ASTC is committed to helping our members worldwide achieve their goals, by equipping individual professionals with essential skills, providing member institutions with valuable information and perspectives, and linking our members to one another.

With this mission in mind, we proudly launched the newly redesigned Dimensions magazine with our July/August 2011 issue. We hope you’ll find the new magazine to be even more relevant, readable, and attractive.

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As an association, ASTC places a high priority on providing quality professional development services to its members—from online training programs and publications, to networking and consulting, to an annual conference that serves to inform, educate, and inspire. The ASTC leadership and field development committee has been busy assisting the association to establish and implement a comprehensive plan of professional skills enhancement for our diverse membership.
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When considering the topic of this column, I stumbled across a debate that has persisted for quite some time in the science education domain, one that has been considered by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, AAAS, NSF, and other respected organizations around the world. The subject is the extent to which the history of science should be incorporated into the teaching of science. (more…)

When we last checked in with you on February 18, the U.S. House of Representatives was in the process of completing work on a fifth “continuing resolution” (CR) that would keep the federal government operating between March 4 (when the fourth CR expires) and the end of fiscal year 2011 on September 30. I’m writing to update you on where things stand and what we might expect in the future.
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The U.S. House of Representatives is currently debating the bill to fund the federal government for the rest of the current fiscal year (FY11), which began on October 1, 2010.   Of the nearly 600 amendments to the bill (H.R. 1), two in particular have immediate, and potentially highly negative, impact on non-federal museums.
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