Archive for the 'News' Category

Wrappers 2 project update

Published on February 17, 2012 in News.

The JISC funded ‘Wrappers 2’ project, led by The Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge, recently completed its consultation activities with University Museum staff and users to look at issues for the resource discovery of University Museum collections, as part of the ‘Discovery’ programme (http://discovery.ac.uk/).

The consultation included online surveys and a Q&A session at the UMG conference.  Issues such as the scope of UK University Museum ‘collections’ data; terms of use for this kind of data; and potential features and audiences for new search-services are covered.

The findings should be of interest across the University Museum sector and can be found and commented on at: http://contextualwrappers2.wordpress.com/2012/02/13/consultation-findings/.

Excavating time – call for papers

Published on February 17, 2012 in Events and News.

Call for papers for 19th Annual Scottish Word and Image Group Conference
University of Dundee

Friday 6th to Sunday 8th July 2012

Excavating Time will consider the processes by which the past might be accessed, preserved, represented, interpreted or ‘fabricated’ through distinctive interactions between visual and verbal media.  The organisers are keen to encourage proposals for papers or panels from UMG members.

For more information see the attached summary document.  Excavating Time CFP

UMG/NCCPE event: impact and evaluation – learning together

Published on February 10, 2012 in News.

This event was held on 7th February 2012 at the Great North Museum in Newcastle.  An interest in issues around how university museums demonstrate their successes and their value brought around fifty people together for an engaging and thought provoking day.

A report on the day is now available within the case studies section of this website.

Teaching with Collections: opportunities for collaboration between Universities and Art Galleries/Museums

Published on February 8, 2012 in Events and News.

1st March 2012, Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle upon Tyne

This seminar is being organised by the Association of Art Historians.  It will focus in the morning on three collaborative papers, where curators and academics will reflect on their experience of using collections as teaching resources. The day will conclude with a round table discussion, with curators, academics and students participating. Registration will begin at 10.00am and the day will conclude at 4pm.

With the increase in funding initiatives aimed at encouraging knowledge transfer and collaboration, the event is aimed primarily at education and museum professionals, but will be of equal benefit to students of various disciplines, and is meant to be practical above all. It aims to explore questions such as;

  • What are the benefits/limitations/problems of using collections as teaching resources?
  • In an age of digital media, how do collections retain their relevance to teaching practice?
  • How do galleries/ museums balance the problems of preserving fragile and unique objects, while making them available to academics and students?

We are hoping to attract an audience of both curators and academics and the afternoon session will aim to be as interactive as possible in order to assist colleagues in developing collaborative partnerships.

Speakers include:

  • Helen Armstrong (University of Durham Museums)
  • Layla Bloom (Stanley & Audrey Burton Gallery, University of Leeds)
  • Dr Andrea Fredericksen (Curator, UCL Art Collections)
  • Dr Nicholas Grindle (UCL CALT)
  • Marie-Thérèse Mayne (Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle upon Tyne)
  • Helen Stalker (Whitworth Art Gallery, University of Manchester)
  • Dr Ben Thomas (University of Kent)
  • Dr Chris Whitehead (Newcastle University)

Organised by the Museums and Exhibitions Group of the AAH, this seminar is the latest in a series promoting collaboration between academics and museums, exploring different modes of working and how they can be of mutual benefit.

For more information including how to book see the website of the Association of Art Historians.

Call for papers ‘Heritage Impact 2012: impact measurement, impact drivers and business strategies for heritage’

Published on December 15, 2011 in Events and News.

University of Brighton, Grand Parade, Brighton, UK

June 21 -22 2012

Heritage Impact 2012 is the sixth international symposium on socio-economic impact and strategies for change in cultural heritage to be organised by the CUBIST Research Group, part of the University of Brighton Business School. The symposium aims to bring together speakers from across Europe and further afield to consider the impact of heritage sites on society and the economy.

