utilizing “active” or “deliberate” collecting moving forward to minimize future deaccessioning.

August 25, 2020: This month we continue to racial disparity issues, minority and racial representations in our museums, and how we can better represent those populations and cultures.

July 24, 2020: This month, we will discuss racial disparity issues, minority and racial representations in our museums, and how we can better represent those populations and cultures.

June 26, 2020: COVID-19 opening follow-up. An open discussion about what Nebraska museums have learned so far after reopening due to COVID-19 closures.

May 2020: Hosted by Erin Hauser, director of the Saunders County Museum and NMA Vice-President. Erin will help lead the discussion about what Nebraska museums are doing to deal with the COVID-19 crisis and plans for re-opening to the public.