No funding leaves specimen jars half empty
Funded field collecting for natural history specimens is rare in the regional museums of Britain today. Many collections consist of specimens collected, or donated, close to the time a museum opened, with fewer subsequent donations.
Today, with the regulations governing site and species protection, many active collectors are not in contact with museums or the wider naturalist community for fear of appearing un-PC. Many natural history collections are either in stasis or developing in an ad hoc manner.
As with many areas of natural science, field collecting is rarely supported by acquisition budgets. New schemes, such as Collecting Cultures, only allow for purchasing specimens, not active field collecting. However, collecting specimens in the field is often more valuable to the institution in terms of collection data, care of the specimens, and adding value to the museum's collections.
Plymouth City Museums and Art Gallery holds a collection of over 4,000 wet-preserved marine fauna, most of which were collected around Plymouth Sound. Many specimens were collected in the late 19th/early 20th centuries, with few collected at later dates. Very little has been added in the past 40 years.
Last summer, Plymouth Museum employed two field collectors from the University of Plymouth School of Biological Sciences to collect and preserve a wide range of littoral marine organisms to supplement the museum's marine fauna collection.
It also provided the unique opportunity to create a representative sample of the marine animals found around the Plymouth coast today. The project was funded through the increasing access to the collections strand of Renaissance in the Regions funding.
Over 776 specimens of 96 different species were collected. Every specimen has full collection data, is recorded on the collections' database, has archival quality labels and is stored to the museum's standards. The total cost of the project was £3,951.82, with 95 per cent of that covering staff time. This works out at £5.09 per specimen.
However, to buy wet-preserved specimens is difficult and much more costly. (One recent auction offered an historic marine specimen in a glass jar at an estimate of £600-£800.)
Field collecting is a fantastic Effective Collections tool, one that enhances our existing collections and ensures its relevance for current and future generations.
Further field collection can only increase the heritage and scientific value of the collection. Through work with external partners and by actively seeking to add to the collections, rather than dispose, we can give new life to our storerooms of specimens.
Helen Fothergill, keeper of natural history, Plymouth City Museum & Art Gallery
Unfair to curators
The committee of the Social History Curators Group (SHCG) would like to express its deep disappointment at the cover story of February's issue on the future of local and community history in museums (Museums Journal February 2008, p22).
The role of local history curators is often overlooked by Museums Journal, so we were relishing this rare opportunity to showcase some of the exciting work that is going on across the country. But the article demonstrated a hackneyed idea of what a curator is.
Scott Billings' argument that curators don't involve communities - or if they do, it is to be regarded as ground breaking - is clearly inaccurate. Social history curators have been at the forefront of working with local communities since the 1980s, if not before.
A cursory glance at the SHCG archive of news and journals reveals that best practice in community work has been a recurring hot topic for more than two decades. In 1990, for example, the annual conference was entitled "People are the Driving Force"; hardly a new concept in 2008, then!
The article further emphasised the false dichotomy between the roles of education and curatorship, implying that curators merely wish to sit in their stores researching objects for their own benefit.
This is not a stereotype that any of us recognise: exhibitions and displays are created in partnership between curators, learning staff and communities, not in competition. Collections remain the unique selling point of museums, and curators play a vital role in helping local audiences to find relevance in history to today's society.
Lastly, Billings failed to address the central question of the article (why do local history museums "tell the same old stories"?) - pinning the blame on designers, blinkered local authorities and, yes, unimaginative curators again.
There are debates worth having here: the limiting demands of the national curriculum; the challenges of addressing local concerns without parochially ignoring national or global contexts; the role of chronology for audiences who may have a very limited grasp of the sweep of history - but none of these were discussed with any sense.
We therefore suggest that anyone who is interested in a more intelligent debate on the future of local and social history curatorship to come to SHCG's next conference this July, where you will find a diverse range of curators eager to embrace new thinking.
Jill Holmen, chairman, Epping Forest District Council Museum; Hannah Maddox, secretary, Norfolk Museums & Archaeology Service; Zelda Baveystock, treasurer, University of Newcastle; and seven other members of the SHCG committee
A taxing issue
The National Museum Directors' Conference (NMDC) absolutely believes it is right that those who live in this country should contribute to the cost of public services. But the non-doms issue is rather more complicated than Sharon Heal's editorial (Museums Journal March 2008, p4) would suggest.
