museum documentation today and tomorrow
DESCRIPTION
Presentation to #museumkurs2013 in Trondheim, looking at what Documentation means to museums, why we do it and where the professional practice of Documentation is going.TRANSCRIPT
Museum Documentation Today and Tomorrow (and possibly the day after that too...)
Nick PooleCEO, Collections Trust
Contents
• Introduction• What is a collection anyway...?• How our organisations are changing• What is Documentation?• Trust and Trustability• Strategic Collections Management• SPECTRUM, COPE and the CRM• The future of Documentation• Further reading
About the Collections Trust
• Working with 23,000 museums in 18 countries worldwide
– Connecting people with collections– Supporting professional development– Building digital capacity– Demonstrating the value of Collections Management
• We want to help as many museums as possible give as many people as possible the chance to learn about themselves and the world around them.
Discover Refine Manage Deliver Engage Improve
Acquisition
Strategic Planning
Research
Interpretation Collections Management
Environmental Control
Integrated Pest Management
Integrated Risk Management
Collections Development
Disaster Planning & Resilience
Conservation
Loans & Mobility
Exhibition Planning
Digital Content
Web/mobile
Audience Engagement
Strategic Marketing
Outreach
Education/ Learning Support
Commerce/ retail
Fundraising
Business administration
Key Performance Indicators
Process improvement
Cost reduction
Collections Trust core competencies
Digitisation
Digital Asset Management
Licensing/IPR
Documentation
The Collections Trust’s role
What is a Collection?
Physical Collections
Physical Collections
What is a Collection?
Administrative Information
Administrative Information
Physical Collections
Physical Collections
What is a Collection?
Administrative Information
Administrative Information
Collections-based
Knowledge
Collections-based
Knowledge
Physical Collections
Physical Collections
What is a Collection?
Administrative Information
Administrative Information
Collections-based
Knowledge
Collections-based
Knowledge
Physical Collections
Physical Collections
NarrativesNarratives
What is a Collection?
Administrative Information
Administrative Information
Digital AssetsDigital Assets
Collections-based
Knowledge
Collections-based
Knowledge
Physical Collections
Physical Collections
NarrativesNarratives
What is a Collection?
Administrative Information
Administrative Information
Digital AssetsDigital Assets
Collections-based
Knowledge
Collections-based
Knowledge
Physical Collections
Physical Collections
NarrativesNarratives
Physical surrogates (3D print)
Physical surrogates (3D print)
What is a Collection?
Administrative Information
Administrative Information
Digital AssetsDigital Assets
Collections-based
Knowledge
Collections-based
Knowledge
Physical Collections
Physical Collections
NarrativesNarratives
Physical surrogates (3D print)
Physical surrogates (3D print)
The nature of the material
which society trusts us to
collect, manage and care for
has changed beyond all
recognition...
The nature of the material
which society trusts us to
collect, manage and care for
has changed beyond all
recognition...
Our changing role...
The role of museums has always been a balance between physical protection and facilitating access
We’re replacing access with activism, relevance, engagement & participation
To become relevant, the museum has to become responsive
The ‘traditional’ museum...
Most cultural organisations operate in ‘vertical’ silos
Education Management Collections Retail IT
The ‘responsive’ museum...
It’s about finding the fastest, simplest way of giving people meaningful, emotional experiences
Not about partitioning peoples lives, but about letting them express the kind of connection they want to make (including being left alone & not having to connect to anything!)
What is Documentation?
Documentation is the process by which we record a set of assertions about a given thing in our collections...
What is Documentation?
What is Documentation?
What is it?What is it?
Where is it?Where is it?
What is it made of?What is it made of?
Who owns it?Who owns it?
Why do we have it?
Why do we have it?
What is it connected to?
What is it connected to?
Who collected it?
Who collected it? Where was it
found?Where was it
found?
How big is it?How big is it?
How much is it worth?
How much is it worth?
What is Documentation?
What is it?What is it?
Where is it?Where is it?
What is it made of?What is it made of?
Who owns it?Who owns it?
Why do we have it?
Why do we have it?
What is it connected to?
What is it connected to?
Who collected it?
Who collected it? Where was it
found?Where was it
found?
How big is it?How big is it?
How much is it worth?
How much is it worth?
Why should I care?
Why should I care?
What does it mean?
What does it mean?
What story does it tell?What story does it tell?
What is its context?
What is its context?
How do I relate to it?How do I
relate to it?What makes
it unique?What makes
it unique?
What does it help me
understand?
What does it help me
understand?Is it ethical/
political/ moral?
Is it ethical/ political/ moral?
What is Documentation?
What is Documentation?
What is Documentation?
What is Documentation?
What is Documentation?
Our visitors must be free to wander the pathswe create, create their own, or tell us why a path is broken and should lead somewhere else...
What is Documentation?
The aim of documentation is not the creation of fixed points, but to facilitate the museum in reflecting the changing nature of knowledge & understanding about our collections.
What is Documentation?
In a connected world, knowledge flows freely between contexts and communities, becoming greater & more valuable as it travels.
In the real world, museums remain among the most trusted civic institutions, more than banks, politicians, broadcasters, teachers and the church.
In a world of hyper-connected information, trust is a currency
Museums are rich in trust because of professionalism and accountability – which are expressed through Documentation, Conservation & Collections Management
The critical transition....
FROM
TO“I have status because I am a
museum...”
“I have status because I am a
museum...”
“I have status because of what I
know, what I share and what I enable.”
“I have status because of what I
know, what I share and what I enable.”
Strategic Collections Management
• Not about practice for its own sake, but about designing an organisation that works well & works together
• Making decisions based on the needs of the audience and the organisation
• Ensuring effective management based on the right balance of skills, resources, systems and processes...
