Memorandum submitted by the Museum Documentation
Association (MDA)
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 The Museum Documentation Association
(hereafter "MDA") is the UK's lead organisation on the
management of information about cultural heritage collections.
1.2 MDA is an independent charity based
in Cambridge. Our work is supported in England through a grant
from the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA), in Scotland
by the Scottish Museums Council (SMC) and in Wales by CyMAL through
the Welsh Museums Federation.
1.3 MDA's Vision is of a sector in which
collections are managed effectively and in accordance with national
standards to create inspiring, accessible and engaging services
for users. Our Mission is to be recognised throughout the UK as
the focus of expertise in collections management.
1.4 MDA's work spans a number of professional
disciplines in collections management. The following are our key
services to the UK culture sector:
— Collections Link, a national
telephone and email advisory service in collections management
and care funded by MLA through the Renaissance in the Regions
programme;
— SPECTRUM, the UK and international
standard for knowledge and information management in museums;
— Training and advisory services
which support museums in meeting the requirements of the Museum
Accreditation Scheme;
— Collections for All, a national
campaign to provide evidence of the social, economic, professional
and intellectual impact of good collections care; and
— The maintenance of Cultural Property
Advice, a service for museums covering areas such as restitution,
repatriation and due diligence in establishing provenance.
1.5 Although not directly a member of the
MLA Partnership, MDA is a key revenue client of MLA and works
closely with the Partnership to address shared priorities.
2. STRUCTURE
OF THIS
EVIDENCE
2.1 This submission of written evidence
is structured against the three areas highlighted for further
inquiry by the Committee, namely:
— Acquisition and Disposal Policies.
— Remit and effectiveness of lead strategic
bodies and DCMS.
2.2 This evidence is not considered confidential,
and MDA would welcome the opportunity to provide further information
if this were considered useful.
3. SUMMARY OF
KEY POINTS
3.1 Funding
— MDA notes that Councillors of Local
Authorities (who are responsible for the allocation of funding
to museum services) are often not aware of the extent or nature
of the behind-the-scenes work required of the effective management
of a collection. This can place an undue emphasis on above-the-water
outcomes (notably exhibitions) over good management practice.
— MDA believes strongly that, whatever
the constraints on inward investment, culture-sector organisations
should develop skills in management and administration to make
more effective use of available funding.
— In a poorly-managed environment additional
short-term investment can exacerbate, rather than solve, problems
in collections care.
— MDA believes that the sector should
become more sophisticated in providing evidence of its overall
economic impact and return on investment, for example in the form
of its contribution to cultural tourism pre and post-2012.
3.2 Acquisition and Disposal Policies
— The SPECTRUM standard (published
by MDA), is embedded in the Museum Accreditation Scheme as the
leading authority on best practice and due diligence in acquiring
and disposing of objects.
— SPECTRUM procedures are designed
to ensure the long-term management and preservation of an object
during its life as part of a collection.
— The procedures are also designed
to ensure compliance with the legal and ethical requirements of
collections care.
— Through MLA-funded services such
as Collections Link (http://www.collectionslink.org.uk), MDA works
to ensure that the widest possible range of culture-sector bodies
have access to and are able to implement SPECTRUM.
3.3 Effectiveness of DCMS and other strategic
bodies
— The MLA Partnership is emerging as
an effective and authoritative strategic lead agency on behalf
of museums, libraries and archives.
— Programmes such as Renaissance in
the Regions, the Museum Accreditation Scheme and Designation have
had a profound effect in establishing standards for best practice
in collections care and building capacity and expertise to achieve
them.
— Although a number of DCMS priorities
have focussed more clearly on social policy outcomes than traditional
collections care, their support and leadership through MLA has
led to significant improvement.
— There is a general tendency to short-termism
and "demonstrator" projects across all strategic agencies.
Collections care does not naturally lend itself to short-term
project outcomes, and MDA would encourage the development of a
longer-term service-based approach.
4. FUNDING
"Funding, with particular reference to the
adequacy of the budget for museums, galleries and archives, and
the impact of the London 2012 Olympics on Lottery funding for
their sector."
4.1 The funding picture for culture-sector
organisations is relatively complex, given the range of different
organisational types and governance arrangements within the sector.
Broadly, however, it can be separated into:
— Revenue Funding in the form of grant-in-aid
to support core costs.
— Income generated through commercial
activity (retail, corporate events, sponsorship &c).
— Project Funding targeted toward specific
outcomes (Lottery distributors, Foundations, Trusts &c).
4.2 There exists very little quantitative
evidence of the adequacy or otherwise of current funding arrangements.
