After 38 years, the British Dental Association (BDA) Museum in London has been extensively refurbished, and reopened to the public in September.
After the refit the new displays on the ground floor at the front of the building aim to provide a shop window to the organisation and its work. For the BDA it is important that the museum serves the organisation as it is today - its legitimacy cannot be based on heritage and culture alone.
Of course all museum managers need to remind their stakeholders of the importance of their collections, and the relevance of those collections to the present day. But when the museum is managed by an organisation that has other priorities, the need to justify its existence is even more pressing.
The BDA is the professional association for dentists in the UK; its museum is owned by a separate charitable trust. The College of Optometrists is the professional, scientific and examining body for optometry in the UK and its museum is in a department in the college in central London.
The Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain (RPSGB) is the regulatory and professional body for pharmacists - its museum also forms part of a department within the organisation's London headquarters. All three organisations were founded in the 19th century and work for the public benefit.
But the three parent bodies are operating in a changing environment. Each of them is reviewing its working methods in response to heightened public and government expectations regarding standards and transparency.
The museums' relationship with their parent organisation depends on the management structure. The Museum of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain (MRPSGB) and the British Optical Association Museum (BOAM) do not have committees whose sole function is to manage the museum and they have to fight hard to be heard by governing bodies that have other priorities.
The BDA Museum (BDAM) is the only one of the three that is governed by a separate trust (and interestingly the only museum that is expected to generate a significant level of money to support its activities).
Rachel Bairsto, the curator of the BDAM, believes that its trust status gives the museum greater autonomy and long-term security. Even so, she admits that the museum is only small and its work is not always understood. 'It is not an essential service within an otherwise member-led organisation.'
This lack of profile has contributed to making the future precarious for all three museums. All suffer from a lack of separation between the governing body and the means of financial support. Even the BDAM with its separate trust fund is dependant on the BDA for staffing, insurance costs and provision of space.
And all of the museums suffer from a lack of resources, especially staff. They can't take on or dismiss staff according to their needs; such decisions are taken by the parent organisation.
The MRPSGB has the most staff (three full-time workers, one on a fixed-term contract) the other two manage with just one full-time member of staff each. None of the museums have any dedicated education or outreach staff (although the BDAM will have soon), and all rely on volunteers.
In 2001 the council of the RPSGB announced a drastic cut in funding to its museum. Staffing levels were halved and most of the museum's collections moved off-site.
But it's not all bad news. Lobbying the society's council and convincing it of the need for a museum has been successful. This year, for the first time since the cuts, the museum has taken part in the induction programme for new councillors. The growing awareness of what the museum does and how its activities benefit the society, has led to the restoration of pre-2001 staffing levels.
This type of awareness-raising is a must, says Briony Hudson, the keeper of museum collections at the Royal Pharmaceutical Society museum.
Both it and the BDAM run short taster sessions at lunchtime for staff about the museum collections. 'We aim to enthuse and inform other staff members who can then act as advocates for the museum in their daily work,' says Hudson.
However, the fact that they receive any core funding at all is one of the advantages of being part of a larger organisation. Rather than relying on external grant funding, the museums concentrate their resources on raising awareness within the highest levels of the organisation about the benefit of continuing support for the museum.
The BDAM has also won support from the Heritage Lottery Fund for its new displays as well as for an education officer post.
The Registration Scheme (now Accreditation) has been used as a safeguard by all three museums to ensure that they have proper legal structures with ring-fenced budgets.
It has also ensured that measures are taken by the governing body for the professional management of the collections, and that they accept the Museums Association's code of ethics, with its standards of collections care and presumption
against disposal.
It is often this bread and butter of museum work, such as collections management, that the parent organisation fails to appreciate. Hudson says that something as simple as taking an acquisition request to the council is a good opportunity to expose the governing body to museum issues and practice.
Both the MRPSGB and the BDAM have changed their collecting policies in the last few years because of restrictions on space. Roxanne Fea, the former head of museum services at the BDA, says that parent organisations do not always understand the complexities of collecting.
'I am really concerned that at the moment we are unable to continue collecting in an overall way relating to dentistry, we are limited to small objects. I think that it is a very dangerous and an arbitrary way for the collection to develop... They say, "Why don't you get snapshots of surgery every couple of years?" I think: "Well, if you give me an aircraft hangar, I'll do it!"'
