The American Research Institute in Turkey’s (ARIT) Ankara director, Dr. Bahadir Yildirim has facilitated a project on museum collections management supported by the Ambassador’s Fund for Cultural Preservation and organized by the cultural attaché, Elizabeth McKay, of the Cultural Affairs Office in Ankara. The project supports the computer inventory management of museum collections. The work began at the Undersea Archaeology Museum in Bodrum, Turkey, and aims to develop an inventory system applicable to other regional museums. The project is timely because the management and preservation of museum collections soon will be transferred from the Turkish Ministry of Culture to municipal and provincial authorities.

The program took place in the week of March 12, during a week-long workshop that the Turkish Ministry of Monuments and Museums created on Museum management. ARIT and Fulbright affiliates Aysin Yoltar Yildirim, art historian, and Paul Hepworth, conservator, presented their work with Ottoman manuscripts in the Mevlana Museum, Konya. Current Fulbright fellow, Ms. Lee Ullman, discussed museum fund-raising and outreach. An expert from the American Natural History Museum in New York spoke collections management. Ambassador Ross Wilson attended.