Presentation to the international conference on Preservation and Documentation in Belo Horizonte, Brazil

1. Policies for cultural heritage
Nick Poole, CEO, Collections Trust
Belo Horizonte, August 2014

2. •CEO of Collections Trust
•Former Chair, ICOM UK
•Chair, Europeana Network
•Policy adviser to UK Govt
•Trained as an artist
• Chief Executive Officer of the Collections Trust
• Former Chair of ICOM UK
• Currently Chair of the Europeana Network
• Trained as a professional artist

3. Collections Trust
Independent UK-based not-for-profit organisation working with
more than 20,000 museums worldwide
Established January 1977 as the Museum Documentation
Association
A professional association for people working in Collections
Management

6. www.collectionstrust.org.uk

7. United Kingdom
• A federation of four countries:
– England
– Scotland
– Wales
– Northern Ireland
• Population 62.23m
• An aging population
• 99% literacy above age 15

8. UK Museum Community
• The Museums Association provides a widely-accepted definition
of a museum that is different from the ICOM 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.'
• This definition includes art galleries with collections of works of
art, as well as museums with historical collections of objects.

9. UK Museum Community
• 2,500 museums or museum-like organisations
• 1883 currently recognised under the Museum Accreditation
Scheme
• Partly funded by Government, partly by private enterprise
• Majority of UK museums have free admission, but charge for
exhibitions & services

10. UK Museum Community
• Separate ‘museum communities’
– National museums
– Independent museums
– Local Government museums
– University museums
– Sites and monuments
– Historic houses, gardens & castles
– Historic coastline
– Regimental museums
– Royal Palaces

11. The legal environment for heritage
in the UK

12. Law and heritage
• No overall ‘Museum Law’
• Public Libraries and Museums Act 1964
– Established the British Library and National Museums
– Makes no specific provision for local or provincial museums
• UK has not ratified the 1954 Hague Convention on Cultural
Property protection
• Some protection for designated ‘heritage assets’

13. The cultural heritage policy environment

16. FFUUNNDDIINNGG

17. Heritage Policy: Education
• Supporting a National Curriculum
• School-level education
• Promoting basic skills (literacy, numeracy, digital literacy)
• Encouraging more people to enter higher education
• Supporting ‘learning outside the classroom’
• National policy on ‘cultural education’

18. Heritage Policy: Health
• Promoting ‘wellbeing’ as part of public health
• Reducing healthcare spending through public education
• Connecting cultural participation to health
• Specific actions to support care for specific health issues

19. Heritage Policy: Tourism
• Tourism worth £127bn per year (approx. 9% of GDP)
• 195,000 full-time jobs across the UK
• Heritage contributes to ‘soft diplomacy’ (Britain’s ‘brand’ worldwide)
• 40% of inward visitors cite heritage as primary reason for visiting the UK

20. Heritage Policy: Community
• Very significant variance in living standards & opportunities between
communities in the UK
• Improving cohesion and aspiration of communities through local heritage
• Direct funding through Heritage Lottery Fund into local heritage initiatives
• Strong heritage offer increases quality of life & property value
and promotes reduction in crime & anti-social behaviour

21. Heritage Policy: Economy
• Crisis in 2008 & slow economic recovery linked to fiscal policy
• Very significant withdrawal of direct & indirect public funding for heritage
• Reducing state responsibility for heritage & replacing with private enterprise
and philanthropy
• Lack of tax law resulting in low engagement from philanthropists
• Increased pressure on admission charges and
commercial activity
• Loss of ‘long-term’/capital funding replaced by
short-term project funding

22. Heritage Policy: Digital
• Strong commitment to ‘Open Government’
• Belief in the economic potential of a ‘Digital Economy’
• Desire by Government to support innovation & digital skills
• Heritage seen primarily as a source of competitive content
• Improvements to copyright law to promote open access

23. Policy challenges
• Relatively little ability directly to influence public policy
• Creates an environment of short-term priorities
• ‘Social’ policies have given way to ‘economic’ policies
• Lack of perception of the ‘hidden’ aspects of heritage protection
• Diversity of the sector can create challenges in identifying
simple policy messages

24. The connection between legal, ethical
and professional practices

26. LEGAL
PROFESSIONAL
INSTITUTIONAL

27. AMOUNT OF
TROUBLE YOU’LL
BE IN IF SOMEONE
SCREWS UP

28. The arms-length principle

29. Government control/
regulation
SSeellff--rreegguullaattiioonn

30. Advantages of self-regulation
•Leadership by the experts
•Ability to respond quickly to emerging issues
•Allocation of funding where it is needed
Government control/
regulation
SSeellff--rreegguullaattiioonn

31. Advantages of self-regulation
•Leadership by the experts
•Ability to respond quickly to emerging issues
•Allocation of funding where it is needed
Government control/
regulation
SSeellff--rreegguullaattiioonn
Disadvantages of self-regulation
•Lack of direct Government support
•Difficulty in securing national funding
•Prone to governance by cabal