There is considerable anecdotal evidence that public-domain support
of core cultural services is in decline at both a regional and
national level and recent media coverage has highlighted difficulties
in securing investment to cover the increasing costs of high-profile
acquisitions.
4.3 MDA is also aware that this decline
is taking place in the context of increasing fixed and variable
costs associated with the management of estates and premises.
Net investment in the sector, for example, has not explicitly
taken into account increases in fuel costs or the costs associated
with the physical upkeep of heritage properties.
4.4 MDA notes in response to these concerns
that it should not be a fundamental role of the Museums, Libraries
and Archives Council (MLA) as a "strategic development agency"
to fund or support acquisitions or estate costs. The effective
application of acquisitions funding should take place in the context
of a national collections development policy, which does not currently
exist.
4.5 MDA notes a particular issue facing
Local Authority-funded services in which Councillors are often
unaware of the nature or extent of behind-the-scenes work required
in order to manage a collection effectively and responsibly. This
has tended to place an undue emphasis on funding for above-the-water
outcomes such as exhibitions, at the expense of core management
and preservation. MDA, along with the MLA Partnership, has a responsibility
for developing and delivering targeted advocacy in this area,
most notably by highlighting the "business case" for
behind-the-scenes investment.
4.6 In more general terms, MDA's position
is that whatever the funding constraints operating on the sector,
it is our responsibility to ensure that cultural organisations
are run effectively and efficiently to maximise the benefit of
public-sector investment.
4.7 MDA believes that there is considerable
scope within the sector to improve "generiç administrative
and managerial skills, and through this make more effective use
of available funding. For this reason, we are using the Collections
Link service to raise awareness and skills across disciplines
such as project management, change management, marketing, forward
planning, procurement and fundraising.
4.8 MDA further believes that there is considerable
scope for continued Lottery investment in the sector, notwithstanding
the impact of the London 2012 Olympics, but that to realise this
potential it will be necessary for cultural organisations to become
more effective clients of existing distribution channels.
4.9 Discussions with Lottery Distributors
have raised serious concerns about the quality of applications
received from culture-sector bodies, and particularly the tendency
to "conceal" collections care activity behind explicitly
outward-facing project work. MDA's strategy in response to this
is to work with museums, galleries and archives to build sound
business cases which articulate collections care in terms of benefits
to users as well as to the collections themselves.
4.10 MDA would rather avoid the idea of
addressing targeted funding towards specific aspects of collections
care (or toward the care of specific types of collection). Too
often, problems with the condition of collections arise more through
long-term issues of management and prioritisation than through
direct funding constraints. From our point of view, increases
in funding without a concomitant increase in management expertise
has the potential to exacerbate, rather than solve, the long-term
difficulties experienced by some organisations.
4.11 Finally, MDA believes that it is the
sector's responsibility to provide evidence of its undoubted economic
impact, and that this evidence should form part of any national
Research Strategy. MDA believes that the culture sector has the
potential to deliver considerable return on investment from the
public purse—particularly in terms of cultural tourism in
the run to and post 2012—but that it will be our responsibility
to articulate this effectively to Central Government and other
policymakers.
5. ACQUISITION
AND DISPOSAL
POLICIES
"Acquisition and Disposal Policies with particular
reference to due diligence obligations on acquisition and legal
restrictions on disposal of objects."
5.1 This question directly addresses a key
area of MDA's core remit, and our work in establishing and promoting
best practice for museums through the SPECTRUM standard.
5.2 SPECTRUM is the sector's definition
of due diligence in managing information about objects—from
the point of acquisition throughout their lifespan to the point
of deaccession and disposal. In total, SPECTRUM defines 21 procedures
which are designed to ensure the legal and ethical guardianship
of the collections in the care of a museum.
5.3 The usage of SPECTRUM is mandated as
a requirement for museums going through the Museum Accreditation
Scheme. Hence, an ethical and professional approach to Acquisition
and Disposal practice for Accredited museums takes the form of
the relevant SPECTRUM procedures.
5.4 SPECTRUM is recognised both within the
UK and internationally as the industry standard for managing this
information. It is used worldwide as the basis of Collections
Management Systems for culture-sector organisations.
5.5 SPECTRUM is also the basis of the MDA
Direct training programme, which trains hundreds of museum professionals
each year in best documentation practice. MDA is the leading provider
in this area, and we maintain a wide range of additional resources
and support materials which enable museums to take a legal and
proportionate approach to acquisition and disposal.
