Managing Cultural Property

CULTURAL PROPERTY & COLLECTIONS MANAGEMENT

17.03.09

IntroductionsIntroductions

Who are you?

What is your background/profession?

What do you want to get out of today?

IntroductionsIntroductions

Nick Poole

CEO of the Collections Trust

UK representative for Culture within the EC

Councillor of the Museums Association

Adviser to UK & international Govt agencies

Lecturer in Museum Studies

Financial Services background

About the Collections TrustAbout the Collections Trust

Independent UK Charity

Campaigning for the public right to access and engage with Collections by:

•Promoting Best Practice•Encouraging Innovation•Representing the Interest of the Sector

10 staff

Based in London Bridge

30 years old last year

StructureStructure

Session 1. What is Cultural Property?

Session 2. What is Collections Management?

Session 3. Why do we do it?

Session 4. How do organisations Manage Collections?

Session 5. Collections and Information

Q&A

OutcomesOutcomes

By the end of the lecture, you will:

•Understand what Cultural Property is

•Understand the professional discipline of Collections Management

•Understand the main outcomes of managing Collections

•Have an overview of Collections Management systems & processes

•Gain an insight into the link between Collections and Knowledge

Session 1. What is Cultural Property?Session 1. What is Cultural Property?

What do you understand by ‘Cultural Property’?

Session 1. What is Cultural Property?Session 1. What is Cultural Property?

• There is no single definiton

• It is the legacy of historic material that is inherited from past generations, maintained by the present and bestowed on the future.

• It can include:

• Tangible – buildings, objects, records, sites, monuments• Intangible – oral history, folk/tradition• Natural – coasts, environments, landscapes

• More often, it is material that is covered under the 1972 UNESCO Convention for the Protection of World Cultural and Natural Heritage

Issues in Managing Cultural PropertyIssues in Managing Cultural Property

• The key issues to consider when managing tangible Cultural Property:

• Illicit trade• Spoliation (looted art 1933-45)• Restitution• Repatriation• Human Remains

Tackling illicit tradeTackling illicit trade

• There is a global market for illegal and/or stolen cultural artefacts

• Tackling this trade involves:

• Artefacts illegally removed from archaeological sites or monuments

• Objects stolen directly from their legal/rightful owners

• Preventing the illegal export of artefacts by their rightful owner

• Working with international sites to prevent items being traded illegally

• Illegal under UK law in the Dealing in Cultural Objects (Offences) Act 2003

Buying with confidenceBuying with confidence

• Verify the identity of the seller

• Check the item in one of the international databases of cultural property

• Ask if an authentication certificate is available

• Verify the country of origin

• If it has been exported, ask for an export license

• Ask for a condition report

• Request an invoice, pay by cheque and get a receipt

• If you have any concerns, call the Customs Confidential helpline

Dealing with Human RemainsDealing with Human Remains

• The most culturally sensitive material you are likely to deal with

• Human Tissue Act 2004

• Ethical issues are addressed in the Vermillion Accord on Human Remains

• Always identify formally the justification for holding human tissue in the Acquisition and Disposal Policy

• Refer to the DCMS Guidance for the Care of Human Remains in Museum Collections

• Case study!

The Aboriginal Commission (TAC) CaseThe Aboriginal Commission (TAC) Case

• The Natural History Museum maintains a reference collection of aboriginal skulls and skull fragments.

• The NHM wished to conduct destructive DNA sequencing on fragments taken from this material.

• The Aboriginal Commission requested the repatriation of the material, on the basis that it should be ritually interred as a mark of respect to the souls of the people whose skulls they were.

• The request rapidly became polarised in the popular press.

• What would you do?

Things to considerThings to consider

• The status of the person/organisation making the request

• The continuity between the source community and the community on behalf the request is made

• The cultural and/or religious significance of the artefact to the community

• How the current holding institution obtained the artefact/material

• How subsequent and future use would affect the integrity of the artefact/material if it is returned

Session 2. What is Collections Management?Session 2. What is Collections Management?

Who needs to manage Collections?

Who needs to manage Collections?Who needs to manage Collections?

• Museums• Archives• Libraries• Heritage sites• Historic Houses• Private individuals• Companies• Government departments

Essentially any individual or organisation with a legal responsibility for or ownership of a Collection, particularly where they intend to provide public access to that Collection.


What kinds of activity might you need to do to manage a Collection?

Collections Management involves...Collections Management involves...

A wide range of related activities including:

•Collections development (acquisition, disposal, loan or transfer)

•Risk management (conservation, security, environmental control)

•Stock management (documentation, cataloguing, digitisation)

•Access management (interpretation, rights management, knowledge)

•Legal Compliance (evidence of ownership, good governance)

Collections Trust/BSI Code of Practice for Collections ManagementCollections Trust/BSI Code of Practice for Collections Management

Organisation’s Mission StatementOrganisation’s Mission Statement

Collections Management PolicyCollections Management Policy

Collections DevelopmentCollections

DevelopmentCollections InformationCollections Information

Collections Access

Collections Access

CollectionsCare

CollectionsCare


Can you think of any other sector/industry that does a similar thing?