32. ‘Social’ policy agendas affecting heritage

33. ‘Social’ policy context
• Article 27 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
• “Everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the
community, to enjoy the arts and share in scientific advancement and its
benefits”
• FARO Convention on Cultural Heritage
• “The conservation of cultural heritage and its sustainable use have
quality of life and human development as their goal”
• “Promote the role of cultural heritage in the construction of a peaceful
and democratic society and in the process of sustainable development
and the promotion of cultural diversity”

34. ‘Social’ policy context
• Increased emphasis on participatory culture
• Changing practice to emphasise shared rights and responsibilities (the
principles of the Cultural Commons)
• Embracing the practices of the ‘Wiki’ community
• Emphasising policies on open access, sharing of content and distributed
authority
• Compatible with the ‘cultural mission’ but not the economic one!
• Moving towards user-centred design in the development of heritage services

36. Ethical codes for heritage management &
preservation

37. Ethical codes for heritage
• ICOM Code of Ethics
• Museums Association Code of Ethics
• Informal/professional deontology (the way we work)

38. Professional standards for heritage
management

39. Museum Accreditation
• National ‘minimum’ standard for museums administered by the Arts Council
England on behalf of the Ministry for Culture
• Encourages museums to achieve common standards in:
• How they are run
• How they manage their collections
• The visitor experience
• Encourages confidence in museums that are run for the benefit of the public
• Requirements:
• Complies with MA Code of Ethics
• Holds a long-term collection
• Meet legal, ethical, professional & environmental requirements
• Be committed to forward planning

40. Accreditation & Collections
• Museum Accreditation Standard requires the 8 ‘primary procedures’ of
SPECTRUM:

41. SPECTRUM Standard
• International standard for Collections Management
• Two parts:
• Procedural Standard – setting out flow charts of common museum
processes
• Data Standard – setting out common sets of information needed to
manage the collection
• Used in 25,000 museums in 40 countries and 8 languages worldwide
• Not a prescriptive standard
• Launched in Brazil this week!

42. UUsseerrss PPoolliittiiccss FFuunnddiinngg CCuullttuurree

43. UUsseerrss PPoolliittiiccss FFuunnddiinngg CCuullttuurree
Organisation’s MMiissssiioonn SSttaatteemmeenntt

44. UUsseerrss PPoolliittiiccss FFuunnddiinngg CCuullttuurree
Organisation’s MMiissssiioonn SSttaatteemmeenntt
CCoolllleeccttiioonnss MMaannaaggeemmeenntt PPoolliiccyy

45. UUsseerrss PPoolliittiiccss FFuunnddiinngg CCuullttuurree
Organisation’s MMiissssiioonn SSttaatteemmeenntt
CCoolllleeccttiioonnss MMaannaaggeemmeenntt PPoolliiccyy
CCaarree UUssee LLeeaarrnn DDeevveelloopp

46. UUsseerrss PPoolliittiiccss FFuunnddiinngg CCuullttuurree
Organisation’s MMiissssiioonn SSttaatteemmeenntt
CCoolllleeccttiioonnss MMaannaaggeemmeenntt PPoolliiccyy
CCaarree UUssee LLeeaarrnn DDeevveelloopp
PPeeooppllee PPrroocceesssseess SSyysstteemmss IInnffoo

47. UUsseerrss PPoolliittiiccss FFuunnddiinngg CCuullttuurree
Organisation’s MMiissssiioonn SSttaatteemmeenntt
CCoolllleeccttiioonnss MMaannaaggeemmeenntt PPoolliiccyy
CCaarree UUssee LLeeaarrnn DDeevveelloopp
PPeeooppllee PPrroocceesssseess SSyysstteemmss IInnffoo
EEvvaalluuaattiioonn && iimmpprroovveemmeenntt

48. UUsseerrss PPoolliittiiccss FFuunnddiinngg CCuullttuurree
Organisation’s MMiissssiioonn SSttaatteemmeenntt
CCoolllleeccttiioonnss MMaannaaggeemmeenntt PPoolliiccyy
CCaarree UUssee LLeeaarrnn DDeevveelloopp
PPeeooppllee PPrroocceesssseess SSyysstteemmss IInnffoo
EEvvaalluuaattiioonn && iimmpprroovveemmeenntt
RRiicchh,, mmeeaanniinnggffuull eexxppeerriieenncceess ffoorr uusseerrss

49. UUsseerrss PPoolliittiiccss FFuunnddiinngg CCuullttuurree
Organisation’s MMiissssiioonn SSttaatteemmeenntt
A continuous cycle of
improvement,
learning, review,
CCoolllleeccttiioonnss MMaannaaggeemmeenntt PPoolliiccyy
planning and
development
CCaarree UUssee LLeeaarrnn DDeevveelloopp
PPeeooppllee PPrroocceesssseess SSyysstteemmss IInnffoo
EEvvaalluuaattiioonn && iimmpprroovveemmeenntt
RRiicchh,, mmeeaanniinnggffuull eexxppeerriieenncceess ffoorr uusseerrss