5.6 SPECTRUM provides the following requirements
for the management of Acquisitions:
— Ensure that written evidence is obtained
of the original title to an object and the transfer of the title
to the acquiring organisation;
— Enable the reconciling of acquisition
records with objects as part of retrospective documentation, audit
and inventory activity;
— Ensure that a unique number is assigned
to, and physically associated with, all objects;
— Ensure that accession registers are
maintained, describing all acquisitions and listing them by number;
— Ensure that information about the
acquisition process is retained;
— Ensure that donors are made aware
of the terms on which their gift or bequest is accepted by the
organisation;
— Ensure that collecting complies with
the organisation's collecting policy, and does not contravene
any local, national or international law, treaty or recognised
code of practice; and
— Ensure a copy of the information
in the accession register is made and kept up to date.
5.7 In addition, the Acquisition procedure
provides clear guidance on the requirement to obtain and maintain
unambiguous evidence of the transfer of legal title for the object
to the ownership of the museum.
5.8 With the creation of the Collections
Link and Cultural Property Advice services, MDA is working with
the sector to ensure that museums understand and are able to meet
standards in due diligence across the range of legal/ethical requirements
including provenance, theft, legal status of the institution and
transfer of title to the owning institution.
5.9 The Museum Accreditation Scheme has
been effective in ensuring that relevant organisations maintain
an Acquisition and Disposals Policy, and the link with the SPECTRUM
standard ensures that organisational procedures are in place to
support this Policy.
5.10 SPECTRUM defines a procedure for Object
Condition Checking and Technical Assessment, which defines how
museums will maintain an ongoing awareness of the conservation
and preservation requirements of the objects in their care. This
procedure defines the following processes:
— Condition check—the act of
checking the condition of an object or group of objects usually
through observation and often with recommendations about its use,
treatment and surrounding environment;
— Condition survey—an ongoing
series of condition checks that can help determine if an object
is deteriorating or improving in condition;
— Condition audit—an action to
determine the condition of many objects; and
— Technical assessment—a thorough
scientific examination of an object leading to a detailed report
on the make-up of the object and its condition, often with recommendations
about its use, treatment and surrounding environment.
5.11 This procedure is often carried out
by museums in association with an assessment tool such as the
Benchmarks for Collections Care (published through Collections
Link at http://www.collectionslink.org.uk/collections_care) or
the National Preservation Office's Museum Preservation Assessment
Survey.
5.12 SPECTRUM also provides the definition
of best practice and due diligence for the deaccessioning and
disposal of objects from a museum's collection, including the
following elements:
— Ensuring that the decision to dispose
is carefully considered and that all relevant evidence and opinions
are sought according to the organisation's policy;
— Ensuring that all relevant evidence
and opinions are sought according to statutory legal requirements;
— Ensuring that the organisation makes
every effort to determine title to objects involved and that they
are free from relevant special conditions attached to the original
acquisition;
— Ensuring that the decision to dispose
does not rest with an individual and the action is formally approved
by a governing body;
— Ensuring that preference for transfer
be given to recognised organisations (eg Accredited museums in
the UK);
— Ensuring that title to the object
is transferred to any receiving organisation;
— Ensuring that objects disposed of
are marked as such on the accession register;
— Ensuring that items to be destroyed
are disposed of in a responsible manner (eg unwanted archaeological
material will not mislead future archaeologists); and
— Ensuring that all decisions and actions
are fully documented.
5.13 MDA is working actively with the Museums
Association to produce the revised version of their Disposal Toolkit,
which sets out in simple terms the legal and ethical requirements
for museums when considering and carrying out disposal of objects.
5.14 MDA is active in promoting the use
of SPECTRUM through training, interpretive materials and online
resources. We also work with HE/FE providers to ensure that awareness
of due diligence and best practice are communicated effectively
through museum studies and other heritage management courses.
5.15 In SPECTRUM, the UK has a world-leading
standard which has defined best practice and due diligence in
legal transfer and ownership over the past decade. MDA is now
actively seeking partners in the development of SPECTRUM as a
pan-European standard in order to facilitate greater mobility
and transfer of collections.
6. REMIT AND
EFFECTIVENESS OF
DCMS AND LEAD
STRATEGIC AGENCIES
"Remit and effectiveness of DCMS, the Museums,
Libraries and Archives Council and other relevant organisations
in representing cultural interests inside and outside Government".
6.1 A strong and authoritative strategic
lead is essential for any thriving sector. At the same time, it
is important that the sector's representative organisations hold
a clear mandate and enjoy the support of their constituents.
6.2 In recent years, particularly as it
develops towards the MLA Partnership, MLA has succeeded in marshalling
an effective and authoritative lead voice for the sector. As an
integrated organisation across government priorities in England
and the Government Office Regions, the Partnership is well positioned
to promote the wider interests of English culture-sector organisations.
6.3 Related strategic partners in Scotland,
Wales and Northern Ireland stand at different stages in their
development. The Scottish Museums Council has proved particularly
effective in learning the lessons of English cultural policy and
developing policies for Scotland which take these into account.