UsersUsers PoliticsPolitics FundingFunding CultureCulture
Organisation’s Mission StatementOrganisation’s Mission Statement
UsersUsers PoliticsPolitics FundingFunding CultureCulture
Organisation’s Mission StatementOrganisation’s Mission Statement
Collections Management PolicyCollections Management Policy
UsersUsers PoliticsPolitics FundingFunding CultureCulture
Organisation’s Mission StatementOrganisation’s Mission Statement
Collections Management PolicyCollections Management Policy
CareCare UseUse LearnLearn DevelopDevelop
UsersUsers PoliticsPolitics FundingFunding CultureCulture
Organisation’s Mission StatementOrganisation’s Mission Statement
Collections Management PolicyCollections Management Policy
CareCare UseUse LearnLearn DevelopDevelop
UsersUsers PoliticsPolitics FundingFunding CultureCulture
PeoplePeople ProcessesProcesses SystemsSystems InfoInfo
Organisation’s Mission StatementOrganisation’s Mission Statement
Collections Management PolicyCollections Management Policy
CareCare UseUse LearnLearn DevelopDevelop
UsersUsers PoliticsPolitics FundingFunding CultureCulture
PeoplePeople ProcessesProcesses SystemsSystems InfoInfo
Evaluation & improvementEvaluation & improvement
Organisation’s Mission StatementOrganisation’s Mission Statement
Collections Management PolicyCollections Management Policy
CareCare UseUse LearnLearn DevelopDevelop
UsersUsers PoliticsPolitics FundingFunding CultureCulture
PeoplePeople ProcessesProcesses SystemsSystems InfoInfo
Evaluation & improvementEvaluation & improvement
Rich, meaningful experiences for usersRich, meaningful experiences for users
Organisation’s Mission StatementOrganisation’s Mission Statement
Collections Management PolicyCollections Management Policy
CareCare UseUse LearnLearn DevelopDevelop
UsersUsers PoliticsPolitics FundingFunding CultureCulture
PeoplePeople ProcessesProcesses SystemsSystems InfoInfo
Evaluation & improvementEvaluation & improvement
Rich, meaningful experiences for usersRich, meaningful experiences for users
A continuous cycle of
improvement,
learning, review,
planning and
development
A continuous cycle of
improvement,
learning, review,
planning and
development
Organisation’s Mission StatementOrganisation’s Mission Statement
Collections Management PolicyCollections Management Policy
CareCare UseUse LearnLearn DevelopDevelop
UsersUsers PoliticsPolitics FundingFunding CultureCulture
PeoplePeople ProcessesProcesses SystemsSystems InfoInfo
Evaluation & improvementEvaluation & improvement
Rich, meaningful experiences for usersRich, meaningful experiences for users
The core elements of SPECTRUM
• SPECTRUM helps museums review their work with their collections, celebrate good practice and identify opportunities to improve!
• SPECTRUM Standard including translations/ localisations, SPECTRUM Digital Asset Management, the SPECTRUM Schema and the Archive of previous versions of SPECTRUM
• SPECTRUM Labs, including new ideas and potential applications of the SPECTRUM Standard
• SPECTRUM Resources which support the application of the standard
• SPECTRUM Community which includes anyone who uses the standard nationally or internationally
STANDARD
WORLDWIDE COMMUNITY (7,600)
COMPLIANCE(23,000)
GUIDANCEPDF/XML/PRINT+ SCHEMA
NEW IDEAS
SPECTRUM Facts & Figures
• 8,000 licensed users
• 23,000 museums using SPECTRUM Compliant™ systems
• 17 SPECTRUM Partner systems
• Translations in the Netherlands, Belgium, Flanders, Germany
• Active communities in the Nordic countries
• Under development in Qatar and China
New ideas: Create Once, Publish Everywhere (COPE)
• An object record is a nugget of digital content
• Able to be re-flowed dynamically across platforms
• Prepared for responsive design
• Collections that are mobile, social and in the Cloud
• “Get your content ready to travel anywhere, because it’s going to go everywhere” (thanks to Paul Rowe, Vernon Systems)!
New ideas: Create Once, Publish Everywhere (COPE)
SPECTRUM & the CIDOC CRM
CIDOC CRM
LIDO, ESE, ?
Abstraction layer
Collections management layer
Data interchange layer
By mapping up to CIDOC CRM from SPECTRUM, we can support COPE by supporting a richer & more future-proof data interchange layer
ENTRY-LEVEL ACADEMIC MID-CAREER LEADERSHIP LEGACY
CORE VALUES Integrity, accountability, openness, honesty, diversity, efficiency
PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE
Housekeeping, handling, packing
Collections theory, research, documentation
Environment, IPM, security, labelling etc.
Strategic CM, Collections
development
Organisational knowledge
transfer, research
MANAGEMENT Time-management
Project Management
PPM, Risk, HR, Finance,
Marketing
Strategic planning, advocacy
Continuity planning
SUBJECT EXPERTISE Broad interest General subject
focusPractice-based
expertise
Specialist academic
knowledge
Subject knowledge
transfer
SOFT SKILLS Mentoring, facilitation, negotiation, communication, networking
Developing integrated skills
The future of Documentation?
There is a golden thread that connects the card-index cataloguing of the 1970’s with the world of linked open data
Documentation is about much more than cataloguing objects, it is what allows those objects to tell and re-tell their stories
In a connected world, it is the professionalism and accountability of our documentation & collections care which give us our trusted status
Thankyou!
www.collectionslink.org.uk/spectrum
@NickPoole1
These slides online at http://www.slideshare.net/nickpoole