Out of the Stores: Re-connecting Collections and the Museum

1. Out of the Stores: Re-connecting Collections and the Museum Welcome Megan Dennis and Bridget Yates with Nigel Boldero and Robin Hanley

2. What do you want to get out of today?

3. Out of the Stores: Re-connecting Collections and the Museum Museums Association definition: Museums enable people to explore collections for inspiration, learning and enjoyment. They are institutions that collect, safeguard and make accessible artefacts and specimens, which they hold in trust for society.

4. Out of the Stores: Re-connecting Collections and the Museum Museums Association: A collection is an organised assemblage of selected material evidence of human activity or the natural environment, accompanied by associated information. As well as objects, scientific specimens or works of art held within a museum building, a collection may include buildings or sites.

5. Out of the Stores: Re-connecting Collections and the Museum Accreditation Standard October 2011 • Collection – a body of cultural and heritage material. Collections may be physical, non-tangible or digital.

6. Out of the Stores: Re-connecting Collections and the Museum Accreditation Standard October 2011 • The museum must be guided by a statement of purpose that defines why the museum exists and who it is for.

7. Out of the Stores: Re-connecting Collections and the Museum Charity Commission: To be a charity an organisation must have purposes which are exclusively charitable • The Advancement of Education • The Advancement of the Arts, Culture, Heritage or Science • for public benefit

8. Out of the Stores: Re-connecting Collections and the Museum RR10 Museums and Art Galleries • Criterion of Merit: sufficient evidence that the collections and exhibits and the use made of them either will educate the minds of the public whom the museum or art gallery intends to serve, or at least will be capable of doing so. What is conveyed to the public is an idea, emotion or experience which is enlightening and which is, or is capable of being, of value to them.

9. Out of the Stores: Re-connecting Collections and the Museum Accreditation Standard October 2011 Effective forward planning • The museum must plan effectively for long-term success and to make sure it can adapt in a changing environment in order to survive. Its approved forward plans must include or cover the following: • the museum’s statement of purpose • its key aims • the specific objectives beneath each key aim

10. Out of the Stores: Re-connecting Collections and the Museum • Statement of purpose – defines why the museum exists and who it is for. • Objectives – the tasks that ensure key aims are achieved. • Key aims – these are the overarching priorities for the museum to deliver the statement of purpose.

11. Norfolk Museums & Archaeology Service “Norfolk's museum collections and landscape heritage are for the inspiration, education and enjoyment of all. Norfolk Museums and Archaeology Service (NMAS) holds our common heritage in trust and makes it available to the widest possible audience”

12. collecting, safeguarding and making available, to the highest possible standards, sites, artefacts, specimens and information from and about Norfolk, together with other material which places the heritage of Norfolk in a national and international context

13. Out of the Stores: Re-connecting Collections and the Museum Accreditation Standard October 2011 Development policy: The museum must have an approved policy for developing collections (also known as an acquisition and disposal policy). The policy must include: • the statement of purpose • an overview of current collections • themes and priorities for future collecting • themes and priorities for rationalisation and disposal • information about the legal and ethical framework for acquisition and disposal of items

14. Out of the Stores: Re-connecting Collections and the Museum Accreditation Standard 2011 • The museum must offer and develop good-quality, stimulating services for users and potential users, in order to get the best out of its collections, resources and local area.

15. Out of the Stores: Re-connecting Collections and the Museum Accreditation Standard 2011 Effective learning experiences • Learning is a core purpose for museums. They use collections and associated information for exhibitions and learning opportunities. The museum must: • exhibit the collections using a variety of interpretative methods • provide access to the collections and associated information for research purposes and other forms of engagement • provide effective and stimulating learning and discovery experiences focused on the collections

16. Monument Fellowship introduction • Outline of Gressenhall project • Gardening collections • Introduction and exploration • Examples of work – collections, learning, FOH, Skills for the Future, research • already done • Planned for the future • Heritage Gardening • Visit to gardens and seed merchant’s shop

17. Monument Fellowship • programme of Fellowships for retired museum professionals, aimed at capturing their unrecorded collections-related knowledge • funding from The Monument Trust • response to Museums Association’s report Collections for the Future argued that knowledge about museum collections is as important as the collections themselves • many people were concerned that museums were doing too little to develop and share knowledge

18. 30 Fellows • immediate aim being to enable these collections specialists to share unrecorded knowledge with former colleagues, their successors and the wider museum community • aimed to encourage museums to think about how knowledge is developed and shared

19. raise the profile of collections knowledge • emphasise its importance • try out approaches to knowledge sharing that other museums might use and adapt • Range of museums and techniques for knowledge sharing

20. Gressenhall Monument Fellow • Increase knowledge, understanding and appreciation of the significance of the gardening collections, their modern relevance and their regional and national context amongst current museum staff • Increase collections research skills for current curator • Provide masterclasses for wider museums community • Increase awareness of the need for succession planning and knowledge sharing within the museum

21. Brief Collections Survey • Collections Sessions – Passing on Knowledge and Skills • Workshop Planning • Workshop • Review and Evaluation

22. Gardening Collections • Gardening tools (domestic, small holding and allotment) • Gardening reference books • Seedsmen collections • Seed merchant collections • Nurserymen collections • Ironmongery gardening collections • Photographs • Legal framework • Education • Other

23. Collections

24. Learning

25. Front of House • Summer handling sessions – call my bluff

26. Research

28. Skills for the Future – Heritage Gardens • In partnership with the Museum of East Anglian Life in Stowmarket, Gressenhall Farm and Workhouse have been awarded over £600,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund’s Skills for the Future programme to deliver a project over the next four years • opportunity for people to develop skills and knowledge in a specific area of traditional skills • a limited number of formal apprenticeships in such areas as farming and horticulture in partnership with Easton College • 6-12 month internships in project based in areas such as heritage gardening, traditional farming including working heavy horses, woodland & heritage land management, rural collections management and interpretation, and managing biodiversity. • a programme of 3 month traditional skills “taster” courses running at the Museum of East Anglian Life

29. Consistent under use – why? • Loss of knowledge causes under use – sustainability and retaining collections knowledge key • “limited” thinking in terms of collections – temporary exhibitions and permanent displays – collections can be so much more • Multi purpose collections beyond acquisition purpose • Lack of understanding of collections and their role within the museum – motivation for change

30. undervalued collections • identify potential uses and opportunities for use across the museum (20 mins) • wider discussion across group

31. Patterns of Use • Ideas that keep recurring… • Reinvigorating research • Making stores/archives accessible • Digitisation and online access • Social media and community involvement • outreach • Collections and events • Income generation and collections

32. Signposts – Places to Start • FOH • Retail • Outreach • Events • Learning • Marketing • advocacy

33. Next steps… • What have you learnt? • How are you going to act on this learning? • Realistic • Advocates for collections

34. What did you get out of the day?

35. Museums enable people to explore collections for inspiration, learning and enjoyment. They are institutions that collect, safeguard and make accessible artefacts and specimens, which they hold in trust for society.