Great Museums need Great Management

Great Museums need Great Management!

Nick Poole, CEO, Collections Trust

@NickPoole1

www.collectionslink.org.uk

www.slideshare.net/nickpoole

Takk for invitasjonen til å bli med deg i dag!

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My office is here!

6Places of pride & identity

Awe-inspiring places

Challenging places

What are museums & archives for?

Which kind of professional are you?

What exactly is a ‘collection’ anyway?

What does success look like for you?

How can Collections Management help you get there?

+ anything else you’d like to talk about!

What are museums & archives for?

Wordle of 40 UK museum Mission Statements

Our Missions say a lot about what we do, but not about what we mean to the populations we serve.

It’s a question of scale…

What do you mean to him?

…to yourselves?

…to your street?

…to your community?

…to your town?

…to your country?

…to your neighbourhood?

…to all of us?

We can give him the tools & the understanding to make a

better world

Some museum missions…

We change lives…We believe that museums are places of ideas and dialogue that use collections to inspire people.

We are a democratic museum service and we believe in the concept of social justice. We are funded by the whole of the public and in return we strive to provide an excellent service for the whole of the public.

We believe in the power of museums to help promote good and active citizenship, and to act as agents of social change.

- Mission Statement, World Museums Liverpool

“The increase and diffusion of knowledge”

Smithsonian Institution

The greatest collection representative of human cultural achievement, ancient and modern, in the world.

A space ‘not only for the ‘learned and curious’ but also ‘for the benefit of the general public’ – a centre of research and inquiry at all levels.

A collection preserved and held for the benefit of all the world, present and future, free of charge.

A forum for the expression of many different cultural perspectives.

A place to increase understanding of the cultural connections and influences linking Britain and the world.

A place where the UK’s diverse population can explore its common inheritances.

Before Collections Management comes the Mission

Before the Mission comes the culture of your organisation

Before the culture of your organisation come the values you hold

Before your values come the belief in the power of culture to help people transform their lives

Addressing Collections Management without connecting it to the mission, culture and values of your organisation

is like owning a musical instrument without knowing about music.

What kind of museum or archive professional are you?

Objects Experiences

Facts Stories

Objects Experiences

Facts Narratives

“Our first duties are to collect, conserve and display material culture, to protect the nation’s treasures and to showcase the high points of human creativity”

Objects Experiences

Facts Stories

“Our first duty is to create an open, welcoming environment in which people can come and enjoy the experience of beautiful, inspiring things”

Objects Experiences

Facts Stories

“It is not the objects themselves, but the connections between them and the stories they can tell. Our duty is to weave stories and objects together to help people understand the world around them”

Objects Experiences

Facts Narratives

“Our first duty is to provide an authoritative record of the development of the natural and man-made world. We must collect and preserve type specimens and objects based on our authoritative and scientific knowledge.”

Objects Experiences

Facts Stories

All of these impulses (and many others) co-exist in our organisations. We are a tribe with many faiths and perspectives. The joyful thing about our work is that the idea of museums and archives is broad enough to accommodate all of them.

What is a ‘collection’ anyway?

What does success look like to you? How will you know when you have got there?

Is success:

More visitors?Happier visitors?Happy directors?

Happy politicians?More money?More objects?Better objects?

Richer experiences?Lower costs?

We can’t do them all….

The ‘traditional’ organisation

Most cultural organisations operate in ‘vertical’ silos

Education Management Collections Retail IT

The ‘integrated’ organisation

Making the most of collections depends on integration of all of the functions into a common strategic aim

Strategic Objectives +

Public Accountability

Visitor experience

PeopleCollections

Facilities

The demand for participation…

Digital is dead, long live ‘engaged’

http://www.digitalengagementframework.com/ from MuseumNext!

Me in 3D, Science Museum, LondonMe in 3D, Science Museum, London

Down the Back of the Sofa, Derby MuseumDown the Back of the Sofa, Derby Museum

Skin, Wellcome Collection, LondonSkin, Wellcome Collection, London

London Riots, Museum of LondonLondon Riots, Museum of London

Meditation flashmob, British MuseumMeditation flashmob, British Museum

Rethinking Disability, Leicester MuseumRethinking Disability, Leicester Museum

Revisiting CollectionsRevisiting Collections

‘Your Paintings’ tagger – Public Catalogue Foundation‘Your Paintings’ tagger – Public Catalogue Foundation

The needs and expectations of the public are changing, and the function of museums and archives is changing.

Our Collections Management has to change to continue to serve the needs of our organisations & users.

‘Success’ varies between organisations, but it depends on getting all of the different parts of the museum or archive

working together toward a common purpose.

Which is where SPECTRUM comes in…

BSI PAS 197 BSI PAS 198

ACCREDITATION BENCHMARKS

WORLDWIDE COMMUNITY (7,600)

COMPLIANCE(23,000)

GUIDANCEPDF/XML/PRINT+ SCHEMA

NEW IDEAS

‘Strategic Collections Management’

Users Funders Politicians

‘Strategic Collections Management’

Users Funders Politicians

Organisational Mission

‘Strategic Collections Management’

Users Funders Politicians

Organisational Mission

Collecting Policy

‘Strategic Collections Management’

Users Funders Politicians

Organisational Mission

Collecting Policy

UseDevelopLearnCare

‘Strategic Collections Management’

Users Funders Politicians

Organisational Mission

Collecting Policy

UseDevelopLearnCare

InformationProceduresSystemsPeople

‘Strategic Collections Management’

Users Funders Politicians

Organisational Mission

Collecting Policy

UseDevelopLearnCare

InformationProceduresSystemsPeople

Evaluation & improvement

‘Strategic Collections Management’

Users Funders Politicians

Organisational Mission

Collecting Policy

UseDevelopLearnCare

InformationProceduresSystemsPeople

Evaluation & improvement

Open, participatory, seamlessly physical, digital, intellectual and emotional experiences for our users

Anatomy of Collections Management

Users Funders Politicians

Organisational Mission

Collecting Policy

UseDevelopLearnCare

InformationProceduresSystemsPeople

Evaluation & improvement

Rich online and offline experiences for users

Anatomy of Collections Management

Collecting Policy

InformationProceduresSystemsPeople

Anatomy of SPECTRUM

InformationProcedures SystemsPeople

Collections & collections-related knowledge

We have an opportunity to deliver next-generation museum and archive services that are vibrant, exciting,

open and participatory and that inspire people to love us, visit us, work with us and discover our collections.

Making the most of this potential depends on investing time and effort in Collections Management today so that

we can continue to be great museums tomorrow…

Collections Management is the tool we use to make our mission, culture and values a reality.

Nick PooleChief Executive, Collections Trust

nick@collectionstrust.org.uk

http://www.collectionslink.org.uk

Collections Management ‘LinkedIn’ group

http://www.slideshare.net/nickpoole

twitter @NickPoole1