Non-domiciles do already pay tax on their UK earnings. Many of them also share their wealth with the nation in a more creative and generous fashion. Non-doms are responsible for a very significant proportion of recent gifts to museums, a source of funding which has been crucial to realising museums' capital projects.
A number of non-doms are also passionate art collectors, a valuable source of current and future loans to public museums and galleries. So of course the NMDC was keen to ensure that the legislation drafted by the Treasury did not have unintended and damaging consequences for our sector.
We are delighted that changes were made to the proposals which mean that these important donors can continue to play a key role in supporting Britain's museums and galleries.
Mark Jones, chairman, National Museum Directors' Conference
MLA disorganisation?
The murder of the regional Museums, Libraries and Archives Councils is as a result of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport regional review, which seeks "greater operational effectiveness and cost-efficiency" (Museums Journal March 2008, p4).
Whatever happened to the idea of service, support and advice to these cultural sectors? Why is cost the only consideration? It would be interesting to know if the option of removing the centre and maintaining the regional bodies was considered. How can a service responsive to regional demands and needs be maintained?
I would prefer to keep the doughnut and lose the hole in the middle, but this proposal will leave us only with the hole. Maybe we should reinvent area museum councils?
Hilary McGowan, museum consultant, Weston-super-Mare, Somerset
Come to Hammersmith
I was surprised to discover in her article on the extent of William Morris museums (Museums Journal February 2008, p17) that Maev Kennedy failed to mention the William Morris Society's museum at Kelmscott House in Hammersmith. It was here that Morris spent his last 18 and most productive years.
His beautiful riverside home inspired numerous designs for wallpapers and textiles, and it was here that News from Nowhere was written, where the famous Hammersmith carpets were first manufactured, where the Hammersmith Socialists held their meetings, where the nearby Kelmscott Press was created and where Morris died.
It is a sad day indeed when someone recommends a visit to a shop (Liberty) that reproduces Morris patterns, in preference to a museum where the visitor can see the real artefact.
The Morris museums Kennedy mentions may be small and open part time, but they are passionate about the achievements of this amazing man and, in contrast to the nationals, we offer an intimate and unique experience. Surely this difference should be celebrated, not disregarded?
Helen Elletson, curator, William Morris Society and Kelmscott House Museum, London
Funded field collecting for natural history specimens is rare in the regional museums of Britain today. Many collections consist of specimens collected, or donated, close to the time a museum opened, with fewer subsequent donations.
Today, with the regulations governing site and species protection, many active collectors are not in contact with museums or the wider naturalist community for fear of appearing un-PC. Many natural history collections are either in stasis or developing in an ad hoc manner.
As with many areas of natural science, field collecting is rarely supported by acquisition budgets. New schemes, such as Collecting Cultures, only allow for purchasing specimens, not active field collecting. However, collecting specimens in the field is often more valuable to the institution in terms of collection data, care of the specimens, and adding value to the museum's collections.
Plymouth City Museums and Art Gallery holds a collection of over 4,000 wet-preserved marine fauna, most of which were collected around Plymouth Sound. Many specimens were collected in the late 19th/early 20th centuries, with few collected at later dates. Very little has been added in the past 40 years.
Last summer, Plymouth Museum employed two field collectors from the University of Plymouth School of Biological Sciences to collect and preserve a wide range of littoral marine organisms to supplement the museum's marine fauna collection.
It also provided the unique opportunity to create a representative sample of the marine animals found around the Plymouth coast today. The project was funded through the increasing access to the collections strand of Renaissance in the Regions funding.
Over 776 specimens of 96 different species were collected. Every specimen has full collection data, is recorded on the collections' database, has archival quality labels and is stored to the museum's standards. The total cost of the project was £3,951.82, with 95 per cent of that covering staff time. This works out at £5.09 per specimen.
However, to buy wet-preserved specimens is difficult and much more costly. (One recent auction offered an historic marine specimen in a glass jar at an estimate of £600-£800.)
Field collecting is a fantastic Effective Collections tool, one that enhances our existing collections and ensures its relevance for current and future generations.
Further field collection can only increase the heritage and scientific value of the collection. Through work with external partners and by actively seeking to add to the collections, rather than dispose, we can give new life to our storerooms of specimens.
Helen Fothergill, keeper of natural history, Plymouth City Museum & Art Gallery
Unfair to curators
The committee of the Social History Curators Group (SHCG) would like to express its deep disappointment at the cover story of February's issue on the future of local and community history in museums (Museums Journal February 2008, p22).
