Suzanne Keene, Paintings By Numbers

Paintings by numbers

Does sustainable collection management require statistics?

Does sustainable collection management require statistics?

Trouble with numbers Words and quality Good numbers –

Systems Risks

Public value

1974-

Rayo

1974-1982-

Raynor Scrutiny - museums

1974-1982-1988-

The Cost of Collecting

Lord, Lord & NIcks

1974-1982-1988-1989-

The Cost of Collecting

Lord, Lord & NIcks

1974-1982-1988-1989-

1974-1982-1988-1989-1990’s-

1974-1982-1988-1989-1990’s-1998-

1974-1982-1988-1989-1990’s-1998-1999-

1974-1982-1988-1989-1990’s-1998-1999-2000-

1974-1982-1988-1989-1990’s-1998-1999-2000-2002-

1974-1982-1988-1989-1990’s-1998-1999-2000-2002-2004-

1974-1982-1988-1989-1990’s-1998-1999-2000-2002-2004-2005-

Performance indicator: thickness?

2000 - 10cm

2004 - 15cm2012?

2012 -25cm?

And from the Netherlands …

Problems with numbers Inconsistent interpretation of statistics Changes over time Ambiguous definitions Statistically illiterate - “to achieve a robust

monthly sample would require an annual sample size of almost 5,000 visitors”

Very expensive to collect and interpret

What is measured tends to be what can be measured … Easy to measure activity, but is this

meaningful? Number of objects conserved

– Surely better if objects don’t need conservation? Number of new acquisitions

– What does this indicate???

So are all numbers bad, or are there good numbers?

Numbers1974, 1989: UKIC - collections care

1982: Raynor scrutinies

1988: NAO - documentation + accountability

1989: Cost of Collecting

1996: Surveys - collections condition etc

1990s -’00s:Government funding agreements / Performance Indicators

1998-9: DOMUS museum census

2000-02 (then died): QUEST unit

2004: (and others) Government Efficiency Review

2003: Government stores survey

Etc, etc, etc

Words1988: Museum registration

scheme

1992 - : Standards for curating …

2004: Accreditation

2008: McMaster: Supporting excellence in the arts

Registration, accreditation

Defined standards for - Governance and museum management User services Collections management

Accreditation - collections management Acquisition / disposal policy Documentation procedures Documentation of objects Plan for documentation backlog Minimise risk and damage to collection Security for collection

How to make sense of the number soup and create useful numbers?

a) Think systemsb) Think risks

c) Think public value

Researchintellectualcollection

Preserve,maintaincollection

Facilitate ŌuseÕ- actual andintellectual

Organise asarchive

Keep safe +secure

Build physicalcollection

Account forphysical

collection

Efficient?Effective?

Efficaceous?

a) For good numbers, think system

3 e’s for managing a system Is it efficient? - e.g., cost / benefit: how much do

objects cost to store per object? (less the better)

Is it effective? - e.g. is the storage preserving the collection and making objects accessible? (sufficient per object)

Is it efficaceous? - e.g. is the collection meeting the requirements of the system ‘ owner’? (Museum: are the objects okay to use?) (Government: is the collection delivering public value?)

Government: Are the collections delivering public value?

Museum: Are the collections fit for purpose? Cost effectively managed? Risks understood?

Operational unit: Are we preserving the objects?

Systems within systems … one system’s objectives = another system’s measures

Objectives

Objectives

Measures

Measures

b) For good numbers, think risks - Rob Waller, Canada

Risk vs. Collection Unit

0.0

0.1

0.2

0.3

4 12 1 8 2 10 18 9 13 11 19 6 3 7 15 16 5 17 14Collection Unit

Fra

ctio

n lo

st /

Cen

tury

Risk Assessment Steps

l Define scope

l Divide collection into units to assess

l Identify risks to assess

l Quantify risks

l Analyze and present results

l Plan collection care projects

l Refine estimates through research

Calculate priority for action by - The largest number of objects The most vulnerable collections The most valuable objects The most severe / urgent risks

c) Think public valuePreserved for everyone

Visited by many

Inspiration to some

Pivotal experienceto a significant few

Kinds of public value

InstrumentalInstitutional

Intrinsic

“capacity + potential of culture

to affect us”

public services,trust and

mutual respect

eg, employmenteducation

creative economy‘inclusion’

Public values

the value collections create for individuals the value collections create for society the value collections create for the nation

Public value from collections is created by people using them for - Learning and education Research History and memory Beauty and aesthetics Enjoyment

Non-user values Yet even people who don’t use [cultural

resources] value them - Option - might want them one day Existence - like to know they are there Bequest - want them to be there for their children Prestige - enhance the importance of their city /

country

Not publicly valued - not sustainable

Collections have INTRINSIC value - existence, option, inheritance, prestige

Collections have

INSTRUMENTAL value - from services delivered, experiences, etc

The more people experience this ...

The more they will value this

Does sustainable collection management require

statistics?Can’t

live with them

Can’t

live without

them

An unsustainable collection … Added to without thinking about the costs and

consequences Objects not documented Objects neglected so that they deteriorate Objects can’t be found, so can’t be accounted for Storage arrangements are far too elaborate and

energy intensive The public can’t find out what is in the collections The public are prevented from accessing or

using the collections

Useful numbers

200 m. objects

80% of collections are used by less than 10 people a

week

97% of museums report a steady or increasing demand for access to collections

nationallocal public

independent

university

5 - 10% of objects are on

display

2,000 museums

National

Local publicIndependent

University

Other

Benchmarking via basic census, rarely taken

Statistics for specific museum

Compared to nationally, is our collection …

Of sufficient public value for it to be preserved? If not, then -

Decrease the collection or increase the value? (by increasing the use)

If yes, then - Are we preserving it well enough? What is environmentally sustainable and proportionate? How do we measure if we are getting it right?