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Letters

The legacy of a language Bannaghtyn. (Greetings.) You can’t tell from this written communication that I retain a Lancashire accent …
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The legacy of a language

Bannaghtyn. (Greetings.) You can’t tell from this written communication that I retain a Lancashire accent and occasionally use dialect phrases picked up from the county of my birth. My schoolteachers would be ashamed of me – because they did their best to stop me “talking common”. I am pleased they didn’t succeed.

Respect for the oral tradition is a key part of a wider respect for culture and identity. It celebrates difference but it can create cohesion in a community if used correctly.

Your article on the new Robert Burns Birthplace Museum briefly mentioned Manx. I would like to add to that.

The Isle of Man has been working hard to give Manx the respect it deserves. This language has its roots in Irish and Scottish Gaelic – with the Viking influence still strong.

At the heart of its revival was the archive of sound recordings created from the 1940s and held in the Manx Museum. Manx National Heritage plays its part in rebuilding the language by hosting classes, training its front-of-house staff to greet visitors in Manx, using Manx names for sites and so on.

We have several fluent Manx speakers on our staff – especially at the Manx Folk Museum at Cregneash. Manx features in our retail, such as on greeting cards for special occasions. There is a demand for this and we do not force it on anyone. But we do know that the schoolchildren learning Manx from an early stage have a headstart on others when it comes to learning other languages.

We do not pretend that many of our visitors understand the language, but they need to know that it exists to add value to their understanding of the island and its history.

Lesh yeearreeyn share son y Nollick as y Vlein Noa – [a belated] best wishes for Christmas and the New Year…

Edmund Southworth, director, Manx National Heritage, Eiraght Ashoonagh Vannin, Manx Museum, Douglas, Isle of Man

Museums Journal December 2010, p22
North-east’s MDO work

John Holt’s article correctly states that while other regions have up to 13.6 museum development officer posts, the north-east has only one.

I felt that I must write to correct anyone who assumes that this means that there is little museum development work taking place in the north-east.

The work is indeed coordinated by one person, providing one point of contact for museums, but it is important to note that it operates within a wider framework, enabling museums to have access to specialist expertise, advice and opportunities across a range of areas.

This framework of support is delivered through local networks such as the Volunteer Organisations Network, Curatorial Advisers’ Network, via external partnerships such as the North East Collections Care Framework, and through dedicated support programmes including Accreditation, Broadening Horizons (Museum Development Fund) and Green Museums, a hub-supported initiative.

Crucially, the officer responsible for museum development provides a point of contact with specialist staff and advisers who work to support smaller museums across the region and contribute to the vibrancy of museums in the region, which go from success to success.

Bill Griffiths, hub manager, Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums, Discovery Museum


Museums Journal November 2010, p32

Bye-bye SAWCAS

All good things come to an end, and so has the South and West Cultural Assessment Service (SAWCAS), formerly the Dorset Museums Assessment Centre (DMAC).

Set up in 1997, DMAC and SAWCAS have delivered all levels of museum-oriented NVQs throughout the west country, Hampshire, Wales and even as far as Northern Ireland.

Through these NVQs, many museum people – and others who look after collections but have not qualified from university – have advanced in the profession, some by taking the full-level course and others just the G3 unit leading in part to Associate Membership of the Museums Association.

DMAC was the brainchild of Elizabeth Leicester, then the training officer of the Area Museum Council for the South West (AMCSW). She had been approached by Alisdair Murray, a retired Royal Marine, who had been appointed curator of the Nothe Fort in Weymouth and needed to qualify himself.

At this time, the Museum Training Institute had just brought in a set of cultural heritage qualifications and Murray was persuaded to take a level 5 NVQ, supported by AMCSW. That being achieved, Leicester brought the Nothe Fort and Weymouth College together to form DMAC, and Murray became a qualified assessor and internal verifier.

Another organisation delivering NVQs in the west country was Advanced Training in Taunton. Jenny Yendall, a qualified assessor, internal verifier and APL adviser, was working for it.

In time, Advanced Training was wound up and Weymouth College withdrew from DMAC. Yendall, having worked closely with DMAC, then joined with it to continue an assessment centre under the name SAWCAS.

Murray retired as director of the Nothe Fort in 2007 and Yendall took over the running of the assessment centre. Both continued to deliver qualifications. But they have decided to close SAWCAS, partly because of the economics (the cost of running an assessment centre without income from G3s – no longer required en route to an AMA), and partly to age on Murray’s part.

Yendall, who is employed part-time to manage the South Molton and District Museum in North Devon, also works to support and mentor candidates for their AMA.

Both have thoroughly enjoyed their time as assessors, which has given them a valuable insight into the running of other museums, problems, successes and failures, and they have taken great pleasure in having qualified so many in their chosen professions.

Yendall will continue to work managing South Molton Museum as South Molton Museum’s access and collections officer, employed by South Molton Town Council in a position that is challenging but interesting. The museum is volunteer-run, with one other member of staff employed part-time who recently achieved his Level 3 Heritage NVQ.

Yendall has the ability and skills to train volunteers to a high standard due to past work and the volunteers are keen to learn and work in various jobs that all benefit the museum. With support from various organisations offering training at reduced costs or for free, South Molton has a museum which has a workforce that are trained and able to carry out very relevant tasks.

SAWCAS would like to take this opportunity to thank all those who have supported it and DMAC over the years. We hope museums will continue to explore all training opportunities to benefit their staff’s own personal and professional development, as well as benefit the museum they work for.

Email Yendall for information on vocational training or AMA mentoring.

Alisdair Murray and Jenny Yendall, SAWCAS

info@southmoltonmuseum.org

www.south-moltonmuseum.com

In the February issue of Museums Journal

- A manifesto for science exhibitions
- US and UK models of philanthropy – which is the best system?
- The use of new media in art
- Reviews: Book of the Dead, British Museum, London; Firing Line, Cardiff Castle Museum of the Welsh Soldier; Petrie Museum, London; Roman Baths Museum, Bath; Museum of the Order of St John of Clerkenwell, London
- Plus news, comment, letters, jobs and much more

Museum Practice online

The latest issue of Museum Practice explores the issue of signage. Museums are increasingly turning to new technologies for their signage, but can these replace traditional wayfinding systems? Recent case studies are featured.


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