intro collections management
DESCRIPTION
Presentation from a lecture to UCL students about current principles and practice in managing museum collections. Primarily of relevance to a student audience.TRANSCRIPT
Collections ManagementNick Poole, Chief Executive, Collections Trust
Independent UK not-for-profit representing collections and the people who work with them.
We believe that everyone everywhere should have the right to access and benefit from collections.
We will:
•Put people at the heart of cultural services
•Advocate the value of Collections
•Advocate the role of Collections Management in delivering great services
•Represent everyone who works with Collections
Work programmes:
•Advocacy•Research•Publishing•Standards•Digital•Training•Membership•Management
What is Collections Management....?
A balance between the competing demands of the highest feasible level of user access to collections against the challenge of long-term preservation.
A multi-disciplinary approach which uses the diverse skills and knowledge of collections professionals and others to achieve sustainable solutions.
A commitment at all levels of a collecting organisation to ensure the appropriate integration of policies, strategies, procedures, plans and resources.
BSI PAS 197: A Code of Practice for Collections Management
•A collective definition across museums, archives, libraries
•Emphasising the similarities in core processes
•Professionalising the practice of looking after stuff
Organisational MissionOrganisational Mission
Collections ManagementCollections Management
Collections DevelopmentCollections
DevelopmentCollectionsInformationCollectionsInformation
Collections Care
Collections Care
Collections Access
Collections Access
An holistic approach
•It’s no longer about specialisms
•It’s about understanding the connections
•It’s about managing programmes effectively
•It’s about being a champion and advocate
Good management gives you...
•Sustainability
•Accountability
•Compliance
•The freedom to be creative and innovate
•More opportunities to share
•Confidence
Challenges and barriers....
Internal barriers...
•Constraints on time and resources
•The front/back office divide
•Lack of management buy-in
•What gets measured gets managed
•Long-term programmes in a project culture
External barriers...
•Strong emphasis on social policy
•Education and public outcomes
•Fragmentation of policy priorities
The greatest challenge resides in demonstrating the public value of managing collections. It’s the ‘so what’ argument.
- Roy Clare, CEO, MLA
We have a dream, in which a museum is planning a project and the team includes the front-of-house staff, the curator, the registrar, the manager. And each of them comes to the meeting with a clear idea of what the other does, why it matters and how it can help them...
Other big policy agendas for collections...
•The Web (Digital Britain)
•Democratising access
•Social, environmental and economic sustainability
•Innovation and enterprise
Things we do which can help you when you’re working with Collections....
Collections Link
•The National Collections Management Advisory Service
•Best practice guidance on Collections Management
•Expert advisers available by telephone and email
•Database of training opportunities throughout the UK
•Listings of specialist networks
•www.collectionslink.org.uk
Cultural Property Advice
•The Government guide to managing cultural property
•Expert advice on theft, restitution, repatriation, spoliation
•Guidance on ethical acquisition, online auction sites etc.
•Guidance on press relations
•www.culturalpropertyadvice.gov.uk
Discs-UK
•Digital Services for the Cultural Sector
•How to plan digital projects
•How to procure digital services
•Listings of hundreds of accredited digital providers
•www.discs-uk.info
SPECTRUM Partners Scheme
•Guidance on buying a Collections Management System
•Guide to the features of the main companies
•Validating software for standards compliance
•Ensuring that the software meets your needs
•www.collectionstrust.org.uk
Revisiting Collections
•UK-wide methodology for capturing user interpretation of collections
•Revealing some fascinating new information
•Ways of conducting open, constructive user consultation
•From the Collections Link website
CultureLabel
•Connecting cultural agencies and big-name brands
•Looking at how museums can innovate
•Aggregating information & value across the sector
•Looking at the business model underlying cultural service delivery
•Launching November 2008
Copyright and the Law
•We lead in the UK on Copyright for museums
•Working with the UK Intellectual Property Office and others
•Trying to provide a ‘safe harbour’ for collections management
•IP Manifesto for Collections
Digital Initiatives
•UK lead on digital strategy for museums
•Managing the Peoples Network in public libraries
•Developing a coherent digital offer
•Moving away from Digitisation towards service delivery
•Partnering with Google, BBC, C4 etc...
Some takehomes...
No matter what excites or motivates you about working in museums, archives or libraries, you need to know what’s involved in managing a collection.
There is no divide between management and delivery – they are two sides of the same process, and neither exists without the other.
Bad management is incremental – the worse it gets, the worse it gets – and eventually it stops you being able to act.
If in doubt, always go back to first principles. What are you trying to achieve, who are you doing it for? Management is mostly just common-sense.
There’s never been a better time to go into culture as a career. There’s a generational shift going on out there, old ideas are being challenged and new models created. Public awareness is higher, politicians are smarter, there are more opportunities. Have fun!