Lack of public access is also cause for concern. Access to the organisation's headquarters (and home of the museums) has become increasingly restricted as the organisations focus on their membership. Both the MRPSGB and the BOAM are open to the public by appointment only (in 2004 the MRPSGB had just 209 visitors and the BOAM 460).
Rachel Bairsto says that with no displays at headquarters, the museum had 'slipped off the agenda somewhat', but she hopes this will now change. Fortunately at the RPSGB, current plans for the development of a modern conference facility at the society's HQ include museum displays. The museum's potential as a PR vehicle and educational tool is being realised.
But the museums can reach audiences that their parent bodies cannot. At the MRPSGB, 75 per cent of the enquiries last year were from non-members. They have recently launched loan boxes with the Florence Nightingale Museum and have had a school visit as part of the Young Cultural Creators project. The BOAM helped to develop a careers presentation aimed at 13-16 year olds.
Visibility beyond the parent organisation is important. All three museums have a presence on the website of their parent organisation.
Neil Handley, the curator of the BOAM, says: 'The museum pages are some of the most visited.' Hudson agrees: 'Through the website we reach a wide range of users who otherwise would not be able to access our services. In 2004, we had just over 55,000 hits to our pages.'
Electronic access has also been important for the BDAM, which has produced a CD-ROM of 800 glass lantern slides. Images in the museum's collections are seen as a useful marketing and income-generation tool for the BDA.
But it is difficult for the museums to prove their worth in hard facts. The successes of the BOAM and the BDAM are only measured in terms of the number of users and until this year, the success of the MRPSGB was measured purely by whether it was over or under-spent.
In the last four years all three organisations have considered the role of their museums, and each has come to a different conclusion.
The Royal Pharmaceutical Society decided to promote the collection's use as an educational resource for members of the society and the general public, but to curtail access to the collections within the society's headquarters. The College of Optometrists, after a ten-year hiatus, put resources into documenting the collections.
It concluded that it would be an advantage for the college to have an exhibition space for the museum within its headquarters, but has yet to fulfil this aim. And after a long period without direction, the BDA commissioned a review of its museum that resulted in the employment of professional staff and new displays.
Having been shown the needs of the collection and the potential of the museum, it is committed to supporting the museum for both dentists and the general public.
Bryony Kelly is education officer at Portsmouth City Museum and Records Office
After the refit the new displays on the ground floor at the front of the building aim to provide a shop window to the organisation and its work. For the BDA it is important that the museum serves the organisation as it is today - its legitimacy cannot be based on heritage and culture alone.
Of course all museum managers need to remind their stakeholders of the importance of their collections, and the relevance of those collections to the present day. But when the museum is managed by an organisation that has other priorities, the need to justify its existence is even more pressing.
The BDA is the professional association for dentists in the UK; its museum is owned by a separate charitable trust. The College of Optometrists is the professional, scientific and examining body for optometry in the UK and its museum is in a department in the college in central London.
The Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain (RPSGB) is the regulatory and professional body for pharmacists - its museum also forms part of a department within the organisation's London headquarters. All three organisations were founded in the 19th century and work for the public benefit.
But the three parent bodies are operating in a changing environment. Each of them is reviewing its working methods in response to heightened public and government expectations regarding standards and transparency.
The museums' relationship with their parent organisation depends on the management structure. The Museum of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain (MRPSGB) and the British Optical Association Museum (BOAM) do not have committees whose sole function is to manage the museum and they have to fight hard to be heard by governing bodies that have other priorities.
The BDA Museum (BDAM) is the only one of the three that is governed by a separate trust (and interestingly the only museum that is expected to generate a significant level of money to support its activities).
Rachel Bairsto, the curator of the BDAM, believes that its trust status gives the museum greater autonomy and long-term security. Even so, she admits that the museum is only small and its work is not always understood. 'It is not an essential service within an otherwise member-led organisation.'
This lack of profile has contributed to making the future precarious for all three museums. All suffer from a lack of separation between the governing body and the means of financial support. Even the BDAM with its separate trust fund is dependant on the BDA for staffing, insurance costs and provision of space.
And all of the museums suffer from a lack of resources, especially staff. They can't take on or dismiss staff according to their needs; such decisions are taken by the parent organisation.
The MRPSGB has the most staff (three full-time workers, one on a fixed-term contract) the other two manage with just one full-time member of staff each. None of the museums have any dedicated education or outreach staff (although the BDAM will have soon), and all rely on volunteers.
