Collections Trust launches new data cleaning service

Collections Trust has launched a new service to help museums clean their messy collections data. Aimed at any museum planning to put its objects online or switch to a new collections management system, the new service draws on expertise gained from years of hard-won experience on large-scale projects.

“Messy data is a common problem even in the best-run museums,” says Kevin Gosling, Collections Trust Chief Executive. “If you want to migrate or share your collections records – or, frankly, just find information when you need it – you need consistency. Now Collections Trust can help wrangle your records into shape.”  

Collections Trust also offers bespoke advice and training to help museums maintain their data once it has been cleaned. Where data protection or copyright are an issue, Collections Trust can also work with rights experts Naomi Korn Associates to offer a comprehensive, one-stop service.

Further information about the data cleaning service can be found online on the Collections Trust website.

Free conference on catastrophe planning in the museum sector

The future of catastrophe planning within the museums and heritage sector is the subject of a free one-day conference on 29 November, hosted by the Victoria and Albert Museum in partnership with UK Armed Forces and the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.

Planning for the Unthinkable: Protecting the National Heritage Sector will trace historic practices of protection during armed conflict, as well as looking to contemporary experiences of catastrophe, and proposing future strategies for the protection of heritage in cultural institutions. Speakers from renowned institutions across Europe and the US will share their perspectives on planning and preparation.

Collections Trust conference 2018: Spectrum in action

Join Collections Trust for their conference on 13 September at Bristol's SS Great Britain. A great line-up of speakers will explore how Spectrum 5.0 has been put into action, along with the launch of the new Banish the backlog practical guide, and the announcement of the winner of the 2018 CT Award.

Photo: David Norton, courtesy of SS Great Britain Trust.

Outline programme
Here are the speakers and sessions confirmed so far. There will also be an optional Q&A panel session on choosing collections software, the launch of our Banish the backlog book, and the results of the 2018 Collections Trust Award. We will add further programme details over the coming weeks.

Keynote – Laura Pye: What next for collections?
 The recent Museums Association taskforce report argued that ‘museums need to decide what their priorities are and review the impact of collections development policy and practice over the last decade to make collections more sustainable.’ In the conference keynote, Laura Pye considers the gap between collections management theory and practice and sets out the challenges as she sees them. Laura Pye, Director of National Museums Liverpool, was until recently Head of Culture for Bristol City Council, and chaired the taskforce convened by the MA in 2016.

Research update – Sharon Heal: Collections 2030
The Museums Association is conducting groundbreaking new research into the future use and management of our collections. Sharon Heal, the MA’s Director, will outline the key themes emerging from this wide-ranging study including radical new approaches to dynamic collections management and use. Sharon Heal has been the Director of the Museums Association since 2014, having previously edited the Museums Journal.

Scott Furlong: the revised Museum Accreditation Scheme
Later this year Arts Council England will launch the revised Museum Accreditation Scheme. Scott Furlong, ACE’s Director of Collections and Cultural Property, will explain how the Scheme is being refreshed and how it will dovetail with Spectrum 5.0.

Case study – Kate Diston: Duplicating dodos – implementing reproduction standards at Oxford University Museum of Natural History

Kate Diston is Head of Print and Digital Collections at Oxford’s Museum of Natural History.
Case studies on how museums are using other new and revised Spectrum procedures

• Documentation planning: Jo Moore, Curator and Collections Coordinator, Wheal Martyn
• Inventory: Meg McKavanagh, Easton Pearson Archive Coordinator, Museum of Brisbane
• Collections review:  Kathleen Lawther, Collections Curator, Hastings Museum and Art Gallery

Kevin Gosling: What’s the use of Use of collections?
It seems few readers have made it to the revised Use of collections procedure nestling towards the end of Spectrum 5.0. Yet, as museums almost everywhere struggle to capture and manage knowledge about their collections from a wide range of sources, Kevin Gosling argues that the innovations in this revised procedure might prove the most useful in the long run. Kevin Gosling has been Chief Executive of Collections Trust since 2015, and co-edited Spectrum 5.0 together with Gordon McKenna.

Collections Trust Award 2018 open for entries

Image Credit: Jess Watters and Collections Trust

Collections Trust are inviting museums to tell them about the difference Spectrum 5.0 has made to collections management in their museum, by describing a recent collections management activity or project.
  The winning museum will receive £1,000 to spend on an agreed collections management activity, along with a free place at our 2018 conference to receive the award in person. To enter, simply use their online form, and submit your answers before noon on Monday 30 July 2018.