APPENDIX 2
LOW COST,
HIGH IMPACT—THE
WEST MIDLANDS
RENAISSANCE AT
WORK PROGRAMME
Aims
Professional development training and advocacy
in the field of collection care has become increasingly difficult
to locate and access due in part to the repositioning of the MLA
at national and regional level. The Renaissance at Work (RAW)
programme addresses this gap in a number of ways:
— Through a comprehensive, tiered
programme of courses in collection care, using leading practitioners
from the conservation profession.
— By holding courses around the
region in local venues to make them as accessible as possible
to those working in all types of museums across the whole of the
West Midlands region.
— By offering a follow up service
of consultative visits and email and telephone support to ensure
that the training is applied effectively and is relevant to each
institution.
Costs
The RAW programme has been delivered free to
492 people from 69 museums across the West Midlands, ensuring
that all museums, but particularly the small, independent museums,
have access to high quality training. The type of training delivered
would typically cost £150-£250 and would be out of reach
of most of the museums in the region.
The cost of delivering the programme through
2004-06 was about £40k per year. This consisted of the cost
of one full-time Collection Care Officer of staff and training
expenses. The programme will expand in 2006-08 to include two
full-time Collection Care Officers and one half-time Administrator.
Over the two years the total anticipated costs will be around
£127k.
Partners
The programme has achieved excellent sector
penetration through effective collaboration and coordination with
the Museum Development Officers (MDOs). The local knowledge of
the MDOs has been an essential component in the success of the
programme. They helped promote and model the programme to suit
the needs of museums across the six counties. They also located
venues, usually within museums, so that the programme could be
seen to be directly relevant to the local situation. The programme
has also been closely linked to the work of the Renaissance Accreditation
Officer and has underpinned the accreditation process.
Successes
99% of participants stated that they would attend
another course and 98% rated the courses as excellent or good.
Feedback from the participants gives an impression of the courses:
— "Really interesting, useful
day."
— "This is exactly what is
needed for museums and galleries. More Renaissance money should
be going to these projects."
— "Very enjoyable course
with excellent emphasis on practical techniques. I am now much
more confident about attempting in-house solutions."
Participants were encouraged to set goals as
part of the courses and the questions asked and comments made
by the repeat attendees showed that programme had a positive impact
upon collection care in their museums.
— In the next two weeks I will
"look more carefully at the positioning of objects in relation
to lights and assess any potential problems with relation to what
we looked at today."
— In the next month I will "assess
the standards of documentation and the disaster plan."
— In the next six months I will
"consider creating internal walls to create areas that can
be environmentally controlled."
The follow-up service is another unique feature
of the programme. This service was designed to ensure that the
training given was relevant to each museum. The implementation
of knowledge gained inevitably throws up questions and issues
that require additional knowledge and support to resolve. The
follow-up service ensures that support is available and that improvements
in collection care are achieved and sustained.
Change
Collection care tends to be one of the less
visible areas of museum work, so it is difficult to assess the
full impact that the training programme has had in regards of
improvements to access. There are, however, some very noticeable
changes indicating the level of impact of the programme:
— The courses have allowed a frank
exchange of people's problems and successes in the sphere of collection
care. Participants have been able to solve many of their problems
through these informal networks.
— The Royal Shakespeare Collection
made significant improvements in their environmental control by
the use of insulation. These improvements were made after attending
courses and receiving a follow-up visit.
— The Cider Museum began a pest
monitoring programme and was able to identify an insect pest using
the skills learned through RAW.
— Kington Museum, an independent,
implemented an environmental monitoring programme and made changes
to their space due to attending RAW courses.
Follow up with those museums who attended RAW
courses during 2004-06 will provide a better picture of the impact
that the courses have had.
September 2006
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