These Home Nation bodies have a demonstrable lead in some areas,
most notably in the forthcoming Collections Development Strategy
from the Scottish Museums Council.
6.4 While MLA has had to work hard to establish
its credibility there is a sense now that the sector as a whole
has become more comfortable with the cross-domain agenda and is
able to move forward with work such as the Inspiring Learning
for All framework which genuinely addresses user needs. In specific
areas, MDA is seeing increasingly "natural" cross-domain
and collaborative working around areas of mutual interest such
as cataloguing.
6.5 Any strategic organisation is likely
to be open to criticism from within the sector, and particularly
where a significant proportion of overall public expenditure is
routed through that organisation. In the case of MLA, however,
it is important to see through this natural antipathy and to recognise
the very significant achievements of programmes such as Renaissance
in the Regions.
6.6 More than any other funding source (with
the possible exception of Lottery channels), Renaissance
has succeeded in bringing about a transformation in the UK's regional
museums. In addition to the greater confidence and renewed sense
of purpose across the sector as a whole, Renaissance has
succeeded in raising standards of collections care and in ensuring
that there is sufficient capacity to meet them.
6.7 While it is sometimes hostage to the
criticism of creating a "two-tier" sector, in reality
Renaissance is succeeding in pushing forward best practice
while also supporting the "long tail" of uptake across
the wider sector.
6.8 Alongside Renaissance, two MLA
programmes (Accreditation and Designation) have made a
significant contribution to the overall standard of care and management
of museum collections. The Designation Scheme has effectively
ensured the long-term safety of pre-eminent collections in England
while Accreditation has provided a minimum benchmark against which
museums may be assessed. It is worth noting that in those Home
Nations where Designation is not in place, similar schemes
such as the Scottish Significance scheme are under development
to fulfil a similar function.
6.9 As MLA-run programmes have brought about
improvements within the sector, so too has the quality of advocacy
improved. Both nationally through the Partnership and Regionally
through the individual Agencies, advocacy tends to be more targeted
and effective and is supported by a significantly increased quality
of evidence. This improved advocacy is already bearing fruit—as
evidenced by the recent successful integration of Accreditation
with the Continuous Performance Assessment framework—and
it is to be hoped that it will continue to do so through this
next Comprehensive Spending Review.
6.10 While MLA does not directly fund collections
care activity in culture-sector organisations, it is making a
considerable contribution to the promotion of collections care
through targeted strategic funding to organisations like MDA.
With the creation of the Collections Link advisory service, MLA
is ensuring that there is ongoing mediated access to expertise
across more than 16 professional disciplines in collections care.
At the same time, the development of the Museum Development Officers
and Subject Specialist Networks will further strengthen the national
provision for curatorial and collections care expertise.
6.11 In this context, it is also useful
to highlight the potential role of the Creative and Cultural Industries
Sector Skills Council in promoting skills development (and hence
capacity building) across the range of collections management
disciplines. Although this role is in the early stages of development,
MDA would strongly encourage the development of an holistic syllabus
which emphasises skills in management and administration alongside
more traditional curatorial expertise.
6.12 At a Regional level, the English Regional
Agencies have all produced Collections Development Strategies
in the past two to three years, which indicate how targeted strategic
funding will be used to raise both standards and awareness of
best practice in collections care.
6.13 DCMS has played an important role in
securing the long-term sustainability and direction of the sector.
Significant achievements such as the provision of free entry to
the National Museums and securing investment to support Renaissance
in the Regions have made a lasting difference to the overall
position of museums.
6.14 Until recently, DCMS has been heir
to the criticism that its work focused exclusively on social policy-driven
outcomes. In practice, however, DCMS investment has enabled almost
all of the work described above through MLA, and hence has made
a significant contribution to collections care.
6.15 It is important for the sector to appreciate
that the management and use of collections represent two aspects
of the same process, and DCMS leadership has been instrumental
in ensuring that collections care becomes more outcomes-focused.
6.16 MDA believes that the principal challenge
resides in moving away from a short-term project-funding environment
towards one that enables culture-sector organisations to plan
more effectively for the long-term. The majority of sector investment
through strategic agencies takes the form of pilot/demonstrator
funding, placing an emphasis on short-term outcomes and deliverables.
6.17 Collections care is a long-term, embedded
process, and the benefits of a well-funded and managed approach
may not become tangible for a number of years. The current short-term
funding climate militates against long-term incremental planning
by individual organisations, to the detriment of their collections.
6.18 MDA argues that public-sector investment
through DCMS and others would be more effectively targeted towards
the establishment of longer-term (three to five) services which
are given time to bed down and deliver real value to users.
21 August 2006
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