Like many in the museum field, I yearn to constantly learn. This desire extends to several areas of history, public history, leadership and professional development. It is why I have the habit of buying books at a quicker rate than I can read them.

I first learned about Museum Study when I started serving as the Officer-At-Large for the Collection Managers Committee (CMC) Affinity Group for the Texas Association of Museums in 2017. In this role, I write the CMC’s newsletter and include professional development opportunities for our members. Museum Study is constantly included in the newsletter with its broad offering of collection management courses. I had always been excited by the courses offered by Museum Study and hoped one day I would be able to take one of the classes.

In my current position at Texas Woman’s University I found myself taking on the role of managing rights and reproductions. I had a very (VERY) basic understanding of intellectual property and copyright law and knew I was lacking. I quickly purchased Anne Young’s book Rights and Reproductions: The Handbook for Cultural Institutions. However, I felt I needed a better understanding so that I could wrap my head around the daunting complexities of rights and reproductions.

From putting together the CMC’s newsletter, I remembered Museum Study offered courses in Rights & Reproductions (R&R) and was thrilled to find that they are taught by Anne M. Young herself! I ended up taking both R&R I and R&R II and have benefited so much from them. I learned a good critical thinking foundation on intellectual property and copyright law. This helped me feel more empowered and confident in my decisions regarding rights and reproductions. Moreover, the assignments allowed me to develop starting points for policies and forms to implement at work.

I also now have a network that I can reach out to for guidance. From the R&R II course, my colleague Karin Zonis-Sawrey started a monthly R&R chat. Each month a handful of us from the course meet and discuss the IP and copyright challenges we’re facing at work. The creation of this monthly R&R chat speaks to what I love most about the Museum Study courses I’ve taken: the connections I have made. These courses are taught by experts and thought leaders in the field. I get to meet professionals from a variety of cultural institutions, from art museums to corporate collections. I wouldn’t have otherwise crossed paths with these amazing individuals if I hadn’t taken these courses.