Heritage sites are facing an unprecedented threat. The long-term erosion of funding sources coupled with the current economic climate has the potential to change the heritage landscape.  The concept of the ‘Big Society’ places an increasing reliance on the ‘community’ for funding, either through traditional fundraising or innovative crowd funding campaigns.  But these threats are coupled with new avenues of engagement with the community.  Communication through various social media channels, mobile applications and other digital means has the potential to enlarge the so-called community to become a potentially global audience.  Increased access to digital heritage resources is one a number of mechanisms leading to the democratisation of heritage.

Heritage sites are coming under increasing pressure from funders to measure their benefit to society, to add value to their offerings and to increase self-sustainability.  All this comes at a time when resources for assessing impact are under threat and the scope of impact becomes ever more diverse.  And yet, as ever, there is little evidence for the impact of heritage on the community and society. Heritage Impact 2012 aims to bring all this information together coherently in one place.

The symposium will explore the processes that influence impact at heritage sites.  Assessing the value of cultural heritage and determining its impact on society and the economy, is crucial for the future of the heritage sector.  As the heritage community begins to understand the processes that influence impact, the sector will be in a better position to influence positive future outcomes. Furthermore, if the heritage community can provide evidence of why certain strategies are successful, this information can be put to direct use by heritage sites to exploit their assets most effectively and influence decisions at a policy level.

The organising committee invites both practitioners and academics to submit papers that explore the following complementary themes:

  • Measuring impact
  • Changing impacts through strategy, marketing and policy
  • Heritage as a regeneration tool
  • Sustainability issues for heritage
  • Community heritage and the ‘Big Society’
  • Community engagement in a digital world

Detailed information can be downloaded here:

Detailed information on call for papers


UMG annual conference – invitation to participate

Published on October 17, 2011 in News.

The UMG AGM and annual conference will take place on 7th February 2012 at the Great North Museum in Newcastle. We are delighted that the National Coordinating Centre for Public Engagement, who are lead experts in this field, have agreed to co-host this event with us.

Case Study Taster Session
As part of the UMG joint conference with NCCPE we will be holding a case study taster session, which is an opportunity for delegates to present and share a project they have developed and/or worked on with a small number of people in a round table discussion (of around 6-8 people). We would like to invite applications, particularly from UMG and UMIS members, interested in presenting a short informal case study of evaluation in practice.

For more information, please download this Expression of Interest document.
Expression of interest – Case Study UMG-NCCPE event

Universities and Museums: new rules of engagement?

Published on July 16, 2011 in Events and News.

27 and 28 October 2011

The Kelvin Gallery, The Hunterian, University of Glasgow

This year’s University Museums in Scotland (UMIS) conference aims to explore the current and potentially changing relationship between universities and museum and gallery services; and to clarify emerging challenges and future strategic directions. In addition to a focus on the dynamic situation of university museums in Scotland, the programme will also draw on the current experience of colleagues from counterpart institutions elsewhere.

Scottish university museum and gallery services need to remain core business to their parent organisation and main funding source. In the brave new world of REF (Research Excellence Framework), university objectives are beginning to shift from what were once diverse agendas towards a greater focus on research excellence and the impact of public engagement activities. University museum and gallery services may need to align themselves with this changing strategy and demonstrate their impact more explicitly in terms of research and teaching engagement, through enhancing the student learning experience and by creating a distinctive cultural strand to the university’s global identity. However, whilst our institutions are expected to be dynamic and innovative in their programmes, they are also being asked to make deep cuts in their infrastructure. How do they balance this contradiction and continue to develop their role as a core university service?

For more information on the programme and bokoing instructions  go to  http://www.umis.ac.uk/conference2011/new_rules.htm

Controversial (Video) Material in Museums

Published on June 30, 2011 in News.

Dear all

I am posting to seek advice/guidance on the handling of controversial materials in university museums.

Within the Theatre Collection, the Live Art Archives contain a certain amount of ‘controversial’ material, such as footage of performances which may include nudity and self-harm (I use this term loosely as the artists do not view it as this in the context of their work).

