In the frenzied run up to Christmas it's good to step back from the mayhem and reflect on what sort of year 2008 has been. As usual there have been some highlights, some lowlights and some stubbornly unresolved issues (see link 1 below).
The year opened with the fallout from the Comprehensive Spending Review announcement. A poor settlement meant big cuts for the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA). The knock-on effect has been the scrapping of the regional agencies - which while awful for the people employed by them is probably a good thing in the long run.
For the hubs it has meant steps towards a more equal distribution of funding; fairer in theory but it will undoubtedly end in some very deep cuts in the phase one regions.
Almost everything that the MLA does for museums, from Accreditation to Renaissance, has been under review this year. The MLA must listen to the findings of the Renaissance review in particular, and if the management of the scheme at national or local level is found wanting, the lessons must be learnt.
Also this year the publication of Brian McMaster's report Supporting Excellence in the Arts signalled a shift away from "top-down targets" towards peer review and self assessment. Very few would argue with the idea of excellence but there must be transparency in the process and the end result. More than that, the department for culture, or the culture minister, or someone, should clarify what excellence means.
Already there are too many who are happy to view it as a move away from access; if it is, it would be a move in the wrong direction.
The department for culture has been quick to implement the findings of the McMaster report, with pilot peer reviews taking place now and a full roll out of the new assessment system planned for next year (see link 2 below).
If only the same urgency had been applied to the development of a national museum strategy. Apart from a few tantalising glimpses there is still no firm sighting of the strategy. It would be nice to see it in 2009 otherwise we might all lose the will to live and the whole idea of a national strategy will become extinct.
Sharon Heal, editor
sharon@museumsassociation.org
The year opened with the fallout from the Comprehensive Spending Review announcement. A poor settlement meant big cuts for the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA). The knock-on effect has been the scrapping of the regional agencies - which while awful for the people employed by them is probably a good thing in the long run.
For the hubs it has meant steps towards a more equal distribution of funding; fairer in theory but it will undoubtedly end in some very deep cuts in the phase one regions.
Almost everything that the MLA does for museums, from Accreditation to Renaissance, has been under review this year. The MLA must listen to the findings of the Renaissance review in particular, and if the management of the scheme at national or local level is found wanting, the lessons must be learnt.
Also this year the publication of Brian McMaster's report Supporting Excellence in the Arts signalled a shift away from "top-down targets" towards peer review and self assessment. Very few would argue with the idea of excellence but there must be transparency in the process and the end result. More than that, the department for culture, or the culture minister, or someone, should clarify what excellence means.
Already there are too many who are happy to view it as a move away from access; if it is, it would be a move in the wrong direction.
The department for culture has been quick to implement the findings of the McMaster report, with pilot peer reviews taking place now and a full roll out of the new assessment system planned for next year (see link 2 below).
If only the same urgency had been applied to the development of a national museum strategy. Apart from a few tantalising glimpses there is still no firm sighting of the strategy. It would be nice to see it in 2009 otherwise we might all lose the will to live and the whole idea of a national strategy will become extinct.
Sharon Heal, editor
sharon@museumsassociation.org
Links
1.
2. Museums Journal, December 2008, p4
1.
2. Museums Journal, December 2008, p4
