This document discusses the importance of strategic collections management for museums and archives. It argues that collections management needs to be integrated with the overall mission and goals of the organization in order to create rich experiences for users. SPECTRUM is presented as a framework that can help align people, procedures, information and systems with an organization's collecting policy to deliver on its mission. The goal of collections management should be to make the most of collections and inspire people through open and participatory experiences both online and offline.

1. Great Museums need Great Management!
Nick Poole, CEO, Collections Trust

2. @NickPoole1
www.collectionslink.org.uk
www.slideshare.net/nickpoole

3. Takk for invitasjonen til å bli med deg i dag!

4. 4

5. My office is here!
5

6. Places of pride & identity
6

7. Awe-inspiring places

8. Challenging places

9. What are museums & archives for?
Which kind of professional are you?
What exactly is a ‘collection’ anyway?
What does success look like for you?
How can Collections Management help you get there?
+ anything else you’d like to talk about!

10. What are museums & archives for?

11. Wordle of 40 UK museum Mission Statements

12. Our Missions say a lot about what we do, but not about
what we mean to the populations we serve.
It’s a question of scale…

13. What do you mean to him?

14. …to yourselves?

15. …to your street?

16. …to your community?

17. …to your town?

18. …to your country?

19. …to your neighbourhood?

20. …to all of us?

28. We can give him the tools &
the understanding to make a
better world

29. Some museum missions…

30. We change lives…
We believe that museums are places of ideas and
dialogue that use collections to inspire people.
We are a democratic museum service and we believe
in the concept of social justice. We are funded by the
whole of the public and in return we strive to provide
an excellent service for the whole of the public.
We believe in the power of museums to help promote
good and active citizenship, and to act as agents of
social change.
- Mission Statement, World Museums Liverpool

31. “The increase and diffusion of knowledge”
Smithsonian Institution

32. The greatest collection representative of human cultural achievement, ancient and
modern, in the world.
A space ‘not only for the ‘learned and curious’ but also ‘for the benefit of the general
public’ – a centre of research and inquiry at all levels.
A collection preserved and held for the benefit of all the world, present and future, free
of charge.
A forum for the expression of many different cultural perspectives.
A place to increase understanding of the cultural connections and influences linking
Britain and the world.
A place where the UK’s diverse population can explore its common inheritances.

33. Before Collections Management comes the Mission

34. Before the Mission comes the culture of your
organisation

35. Before the culture of your organisation come the values
you hold

36. Before your values come the belief in the power of
culture to help people transform their lives

37. Addressing Collections Management without connecting
it to the mission, culture and values of your organisation
is like owning a musical instrument without knowing
about music.

38. What kind of museum or archive professional are you?

39. Objects Experiences
Facts Stories

40. Objects Experiences
“Our first duties are to collect,
conserve and display material
culture, to protect the
nation’s treasures and to
showcase the high points of
human creativity”
Facts Narratives

41. Objects Experiences
“Our first duty is to create an
open, welcoming
environment in which people
can come and enjoy the
experience of beautiful,
inspiring things”
Facts Stories

42. “It is not the objects
Objects Experiences
themselves, but the
connections between them
and the stories they can tell.
Our duty is to weave stories
and objects together to help
people understand the world
around them”
Facts Stories

43. “Our first duty is to provide an
Objects Experiences
authoritative record of the
development of the natural
and man-made world. We
must collect and preserve
type specimens and objects
based on our authoritative
and scientific knowledge.”
Facts Narratives

44. Objects Experiences
Facts Stories

45. All of these impulses (and many others) co-exist in our
organisations. We are a tribe with many faiths and perspectives.
The joyful thing about our work is that the idea of museums and
archives is broad enough to accommodate all of them.

46. What is a ‘collection’ anyway?

48. What does success look like to you?
How will you know when you have got there?

49. Is success:
More visitors?
Happier visitors?
Happy directors?
Happy politicians?
More money?
More objects?
Better objects?
Richer experiences?
Lower costs?
We can’t do them all….

50. The ‘traditional’ organisation
Most cultural organisations operate in ‘vertical’ silos
Education Management Collections Retail IT

51. The ‘integrated’ organisation
Making the most of collections depends on integration of all of the
functions into a common strategic aim
Visitor experience
Strategic
Objectives + People
Collections Public
Accountability
Facilities

52. The demand for participation…

53. Digital is dead, long live ‘engaged’
http://www.digitalengagementframework.com/ from MuseumNext!

54. Me in 3D, Science Museum, London

55. Down the Back of the Sofa, Derby Museum

56. Skin, Wellcome Collection, London

57. London Riots, Museum of London

58. Meditation flashmob, British Museum

59. Rethinking Disability, Leicester Museum

60. Revisiting Collections

61. ‘Your Paintings’ tagger – Public Catalogue Foundation

62. The needs and expectations of the public are changing,
and the function of museums and archives is changing.
Our Collections Management has to change to continue
to serve the needs of our organisations & users.

63. ‘Success’ varies between organisations, but it depends on
getting all of the different parts of the museum or
archive working together toward a common purpose.
Which is where SPECTRUM comes in…

64. BSI PAS 197 BSI PAS 198
ACCREDITATION BENCHMARKS
PDF/XML/PRINT
GUIDANCE
+ SCHEMA
COMPLIANCE
NEW IDEAS (23,000)
WORLDWIDE COMMUNITY (7,600)

65. ‘Strategic Collections Management’
Users Funders Politicians

66. ‘Strategic Collections Management’
Users Funders Politicians
Organisational Mission

67. ‘Strategic Collections Management’
Users Funders Politicians
Organisational Mission
Collecting Policy

68. ‘Strategic Collections Management’
Users Funders Politicians
Organisational Mission
Collecting Policy
Care Learn Develop Use

69. ‘Strategic Collections Management’
Users Funders Politicians
Organisational Mission
Collecting Policy
Care Learn Develop Use
People Systems Procedures Information

70. ‘Strategic Collections Management’
Users Funders Politicians
Organisational Mission
Collecting Policy
Care Learn Develop Use
People Systems Procedures Information
Evaluation & improvement

71. ‘Strategic Collections Management’
Users Funders Politicians
Organisational Mission
Collecting Policy
Care Learn Develop Use
People Systems Procedures Information
Evaluation & improvement

Open, participatory, seamlessly physical, digital, intellectual and emotional experiences for our users

72. Anatomy of Collections Management
Users Funders Politicians
Organisational Mission
Collecting Policy
Care Learn Develop Use
People Systems Procedures Information
Evaluation & improvement
Rich online and offline experiences for users

73. Anatomy of Collections Management
Collecting Policy
People Systems Procedures Information

74. Anatomy of SPECTRUM
People Procedures Information Systems
Collections & collections-related knowledge

76. We have an opportunity to deliver next-generation
museum and archive services that are vibrant, exciting,
open and participatory and that inspire people to love us,
visit us, work with us and discover our collections.
Making the most of this potential depends on investing
time and effort in Collections Management today so that
we can continue to be great museums tomorrow…

77. Collections Management is the tool we use to make our
mission, culture and values a reality.

80. Nick Poole
Chief Executive, Collections Trust
nick@collectionstrust.org.uk
http://www.collectionslink.org.uk
Collections Management ‘LinkedIn’ group
http://www.slideshare.net/nickpoole
twitter @NickPoole1