Speleo-Museum News

[Guanohunter]

Forum for Speleo-Museum news

[Guanohunter]

It has been a busy few weeks for the NSS Speleo-Museum. This past summer, the BOG voted to move the Speleo-Museum to a facility appropriate for museum collections (climate controlled, protection from the elements, secure, pest controlled). As a result, the ACCA offered the NSS space in their facility free of cost, allowing the NSS to properly archive and care for it's collection . Craig Hindman with the help of volunteers packed the objects up in a trailer which was shipped to Horse Cave, Kentucky. The items were unpacked this past weekend by our Kentucky volunteers and moved into their new home. Thanks must go to Craig Hindman and his team, Lee Florea, Dalene Smith, and Chris Clark!

[Scott McCrea]

Welcome to Cavechat, Amber!

I'm glad to see this category here. There is some very cool stuff in the collection. I hope this move makes it more accessible to more people. Is Craig still the curator? Who do we contact if we want to see some of the stuff? Is there a catalog of the contents?

[Phil Winkler]

Amber is in the process of cataloging all the items. The NSS just acquired museum software for this purpose. I suspect it will take quite some time to complete and then figuring out how and what to display, yadda, yadda, yadda. Remember, most of this stuff has simply been in storage for many years. I'd bet Craig can now see walls he hasn't seen in years at his home.

All involved deserve a great well done for their efforts. It is really appreciated.

[Guanohunter]

Hi Scott,

Those are very good questions. Craig Hindman is still indeed the curator of the Speleo-Museum. He will be curating an exhibit for the Speleo-Museum at ICS this summer. My job as the registrar is a lot different. My main responsibilities for the museum include digitally archiving the museum in our new software, Past Perfect (http://www.museusoftware.com) and maintaining all backups and storage devices associated with the software and maitaining collection conditions, housing (the cotainers they go in), and the environment (tempreture, humidity, pest control).

Folks who would like to visit the Speleo-Museum may contact me off list at guanohunter@hotmail.com. The Hidden River Cave/ ACCA facility is very easy to reach- just 5 minutes off I-65 between Bowling Green, KY and the exit for Mammoth Cave. Visitation would be best after January 1 since many of the objects need to be cleaned.

In the near future, I hope to start posting some pictures of items in the Speleo-Museum on this forum to seek information on their history, purpose, and source. Keep posted.

Amber J Yuellig, MA
Registrar
Speleo-Museum
NSS #43992

[Scott McCrea]

Thanks, Amber. I think this is great! I can't wait to see some of the stuff.

[CaverScott]

Thanks, Amber. I think this is great! I can't wait to see some of the stuff.

Ditto that!

[Wm Shrewsbury]

Hello Everyone already here and those who will arrive later!

Craig Hindman, with several days of packing help from Carol Tiderman and loading help from Bob Hoke, managed to clear out a room and a garage. Craig and Carol aren't too happy - they discovered dust that had accumulated since 1995, meaning Carol now had a lot of cleaning to do; and walls that need painting, meaning Craig also has to grab a paintbrush and get to work. However, he can now drag his woodworking equipment back out and plans to enter something in the NSS Fine Arts Salon now!

Amber dragged Lee and some friends over to help unload . She will have a lot of work ahead of her, but it will be worth it. Once Amber gets the majority of our current museum collection into Past Perfect, I'll arrange to have it uploaded to the NSS website for viewing. It'll probably be simple to start with, but one day we hope to have a Wikipedia type format that allows cavers to log in and add info. After the New Year begins let's start some discussion about what we would like to do, and who might be able to do it (that all key second part is always the hard part!)

Craig will still be in charge of "collecting", though it will need to go to Amber so that she can photograph it, enter it into our new software and, if needed, be cleaned and archived for preservation.

Our plan, in the long run, is to digitize every aspect of the NSS Archives (museum, photos, slides, archival letters, etc.) to the extent that we can. Stand by for some cool new things from the NSS...