50. UUsseerrss PPoolliittiiccss FFuunnddiinngg CCuullttuurree
Organisation’s MMiissssiioonn SSttaatteemmeenntt
CCoolllleeccttiioonnss MMaannaaggeemmeenntt PPoolliiccyy
CCaarree UUssee LLeeaarrnn DDeevveelloopp
PPeeooppllee PPrroocceesssseess SSyysstteemmss IInnffoo
EEvvaalluuaattiioonn && iimmpprroovveemmeenntt
RRiicchh,, mmeeaanniinnggffuull eexxppeerriieenncceess ffoorr uusseerrss

51. Core elements of SPECTRUM
• SPECTRUM helps museums review their work with their collections,
celebrate good practice and identify opportunities to improve!
• SPECTRUM Standard including translations/ localisations, SPECTRUM Digital
Asset Management, the SPECTRUM Schema and the Archive of previous
versions of SPECTRUM
• SPECTRUM Labs, including new ideas and potential applications of the
SPECTRUM Standard
• SPECTRUM Resources which support the application of the standard
• SPECTRUM Community which includes anyone who uses the standard
nationally or internationally

52. STANDARD
WORLDWIDE COMMUNITY (25,000)
GUIDANCE
COMPLIANCE
(17)
PDF/XML/PRINT
+ SCHEMA
NEW IDEAS

53. Policies and practices in digitisation and
online access

55. MISSION

56. MISSION
POLICIES & PLANS

57. MISSION
POLICIES & PLANS
FACILITIES

58. MISSION
POLICIES & PLANS
COLLECTIONS
FACILITIES

59. MISSION
POLICIES & PLANS
STAFF
COLLECTIONS
FACILITIES

60. MISSION
POLICIES & PLANS
STAFF
SERVICES
COLLECTIONS
FACILITIES

61. MISSION
POLICIES & PLANS
STAFF
SERVICES
BUSINESS MODEL
COLLECTIONS
FACILITIES

62. MISSION
POLICIES & PLANS
STAFF
SERVICES
BUSINESS MODEL
COMMUNICATIONS
COLLECTIONS
FACILITIES

63. MISSION
POLICIES & PLANS
STAFF
SERVICES
BUSINESS MODEL
COMMUNICATIONS
COLLECTIONS
FACILITIES
CULTURE

64. MISSION
POLICIES & PLANS
STAFF
SERVICES
BUSINESS MODEL
COMMUNICATIONS
COLLECTIONS
FACILITIES
CULTURE
DIGITAL!

65. Digitisation Strategy
• No national Digitisation Strategy in the UK
• ‘Let 1000 flowers bloom’ – the arms-length principle
• Developing common quality & technical standards
• Moving from ‘digitise everything’ to ‘create value’
• Away from mass-digitisation towards content curation

66. Create Once, Publish Everywhere
(COPE)
• If the standards, systems, processes and structures of museum
documentation are to meet the current and future needs of our
audiences, we need approaches that are adaptable and scalable
• Designing scalable information systems in museums means ‘no single-use
information’ – information that can be discovered, re-used and adapted
to different needs, channels or experiences
• Instead of designing information around one specific use (collections
management, documentation, mobile apps, websites, catalogues), we
design information so that it can flow dynamically across different uses.

67. COPE in practice
(From a presentation by Paul Rowe, CEO, Vernon Systems)

68. COPE in practice
(From a presentation by Paul Rowe, CEO, Vernon Systems)

69. COPE in practice
(From a presentation by Paul Rowe, CEO, Vernon Systems)

70. Sharing simple information
(From a presentation by Paul Rowe, CEO, Vernon Systems)
Title
Description
Media
Web address
Sewing bag and contents
Sewing bag and contents; a mottled blue, felt bag with
two short, plaited felt handles. Each side of the bag is
decorated with applied felt flowers in pink and yellow.
The bag is dated 1938. The bag contains many scraps
of fabric; a plastic shoe horn; a matchbox; a baby's
shoe and socks;
http://nzgirlhistory.net/object/32498/

71. Sharing on social sites
(From a presentation by Paul Rowe, CEO, Vernon Systems)

72. COPE is about structuring our knowledge
so that it can be adapted dynamically to
the needs of different users across
different platforms and for different uses,
now and in the future.

73. Institutional Policies

74. Institutional policies
• Forward Plan
• Collections Development
• Conservation Plan
• Fundraising Strategy
• Audience Development
• Education Policy
• Performance metrics

75. The problem of measurement
• Performance management and efficiency
• “How do you measure the value of something 6000 years old by the number
of people who looked at it last year?”
• Can you create a definite link between investment in policies and practices
and social/economic benefits?

76. Practical Guides
• A Practical Guide to Collections Management
• A Practical Guide to Documentation
• Both available from Collections Trust as books and e-books
• www.collectionstrust.org.uk/shop

77. Obrigado!
www.collectionstrust.org.uk
@NickPoole1
These slides online at
http://www.slideshare.net/collectionstrust