accreditation: the uk standard for museums & galleries - the new approach

Accreditation:

The UK standard for museums & galleries

the new approach

Isabel WilsonProject Manager: Quality & Standards, MLA

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Accreditation Development Project Isabel Wilson

Accreditation 2011: Do we need it?

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Tuesday, June 7, 2011

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• 22 years supporting UK museums to raise standards

• High levels of voluntary participation & new interest

• Evidence that externally validated standard is highly valued across sector

• Distinct from the range of improvement frameworks and national standards

• The Museum Standard is about the inter-relationship between people and collections

• Recognition from external stakeholders

• Accreditation brings the museum community together

• Yes – the foundation for museum development

Challenges for the next few years

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• Reduction in public funding

• Increased competition for visits

• Possibilities of technology

• Retaining staff

• Reviewing building footprints

• Environmental pressures

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Challenges for the next few years

• Diversifying income for longer term sustainability

• Rethinking what museums are for

• Serving communities, building relevance

• Balancing demands of collections management

• Developing new business models

• Greater reliance on volunteers

• Keeping up with user expectations

What were the aims in developing it?

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• To evolve it so it addresses current and future issues

• To embrace consumer view

• To make it more centrally useful to museums

• To streamline the process for participants

• To consult widely to ensure standard is appropriate

• To support strategic advocacy for museums

• To strengthen it as a benchmark; a badged award and as

an improvement tool.

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Accreditation 2011 - new emphasis and approach

• Focus on organisational sustainability

(only ‘fit’ museums will survive – and not all of them!)

• Responsive to communities with service delivery and

development influenced by feedback

• Interest in ‘how’ doing things not just ‘what’ doing

• Less of a strait jacket

• Less of a discrete exercise

• Existing participants don’t apply from scratch

• Accreditation as a prompt and a framework to help

museums address resilience and relevance

The evolution of the Standard

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Accreditation Development Project Robert Taylor

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Robert TaylorAccreditation Committee Member

The new standard

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•1988 Registration

•1995 Registration Phase Two

•2004 Accreditation Standard

•2011 Further developed Accreditation Standard

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Changes to the standard

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Accreditation 2004

• Governance and museums management

• User services

• Visitor facilities

• Collections management

Accreditation 2011

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• Organisational health:Accredited museum as responsible, responsive and resilient.

• Collections:Accredited museums effectively manage and make collections available for everyone.

• Users and their experiences:Accredited museums are welcoming and accessible and have a planned approach to identifying and providing a good quality service for a broad range of users, bringing people and collections together.

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Benefits of change

• Helps organisations focus on planning and key activities

• Helps governing bodies focus on what is important

• Reflects improvements in collections management

practice

• Ensures the user experience is given a high priority

Organisational health

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• Appropriate management arrangements

• Effective forward planning, which includes:

– A review of the previous plan– Analysis of the environment to understand the risks– Key aims– An action plan to achieve objectives– A resource plan

The Committee’s role

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• Provide advocacy for the scheme

• Provide external validation of the scheme

• Ensure standards are maintained

• Provide expertise to assess what is an appropriate

standard for each museum

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Scalability

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• Accreditation has always been an inclusive standard

• The new Standard will continue this

• The Committee ensures that the requirements are

interpreted appropriately

• Transparency around assessment criteria

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Current challenges

• Reductions in resources

• Reductions in museums’ staff

• Reductions in opening hours

• Closure/consolidation/ relocation of collections

• Financially motivated disposal

Benefits to museums

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• Public recognition

• Confidence for potential donors

• Staff morale and motivation

• Importance of core curatorial services

• Eligibility for grant aid

Accreditation 2011

What does this mean for my organisation?

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Samuel RowlandsAccreditation Manager, MLA

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Accreditation Development Project Samuel Rowlands

Accreditation 2011

How can this help my museum?

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• Provide external support and advice for developing key policies and plans

• Provides a flexible framework to use as needed by your museum

• Provides effective and timely prompts to ensure all key management policies and plans are up-to-date and relevant

• Provides access to funding

• Offers recommendations for improvements linked to the standard by looking holistically at your museum

• Encourages regular reviews of your whole organisation

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Accreditation 2011

Key points

• Accreditation is a UK scheme

(including the Isle of Man, Jersey and Guernsey)

• Decisions are made by an independent expert panel

• A badged award understood by external stakeholders

• Mark of a decent museum

• Retains shortcuts: IiP, VAQAS & Visit Scotland

• Scalable standard for all eligible museums

• Existing policies and plans remain compliant and can

be developed longer term by agreed review date

• Participants will also be able to request an early return

review for specific local or political reasons or to combine

return reporting for a service with multiple sites

Accreditation 2011

Roll out

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• Scheme management will transfer from MLA to Arts Council England on 1st October 2011

• Accreditation (v2011) will be launched during October 2011

• New applicants will be welcomed from 1st November 2011

• The 2011 Standard will be implemented through Biennial Returns, not new applications (for existing participants)

• Existing participants will be timetabled in phases dependent on when they were last fully assessed

• A full rollout plan will be published

Accreditation 2011

What documents will be available?

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• The Accreditation Standard (v2011)

• Assessment Guidance

• Published case studies and toolkits

• Model documents and templates

• Support from www.collectionslink.org.uk

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http://www.collectionslink.org.uk/

What do you think?

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Tuesday, 7 June, 2011

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Accreditation Development Project

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accreditation: the uk standard for museums & galleries - the new approach

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