From NEDCC comes a really interesting-looking online course in the basics of preservation. At only $600, it’s actually relatively inexpensive in the grand scheme of things:

Preservation 101:
Preservation Basics for Paper and Media Collections
The Online, Instructor-led Course

Course Dates: January 12, 2012 – July 20, 2012

Registration Deadline: December 30, 2011
Course size is limited to 24 participants – register early!

Course Cost: $600

Benefits of Attending
In eight sessions, participants will learn strategies to make informed preservation decisions that can prolong the active life of collections and help reduce the costs of conservation treatment. The course includes eleven interactive webinars in conjunction with an online classroom environment in which participants work closely with the instructor and online classmates. Activities will guide participants through a full preservation assessment of their institution, yielding valuable data for grant applications. Participants will also create an institutional collections disaster plan, which will help prepare the institution for emergencies large and small.

Cost-effective Training
The Preservation 101 course is a cost-effective program that offers a total of 22 hours of instructor-led training time; online course work and homework assignments that help participants learn key concepts; and the ability to exchange ideas and coach one another via the class forum – all at an affordable cost.

Who Should Attend
Preservation 101 is tailored to librarians, archivists, town clerks, curators, and collections or records managers who have (at least) part-time responsibility for preservation of historical or special collections or of primary research materials, or those who are interested in preservation training for professional development. The course covers the preservation of materials including: books, manuscripts, records, photographs, ephemera, maps, other paper-based or documentary formats, audiovisual materials, and digital collections.

Preservation 101 consists of eight sessions
One or two webinars will be conducted for each session to present detailed information on each topic. Session topics: Introduction to Preservation, Deterioration of Paper Collections, Deterioration of Film and Electronic Media, The Building and Environment, Collections Care, Reformatting and Treatment, Disaster Planning, and Building a Preservation Program.

For complete information and to register online:
Preservation 101