Related practicesRelated practices

Almost every industry responsible for managing large bodies of material has a discipline which resembles Collections Management:

•Stock management in supermarkets•Inventory & Asset Registers in company finance•Supply Chain Logistics in retail & manufacturing•Knowledge Management in consulting•IP management in media agencies

Can you think of similar practices in your profession?

Professional Collections ManagementProfessional Collections Management

Since 2001, Collections Management has emerged as a professional discipline in museums, archives and libraries.

Focussed on several professional standards:

•Museum Accreditation Scheme•SPECTRUM standard•Public Library Annual Statistics•Archival Inspections•BSI Code of Practice

All seeking to codify and standardise best practice.

Session 3. Why do we Manage Collections?Session 3. Why do we Manage Collections?

What are the benefits of taking a professional approach to Collections Management?

Benefits for the PublicBenefits for the Public

• Publicly-owned Collections are properly inventoried

• Collections are more secure and better looked-after

• Taxpayer money is better used

• Collections are more accessible and better-interpreted

Benefits for the OrganisationBenefits for the Organisation

• Publicly-owned Collections are properly inventoried

• Organisations can be confident in what they hold and why

• Collections can be used more actively for display & education

• Organisations can take a more strategic, planned approach

• Investment can be better-targeted and have greater impact

Striking a balanceStriking a balance

Effective Collections Management is primarily a question of balance:

•Between access and preservation

•Between cost and public value

•Between short, medium and long-term

StructureStructure

Session 1. What is Collections Management?

Session 2. Why do we do it?

BREAK

Session 3. How do organisations Manage Collections?

Session 4. Collections and Information

Q&A

Session 4. How do organisations Manage CollectionsSession 4. How do organisations Manage Collections

If Collections Management combines collections development, information, access and care, what do you think you need in order to do it?

Resourcing Collections ManagementResourcing Collections Management

• People• Premises• Strategic Plan• Procedures/processes• Systems (physical)• Systems (digital)• Expertise• Money

It is possible to run a perfectly adequate Collections Management System using a piece of card and some coloured string...the primary requirements are consistency and communication.

Session 4. How do organisations Manage CollectionsSession 4. How do organisations Manage Collections

What components do you think a Collections Management System needs to have?

Key elements of a Collections Management SystemKey elements of a Collections Management System

Some way of associating an object with the knowledge about that object

•The object is labelled, marked or put into a labelled container

•That label is numbered using a unique & consistent system

•That number corresponds to a piece of information such as a database record

Some way of searching, editing, adding to or generally interacting with the information about a particular object.

Additional systems to support particular functions such as loans or particular processes

Key processes in Managing a CollectionKey processes in Managing a Collection

• Object Entry, Selection, Acquisition• Loans In and Out, Location, Movement & Control, Transport• Condition Checking• Conservation & Risk Management• Security, Insurance & Indemnity Management• Cataloguing• Audit • Rights Management• Deaccession and Disposal

All of which need to be documented in order to provide an audit trail.

Session 5. Collections and InformationSession 5. Collections and Information

Given the role played by Collections Management, can you suggest different kinds of information which you need to record about Collections?

Information typesInformation types

• Stock control (location)• Interpretive information (narratives)• Legal information (ownership of title, rights information)• Financial information (valuations)• Access information (conditions of use)• Visual information (photographs)• Management information (specific requirements)• Significance information• Information about previous treatment• Information about previous uses

The whole of Collections Management depends on effective Information Management.

Session 5. Collections and InformationSession 5. Collections and Information

What do you think are the main challenges confronting an organisation in managing this information?

ChallengesChallenges

• Time• Money• People• Expertise

A reasonably-sized collection will contain 50,000 to 100,000 unique objects. Some will hold many millions.

There isn’t sufficient capacity to record full information about every collection.

You have to prioritise based on (a) what’s important and (b) what you know people will want access to.

Future horizonsFuture horizons

• With the rise in User Generated Content and consumers, we have to find ways of capturing a wider range of voices using existing systems.

• With the growth of the Internet, we are being required to publish management information online for users to search.

• With reductions in funding, there is a strong impetus to rationalise collections, reduce staff and make processes more efficient.

• Access to technologies for mass-digitisation is creating a whole new kind of digital collection, which also needs to be managed!

Q&AQ&A

Now you know more about Collections Management, what do you think are the main obstacles facing the profession?

Q&AQ&A

Any questions!

Key URLsKey URLs

www.collectionslink.org.uk

www.collectionstrust.org.uk

www.culturalpropertyadvice.gov.uk

www.bsi.org.uk

www.museumsassociation.org

Business

Managing Cultural Property