ARCS Board Virtual Meeting & RCS Mentoring Program ARCS Update Vol 5 | Update 10
June 30, 2020 | ARCS NewsBoard of Directors Meeting
The ARCS Board of Directors held an all day Board Meeting last week to discuss plans and initiatives for the next fiscal year. You can look forward to many new initiatives including:
- Online Educational Opportunities
- Creation of an Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Access Task Force
- Virtual Meetup Opportunities
Have a question for our board members? Feel free to email info@arcsinfo.org.
?
RCS Mentoring Program
The RCS Mentoring Program (a joint collaboration between ARCS and the Collections Stewardship professional network of AAM) is accepting applications for both Mentors and Mentees to be matched in summer 2020 for a 6 month time period. The mentoring relationship is a mutually rewarding experience that offers opportunities for professional growth and development throughout all career stages. During winter 2020, eleven mentees were matched with mentors based on areas of interest and professional needs. For more information and to see if the program may be right for you, please go to: http://www.arcsinfo.org/membership/registrars-and-collections-specialists-mentoring-program
New Board Member Profile
The ARCS Board is excited to welcome Chris Helms, the Collections Manager at the Adler Planetarium, as one of three new members to our Board of Directors.
Chris Helms oversees the care of the institution’s world class historic scientific instrument collection. The collection consists of 3,000 items from all over the world such as medieval astrolabes and sundials, and the oldest telescope in the world outside of Europe. At the Adler, Chris is also deeply involved in helping to design and implement the institution’s strategy around how collections are utilized on a day-to-day basis, and how collections are represented at all levels within the museum.
Prior to his current position, Chris worked for over a decade in the Museum field in various roles including part-time librarian & archivist, exhibitions manager, registrar, and collections manager at various institutions in the Chicagoland area.
Chris was born and raised just outside of Chicago and holds a B.A. in History from Western Illinois University and an M.A. in Museum Studies from Illinois State University. Growing up, Chris’ father collected old antique cars, built model layouts for antique trains he collected, and would take the entire family on vacations to ride old steam locomotives in the American west and to tour Civil War battlefields in the east. These trips instilled a deep love and appreciation of the power of history and storytelling in Chris, and inspired him to pursue a career in history.
As with most museum professionals, Chris has worn many collections-style hats over the years. Chris has been a strong advocate for collections accessibility (both digitally and physically), the digitization of collections, and the democratization of those collections. Rethinking the way museums have traditionally used their collections and helping to find new and interesting ways for users to interact with and connect with museum collections has been a long-time passion for Chris.
Chris lives outside of Chicago with his wife Meghan, with whom he shares a love of traveling, exploring different cultures, and spending time in the kitchen and cooking unique dishes. They often take their dog, River, camping on weekends to state parks and beaches throughout the Midwest, and are planning to hike Pikes Peak in Colorado whenever they can both find a little extra vacation time.?
#ARCSChat Schedule
#ARCSChat will be taking a brief break before airing our final episode of the season. Stay tuned for updates as to when that will premiere. In the meantime, enjoy our previously recorded YouTube live sessions on the ARCS YouTube Channel which you can access here or subscribe to the #ARCSChat podcast and listen to past episodes here.
