"This exciting book outlines the inception, history, and achievements of Conservation International's Rapid Assessment Program (RAP) over its first two decades, 1990-2010. The philosophy and methodology of RAP, its major goals and results, and the "feet-in-the-mud" attitude that has made the program so effective are featured. The book profiles nearly 80 expeditions to some of the most remote but often highly threatened sites around the world, highlighting the impacts of RAP surveys in relation to the establishment and improvement of protected areas, the discovery of species new to science, scientific capacity building, spatial planning for conservation, and enhancing human well-being"--Cover.

Good storage is the foundation of effective collection care, advancing conservation while at the same time promoting accessibility and use. Preventive Conservation: Collection Storage covers the storage of all types of collections, including science, fine and decorative art, history, library, archive, and digital collections. It concentrates on preventive conservation and emphasizes a risk management approach. Reflecting the breadth of its scope, the new book is collaboration between The Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections; the American Institute for Conservation of Historic & Artistic Works; the Smithsonian Institution; and the George Washington University Museum Studies Program.

Provides a sample plan, guidelines, checklist and a Microsoft Word diskette containing worksheets for long-range preservation planning.

Provides the basic, practical information needed to plan and implement sound collections care programs or incorporate preservation principles into an existing program.

Here are the tools and skills needed to conduct meaningful, comprehensive evaluations How do we know if a conservation education or outreach program is working? Practical Evaluation for Conservation Education and Outreach: Assessing Impacts & Enhancing Effectiveness presents a simple approach to using evaluation to design, monitor and assess education and outreach. It is for anyone whose organization or work involves creating educational programs designed to raise conservation awareness and promote pro-conservation behaviors. Even more than a how-to book, it can help you to build your organization’s capacity to conduct meaningful, comprehensive evaluations. The book’s purpose is to provide specific skills and knowledge that they can immediately put to use in conducting evaluation studies of conservation education programs. The reader will build an understanding that: - Evaluation yields useful information - Evaluation should be a part of a program’s design process - Evaluation can be a positive experience - Evaluation contributes to conservation education and outreach program’s success The reader will build their knowledge of: - Key evaluation terms and concepts - The relationship between evaluation and research - How evaluation processes and finding can contribute to decision making - The strengths and weaknesses of different evaluation approaches and data collection methods - The relationship among a program’s goals, objective, activities and expected outcomes The readers will be able to - Develop and refine key evaluation questions - Review and contribute to an evaluation plan - Construct and improve data-collection instruments - Collect credible and reliable data - Interpret results and draw conclusions This book provides practical advice on conducting evaluation that is specific for conservation professionals. Case studies describe how evaluation has led to program improvements in a range of conservation settings. While there are numerous books that describe how to conduct program evaluation, none provide specific examples and tools relevant to improving environmental outcomes.