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Archive
Subject Specialist Network Update 2005
Subject Specialist Network Update
This is an article updating SHCG members on the current situation of a few of the groups that benefited from funding by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) as part of the Renaissance in the Regions Subject Specialist Network Development Grants 2005. This is not a complete list of SSNs but hopefully these are all relevant to Social History Curators.
Contemporary Collecting for Urban Social Historians
This SSN has met twice to discuss the current state of contemporary collecting in UK city museums. The first meeting in April consisted solely of the lead partners of the SSN, which to date has been lead by Tyne and Wear Museums and supported by the Museum of London, the Museum of Liverpool Life, Croydon Museum, Reading Museum, Bristol Museums, Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery and Clifton Park Museum in Rotherham. The second meeting in August was open to all, and attracted 40 delegates from across the country. In addition, an email and telephone survey has been carried out of 19 other museums to ascertain current collecting activities and potential interests in the SSN.
Issues of concern to delegates varied according to whether or not their museum is actively engaged in contemporary collecting initiatives. Most of us are still largely reactive in our collecting approaches, responding to public donors as they pop up in the museum or on the phone. It is hoped the SSN will assist these museums to raise the profile of contemporary collecting, providing practical advice and skills for those embarking on projects or policy revisions through one or two seminars a year. By raising awareness of who is collecting what, the SSN will provide a support framework, assisting staff in making a stronger case for spending time on collections development. Those museums that are already committed to ongoing programmes of contemporary collecting will use the SSN as a space for more critical reflection on their methodologies, to develop a more nuanced understanding of how the process can influence the results.
As contemporary collecting is an increasingly important part of social history curatorship, SHCG will remain an active partner in this SSN. For the time being, the SHCG email list, website and News will be used to circulate queries, disseminate the SSN’s work and advertise future events. If you haven’t yet signed up to the email list but are interested in the work of this SSN, please do so now!
For more information on the SSN, email Zelda Baveystock at Tyne and Wear Museums: zelda.baveystock@twmuseums.org.uk
Crime and Punishment Collections Network
This SSN is for museums, libraries and archives with collections or sites related to the Police Force, Prison Service or Legal Profession. The MLA funded exploratory consultation process set out to measure and respond the demand for an SSN concerned with criminal justice. The initial core group of 10 soon rose to the current 36 interested parties. The overwhelming support for such a network was evident from the initial workshop meeting after which the primary focus of the process became the creation of the resource and support infrastructure. The key documents regarding the future direction, aims and objectives and operational structure are the CAP Constitution and the CAP Five Year Business Plan. These documents have been compiled in consultation and with the full support of the organisations interested in becoming members of the proposed network. The creation of these documents has been one of the key objectives of the exploratory process and provides the committee and membership with a clear framework for operation and responsibilities.
For the short term an interim committee has been appointed to oversee the arrangements for the three key objectives prior to the first Annual General Meeting (AGM) and conference in November 2005, at which point an official standing committee will be elected. The key objectives necessary to prepare the network for the November event are the organisation of the AGM/Conference, the administration of the subscriptions process and the editing of the first edition of the quarterly newsletter. All three of these objectives are being led by a ‘nominated’ interim committee member and are currently in progress.
For more information please contact:
Paul Baker, Curator, NCCL GALLERIES OF JUSTICE
Email: Paul.baker@nccl.org.uk
Jewish History, Culture and Religious Life SSN
Exploratory work on the Jewish history, culture and religious life SSN began in April 2005. The work was co-ordinated by the Jewish Museum, and included specialist partners such as Manchester Jewish Museum and the Scottish Jewish Archives Centre, as well as larger organisations such as the British Library and the Victoria and Albert Museum. At the end of the exploratory phase, in June 2005, it was decided to carry the network forward through a collections mapping project as well as through regular meetings. The mapping project will cover as many objects as possible relating to the Jewish theme, including those in local authority museums and other non-specialist collections, as well as archival material and oral history. The result will be an invaluable resource for researchers and curators, facilitating collaboration between partner institutions and increasing the visibility and accessibility of their collections. In the longer term, the SSN hopes to establish links with other networks of Jewish museums in Europe and North America, and with other BME collections in Britain. If you would like more information about the network, please contact Lily Steadman at the Jewish Museum, lily.steadman@jewishmuseum.org.uk.
Thinking Wider – A Subject Specialist Network for Inland Transport
In February 2005 MLA provided a £4,000 exploratory grant as part of the Renaissance in the Regions initiative to develop a Subject Specialist Network for Inland Transport (SSNIT).
