The Quarry Project September 27-29, 2013

The Masonic Society and the Masonic Library and Museum Association have come together to sponsor The Quarry Project, a conference and workshop on Masonic research and preservation, to be held at the George Washington Masonic Memorial in Alexandria, Virginia on September 27–29, 2013. The conference will draw from both the Masonic and academic communities to provide detailed instruction on Masonic research and the editing of the results. Additionally, a set of voluntary standards for future Masonic research, writing, and editing will be introduced. Professional librarians, museum curators, and experts on display and preservation will provide practical instruction and advice on maintaining and improving Masonic historical repositories. Multiple concurrent presentations will be offered on all three days. A few success stories that will enthuse and inspire you will be mixed in along the way.

Topics will include:

Masonic Research and Writing
Research methods, primary and secondary sources, citations
Writing styles for different publications
Writing for different audiences
Interviewing techniques for oral histories
Recommended publishing standards
Editing quotes, sources, and scripts
Publishing ethics and etiquette

Museums and Archives
Building and using an artifact database
Basic preservation and presentation
Photographs
Collections policies
Archival preservation

Masonic Libraries and Archives
Cataloging systems – Masonic vs non-Masonic
Online databases – OCLC, WorldCat
Digitizing of proceedings and other materials
Presentation and preservation of printed and written material

Go here for the preliminary schedule and list of participants. The conference is open to anyone interested in Masonic research and preservation, but will be specifically targeted toward two groups: (i) members of Masonic lodges of research as wcll as authors, writers, and researchers, both published and aspiring, and (ii) Masonic librarians and museum curators.