Carry on Collecting? Internet Delegates Wanted

This conference takes place at the Department of Museum Studies, University
of Leicester from the 14 to 17 April.  Details of speakers, papers,
abstracts, etc. can be found on the Leicester University Web site:
http://www.le.ac.uk/cwis/ad/ms/co/msco.html

We are keen to have input from delegates worldwide who have not been able
to make it to Leicester.  The conference audience is truly international
representing about 20 countries.

The conference is examining how museums can develop strategies to collect
more effectively.  The conference has an Internet Lounge from which
delegates will have the opportunity to discuss the topics raised with the
Museum-L audience.

Introduce your ideas to the conference audience - these will be displayed
in the conference hall or read out at the review of the previous day.
Please say if you want these read out anonymously or not at all!
Particularly useful comments may also find their way into the conference
volume and will be credited.

Alternatively, email the conference on [log in to unmask]

Suggest topics we should perhaps be discussing or comment on some of the
themes already identified.  Research groups will be examining the following
issues:

On Collecting - Monday Morning 15 April

Why should museums continue to collect?

How does culture affect collecting?

What have been the implications of past collecting practices? How far
should past collecting approaches determine future strategies?

What are the relationships between collecting as a popular social
phenomenon and museums? Is the psychology and even practice of museum
collecting any different from popular collecting?

Can the 'unfocused' and 'unsystematic' collections museums have inherited
contribute to an understanding of the past or have value in the present?

If better use was made of existing collections, to what extent would we
still need to collect?

What expertise can collectors offer to museums and vice versa?

Who are the stakeholders in museum collecting and what are the implications
of this?

How far do you agree that museums should be less concerned with directly
collecting, and instead do more to reflect collecting as a popular social
phenomenon?

How far do you agree that the collections in museums tell us more of the
collecting habits of curators than convey a coherent view of the past?


Rethinking Collecting - Monday Afternoon 15April

How far do you agree that collecting information is more important than
collecting the 'real thing'?

Will the video camera replace the need to collect objects?

How far is photography an under-valued collecting technique?

Consider the impact of developments in IT on collecting practices.

What is 'uncollectable'? What are the implications of this?

Do you agree that collecting memories negates the need to collect material
culture?

Is contemporary collecting effective, or is the benefit of hindsight
essential?

If contemporary collecting is so important, why do so few museums undertake
it?

How is contemporary collecting possible in a world of ever-increasing
consumerism and rapid changes in technology, fashion and lifestyle?

Should collecting be seen as a 'science' or an 'art'?


Problems of Collecting Tuesday Morning  16 April

What are the ethics of collecting?

How far should durability affect what we collect?

Should we throw away to collect?

Should cost dominate collecting objectives?

To what extent should international law constrain collecting?

Do we collect to preserve or to serve our educational mission?

What should we not collect?

Who should decide what to collect?

How do we currently select what to collect? What are the problems?

Do current collecting policies simply validate anarchy?


Politics of Collecting Tuesday Afternoon 16 April

Patronising the disenfranchised? Tokenism? Are museums capable of more than
this when collecting from subcultures or 'deviant' groups?

How far can museums continue to collect in times of crisis such as war, and
how is this of value?

Post-apartheid collecting - an opportunity to redress the past?

Can 'political' collections be 'depoliticised'?

What is a 'nation' in terms of collecting?

How far do museums need to redress the imbalance between 'high' and
'popular' culture in their collections?

How is gender an issue in museum collecting?

Can we collect effectively from another culture?

Should we collect 'other' cultures?

What obligations do museums have if they collect from 'other' cultures?



Strategies Wednesday 17 April

Regional, national or international strategies for collecting - where do we
draw the line?

What could be the roles of national strategies for collecting?

What could be the roles of international strategies for collecting?

How far should 'Cultural Significance' define what we collect?

International collaboration to record biodiversity - how can museums
represent all life?

Do we need international rules for the recording of data from the
collecting process?

How can contemporary collecting stop being just a fashionable idea and
become a reality?

How can collecting strategies overcome the problem of the non-survival of
material?

How can museums evaluate their collecting strategies?

How can an individual position their work within an international strategy
for collecting?