In 2001 the council of the RPSGB announced a drastic cut in funding to its museum. Staffing levels were halved and most of the museum's collections moved off-site.
But it's not all bad news. Lobbying the society's council and convincing it of the need for a museum has been successful. This year, for the first time since the cuts, the museum has taken part in the induction programme for new councillors. The growing awareness of what the museum does and how its activities benefit the society, has led to the restoration of pre-2001 staffing levels.
This type of awareness-raising is a must, says Briony Hudson, the keeper of museum collections at the Royal Pharmaceutical Society museum.
Both it and the BDAM run short taster sessions at lunchtime for staff about the museum collections. 'We aim to enthuse and inform other staff members who can then act as advocates for the museum in their daily work,' says Hudson.
However, the fact that they receive any core funding at all is one of the advantages of being part of a larger organisation. Rather than relying on external grant funding, the museums concentrate their resources on raising awareness within the highest levels of the organisation about the benefit of continuing support for the museum.
The BDAM has also won support from the Heritage Lottery Fund for its new displays as well as for an education officer post.
The Registration Scheme (now Accreditation) has been used as a safeguard by all three museums to ensure that they have proper legal structures with ring-fenced budgets.
It has also ensured that measures are taken by the governing body for the professional management of the collections, and that they accept the Museums Association's code of ethics, with its standards of collections care and presumption
against disposal.
It is often this bread and butter of museum work, such as collections management, that the parent organisation fails to appreciate. Hudson says that something as simple as taking an acquisition request to the council is a good opportunity to expose the governing body to museum issues and practice.
Both the MRPSGB and the BDAM have changed their collecting policies in the last few years because of restrictions on space. Roxanne Fea, the former head of museum services at the BDA, says that parent organisations do not always understand the complexities of collecting.
'I am really concerned that at the moment we are unable to continue collecting in an overall way relating to dentistry, we are limited to small objects. I think that it is a very dangerous and an arbitrary way for the collection to develop... They say, "Why don't you get snapshots of surgery every couple of years?" I think: "Well, if you give me an aircraft hangar, I'll do it!"'
Lack of public access is also cause for concern. Access to the organisation's headquarters (and home of the museums) has become increasingly restricted as the organisations focus on their membership. Both the MRPSGB and the BOAM are open to the public by appointment only (in 2004 the MRPSGB had just 209 visitors and the BOAM 460).
Rachel Bairsto says that with no displays at headquarters, the museum had 'slipped off the agenda somewhat', but she hopes this will now change. Fortunately at the RPSGB, current plans for the development of a modern conference facility at the society's HQ include museum displays. The museum's potential as a PR vehicle and educational tool is being realised.
But the museums can reach audiences that their parent bodies cannot. At the MRPSGB, 75 per cent of the enquiries last year were from non-members. They have recently launched loan boxes with the Florence Nightingale Museum and have had a school visit as part of the Young Cultural Creators project. The BOAM helped to develop a careers presentation aimed at 13-16 year olds.
Visibility beyond the parent organisation is important. All three museums have a presence on the website of their parent organisation.
Neil Handley, the curator of the BOAM, says: 'The museum pages are some of the most visited.' Hudson agrees: 'Through the website we reach a wide range of users who otherwise would not be able to access our services. In 2004, we had just over 55,000 hits to our pages.'
Electronic access has also been important for the BDAM, which has produced a CD-ROM of 800 glass lantern slides. Images in the museum's collections are seen as a useful marketing and income-generation tool for the BDA.
But it is difficult for the museums to prove their worth in hard facts. The successes of the BOAM and the BDAM are only measured in terms of the number of users and until this year, the success of the MRPSGB was measured purely by whether it was over or under-spent.
In the last four years all three organisations have considered the role of their museums, and each has come to a different conclusion.
The Royal Pharmaceutical Society decided to promote the collection's use as an educational resource for members of the society and the general public, but to curtail access to the collections within the society's headquarters. The College of Optometrists, after a ten-year hiatus, put resources into documenting the collections.
It concluded that it would be an advantage for the college to have an exhibition space for the museum within its headquarters, but has yet to fulfil this aim. And after a long period without direction, the BDA commissioned a review of its museum that resulted in the employment of professional staff and new displays.
Having been shown the needs of the collection and the potential of the museum, it is committed to supporting the museum for both dentists and the general public.
Bryony Kelly is education officer at Portsmouth City Museum and Records Office