The role of local history curators is often overlooked by Museums Journal, so we were relishing this rare opportunity to showcase some of the exciting work that is going on across the country. But the article demonstrated a hackneyed idea of what a curator is.
Scott Billings' argument that curators don't involve communities - or if they do, it is to be regarded as ground breaking - is clearly inaccurate. Social history curators have been at the forefront of working with local communities since the 1980s, if not before.
A cursory glance at the SHCG archive of news and journals reveals that best practice in community work has been a recurring hot topic for more than two decades. In 1990, for example, the annual conference was entitled "People are the Driving Force"; hardly a new concept in 2008, then!
The article further emphasised the false dichotomy between the roles of education and curatorship, implying that curators merely wish to sit in their stores researching objects for their own benefit.
This is not a stereotype that any of us recognise: exhibitions and displays are created in partnership between curators, learning staff and communities, not in competition. Collections remain the unique selling point of museums, and curators play a vital role in helping local audiences to find relevance in history to today's society.
Lastly, Billings failed to address the central question of the article (why do local history museums "tell the same old stories"?) - pinning the blame on designers, blinkered local authorities and, yes, unimaginative curators again.
There are debates worth having here: the limiting demands of the national curriculum; the challenges of addressing local concerns without parochially ignoring national or global contexts; the role of chronology for audiences who may have a very limited grasp of the sweep of history - but none of these were discussed with any sense.
We therefore suggest that anyone who is interested in a more intelligent debate on the future of local and social history curatorship to come to SHCG's next conference this July, where you will find a diverse range of curators eager to embrace new thinking.
Jill Holmen, chairman, Epping Forest District Council Museum; Hannah Maddox, secretary, Norfolk Museums & Archaeology Service; Zelda Baveystock, treasurer, University of Newcastle; and seven other members of the SHCG committee
A taxing issue
The National Museum Directors' Conference (NMDC) absolutely believes it is right that those who live in this country should contribute to the cost of public services. But the non-doms issue is rather more complicated than Sharon Heal's editorial (Museums Journal March 2008, p4) would suggest.
Non-domiciles do already pay tax on their UK earnings. Many of them also share their wealth with the nation in a more creative and generous fashion. Non-doms are responsible for a very significant proportion of recent gifts to museums, a source of funding which has been crucial to realising museums' capital projects.
A number of non-doms are also passionate art collectors, a valuable source of current and future loans to public museums and galleries. So of course the NMDC was keen to ensure that the legislation drafted by the Treasury did not have unintended and damaging consequences for our sector.
We are delighted that changes were made to the proposals which mean that these important donors can continue to play a key role in supporting Britain's museums and galleries.
Mark Jones, chairman, National Museum Directors' Conference
MLA disorganisation?
The murder of the regional Museums, Libraries and Archives Councils is as a result of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport regional review, which seeks "greater operational effectiveness and cost-efficiency" (Museums Journal March 2008, p4).
Whatever happened to the idea of service, support and advice to these cultural sectors? Why is cost the only consideration? It would be interesting to know if the option of removing the centre and maintaining the regional bodies was considered. How can a service responsive to regional demands and needs be maintained?
I would prefer to keep the doughnut and lose the hole in the middle, but this proposal will leave us only with the hole. Maybe we should reinvent area museum councils?
Hilary McGowan, museum consultant, Weston-super-Mare, Somerset
Come to Hammersmith
I was surprised to discover in her article on the extent of William Morris museums (Museums Journal February 2008, p17) that Maev Kennedy failed to mention the William Morris Society's museum at Kelmscott House in Hammersmith. It was here that Morris spent his last 18 and most productive years.
His beautiful riverside home inspired numerous designs for wallpapers and textiles, and it was here that News from Nowhere was written, where the famous Hammersmith carpets were first manufactured, where the Hammersmith Socialists held their meetings, where the nearby Kelmscott Press was created and where Morris died.
It is a sad day indeed when someone recommends a visit to a shop (Liberty) that reproduces Morris patterns, in preference to a museum where the visitor can see the real artefact.
The Morris museums Kennedy mentions may be small and open part time, but they are passionate about the achievements of this amazing man and, in contrast to the nationals, we offer an intimate and unique experience. Surely this difference should be celebrated, not disregarded?
Helen Elletson, curator, William Morris Society and Kelmscott House Museum, London