We are currently working on a project to make the video material from the National Review of Live Art archive which is part of the Live Art Archives available online – permissions allowing. As a result we are refining and developing  our access policy so that we are quite clear what material we are allowed  to put online under UK legislation, but also within the University regulations and other guidelines which we should adhere to.

For the material which we do make available online from the National Review, ‘controversial performances’ or not, we intend to have an over 18 log in (we abide by this age restriction/accompanying etc with visitors in person), however, because of the strong feelings surrounding censorship of this type of art, we are having to tread very carefully to ensure that we maximise the research potential of the online resource, deliver the best outcomes of the project to the funders (AHRC) and also maintain our good relationships with the artists involved, in addition to upholding the reputation of the University of Bristol.  Therefore – I’m currently trying to gather as much information as possible around the law and other institutions’ policies and experiences in similar situations.

Any advice you can offer would be very much appreciated. As you can imagine, it’s a bit of a minefield ….. I get the impression that although other institutions are also beginning to tackle this issue no one has actually solved it yet, but I may be wrong – please let me know!

Please email me at bex.carrington@bristol.ac.uk (obviously posting to the list too if you wish).

I have already trawled through other guidance such as our own uni ethics policy, BBC/iplayer, Youtube, BBFC, plus the MA, MLA and CILIP, plus all the jolly interesting reading (!) around the Obscene Publications Act, Video Recordings Act etc.

Many thanks

Best wishes

Bex

Support for University Museums from Shadow Secretary for Culture, Media and Sport

Published on May 11, 2011 in News.
Speaking at a gathering of senior figures in politics, higher education and museums in Westminster this week, Ivan Lewis, Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, drew attention to the nationally important collections held by musuems in the UK’s universities and highlighted the international importance of institutions such as the Ashmolean, the Fitzwilliam, the Courtauld, the Sainsbury Centre and the Manchester Museum, all of which are part of universities. 

Ivan Lewis giving his speech

Mr Lewis noted that the significant role played by university museums and galleries in the cultural life of the nation was insufficiently recognised, and that core funding through universities and the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) had transformed their performance in recent years.

‘Although they comprise only 2% of museums in the country, university museums look after over 30% of collections designated as nationally or internationally important’, he said. ‘Over the last five years, university museums have increased public visits by 95%, schools visits by 57% and their use by further and higher education by 186%. This is a fantastic achievement that deserves to be better known’.

At a time of funding cuts, university museums are a beacon of success.

While in the past, universities sometimes felt their historic collections to be burdens, they are now seeing them as major assets in the competition to attract students, and as gateways to engaging with their local communities.

Some, such as the Ashmolean at Oxford University, have undergone major capital redevelopments, opening them up to much larger audiences, while others, such as UCL’s Petrie Museum, have developed a reputation for innovative work engaging hard-to-reach audiences.

Also speaking at the event, Dr Kate Pretty, Chair of the Joint Museums Committee at the University of Cambridge, said “in some areas, like mine, the university museums are almost the only museums in the region. Across the UK, the provision of free exhibitions in university museums enhances public knowledge, appreciation and enjoyment – the museums are accessible in all senses of the word – and it is clear that we would do more with enhanced funding for outreach and informal education”.

Mr David Sweeney, Director of Research at HEFCE, said “we are proud to have provided core funding over the last twenty years for the country’s most important university museums and are delighted at their increased determination to reach beyond their own university base to researchers, students and the public more generally. Higher Education nationally and internationally is enormously enriched by their contribution.”

The event, held on 4th May, was organised by the University Museums Group  to draw attention to the key role played by university museums and galleries within higher education and the wider community and to highlight the importance of the £10.45million in core funding currently provided by HEFCE to support these museums.   The briefing document provided to all those who attended can be downloaded here. 

Briefing on University Museums and Galleries May 2011

For further information contact Dr Nick Merriman, Chair of the University Museums Group, Director, the Manchester Museum (0161 275 2649; nick.merriman@manchester.ac.uk)