An initial steering group was formed by a number of representatives of transport museums, including the National Railway Museum, the National Tramway Museum, Heritage Railways Association, London’s Transport Museum and the Heritage Motor Centre, in order to assess whether a SSN would be appropriate and practical.
The grant funded a conference entitled Thinking Wider: The Public Transport Subject Specialist Network held at the National Railway Museum on Saturday 14th May, 2005, attended by a total of 32 delegates from a range of large and small museum with transport collections.
The aim of the conference was to discuss whether an SSN is a good idea, what should the SSN do and how it should work. The conclusion of the conference was that the SSN would be a good idea if:
· There is a strong base on which to begin/strong focus
· It helps us to do better what we already do.
· It remains simple and jargon free
· It remains sustainable
Further research is now under way to develop this informal network further in order to provide a UK-wide cross-domain network, bringing people together to share knowledge and information. It will enable better care of and enhanced access to inland transport collections.
For further information, please contact Martyn Halman, Knowledge & Collections Facilitator at the National Railway Museum. (Tel: 01904 686284, Email: martyn.halman@nmsi.ac.uk)
Disability History Subject Specialist Network
The initial research phase was completed in August. Many thanks go to Sue Westmore who conducted the research and drafted the report for MLA showing that there was widespread support and interest (including from the HLF) for the idea of a disability history network.
The aim of the network is to raise awareness and increase understanding of the history of disability by uncovering existing material held in museum, library and archive collections, building on those collections and facilitating research. The network is intended to provide information and resources to help those working with collections to achieve this. It will not provide advice on physical and intellectual access as there are other organisations, such as MAGDA, addressing these issues.
A website is seen as the best vehicle for supporting the network’s aim. The website will function in a number of ways. It could:
· showcase recent and current projects that develop best practice;
· offer “how to” resource packs on topics such as where to find information on disabled people in a Record Office;
· provide a directory of disability history sources including collections;
· host an online exhibition;
· be the forum for discussion of disability history issues.
Beyond the virtual contact offered by the website there will also be opportunities to develop a training programme, touring exhibitions and publications.
The next step is to set up a committee to drive forward these ideas. If you are interested to have a role in this process please contact Tom Hodgson at Colchester Museums (tom.hodgson@colchester.gov.uk).
Medical & Healthcare SSN
The response to the feasibility study and consultation exercise on the possibilities of developing a Medical & Healthcare SSN was extremely positive. Although ‘medical history’ collections seem more frequently to be classified under broader categories such as ‘social history’ or ‘science’, it is hoped that the creation of a Medical & Healthcare SSN will promote and support the unique issues faced in this sector. Individuals representing the sector (including specialist and general national, local and independent museums, libraries and archives) felt that the development of an SSN would be highly beneficial both to the profession and to audiences. It was felt that a well constituted and well resourced SSN could help to develop the sector’s ability to deliver future projects and nationally important initiatives.
The steering committee will now draft an action plan to develop longer term activities, including development and administrative support, information exchange, such as an email forum and a website, projects to increase the knowledge and skills of the sector, projects to benefit audiences, and a forward plan for SSN meetings.
The final report to the MLA documenting the findings of the feasibility study will be circulated to members. For more information contact: Tate Greenhalgh at Thackray Museum on 0113 244 4343 or email tateg@thackraymuseum.org.
Science, Technology and Industry SSN
A group of museums have joined together to form a Subject Specialist Network in Science, Technology and Industry. Birmingham Museums, Bristol Industrial Museum, National Museums Scotland, Science Museum, Tyne and Wear Museums, Thinktank and the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester combined forces with funding from the MLA to undertake exploratory activity into the establishment of the network.
The network steering group consulted with the Science and Industry Museums sector through a questionnaire and a conference in June 2005 to identify the level of enthusiasm and need for the network. The group identified that the network should be as broad and inclusive as possible, with regular communication and the need for better information exchange, possibly through the creation of an experts’ database in Science, Technology and Industry subject areas. The conference focused on the necessity to share skills and expertise between museums, increase training and advocacy in the sector and develop research with academic departments.
In the medium term the network aims to hold a regular annual conference, stimulate collaboration on collecting policies, develop collaborative projects and funding streams and improve discussion and dissemination between institutions. The longer-term development of the network depends on further funding from the MLA, but it hopes to be able to develop structured information exchange, create and maintain an experts’ database and raise training and the profile of the sector.
For more information please contact:
Dr Tilly Blyth, Curator of Computing and Information, Science Museum.
Tel. 0207 942 4211 tilly.blyth@nmsi.ac.uk
Site Administrator (Thursday 2nd March 2006)
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