Town of Estes Park

Purpose: Sustaining Cultural Heritage The Estes Park Area Historical Museum will hire a temporary data conversion technician to complete the transfer of a card-based collections management system to an electronic system. Since, 1999, museum staff and volunteers have entered data as time allows, but it has been slow going (10,500 entries completed out of 24,000). A dedicated position will ensure that records are transferred in a timely and consistent manner. The museum is in an ideal position to take advantage of the new system-it recently completed an expansion that includes a multipurpose room and research station that will allow comfortable access to the collections database. The room will be used for onsite training workshops for area professionals and the general public. The museum has two strong partners to help with the project. The graduate program in library science at Emporia State University will send six students and an instructor to Estes Park for one week to transfer records for class credit, and the Friends of the Museum will house them in private homes. The Friends also funded the research station and helped underwrite the expansion, and will contribute toward supplies. This project directly addresses a high-priority need identified in the museum's strategic plan and long-range collections management plan.