In my experience - of medical and industrial museums - the principal reasons for museums not seeking registration are to do with public access and ownership. Some museums regard public admission as inconvenient because they do not have sufficient staff and resources to manage access, either as a result of cutbacks or because it has never been regarded as a core activity. An example would be the British Dental Association Museum in London which recently lost its curator and now only allows access to members of the association. I suspect they may lose or choose to withdraw from MGC registration as a result. In other cases the subject matter may be regarded as inappropriate. For example we do not allow general access to our museums of pathology and anatomy, which are designed as academic teaching resources. Most UK specimen-based medical collections are unregistered for this reason. Perhaps a more common reason for shying away from registration is that the standards exclude privately owned collections, and many individuals or organisations are unwilling to surrender ownership of what may be a financially valuable asset. Most preserved railways (of which there are hundreds in the UK) are unregistered and yet look after enormously important collections. The considerable amount of trading of locomotives and stock between organisations which would probably be regarded with horror in the mainstream museum world. Simon Chaplin Senior Curator, Royal College of Surgeons of England Hunterian Museum Odontological Museum Wellcome Museum of Pathology Wellcome Museum of Anatomy T. +44 (0)171 973 2188 F. +44 (0)171 405 4438 E. [log in to unmask] W. http://www.rcseng.ac.uk/public/museums/museums.htm -----Original Message----- From: Leonard Will [mailto:[log in to unmask]] Sent: 27 September 1999 13:04 To: [log in to unmask] Subject: [MUSEUM-L] Why are standards not used? Why are standards not used? What problems do museums have in adopting standards, guidelines and codes of practice? In the UK, why do some museums decide not to apply to the Museums and Galleries Commission to become Registered Museums? Would a registration scheme for museums be welcomed in other countries, and if not why not? I am giving a talk on these matters to the Specialist Group for Documentation of the German Museums Association early in October. While I have information on many standards and guidelines that exist, and plenty of statements that complying with them is A Good Thing, it would be useful to have some case study evidence (or anecdotal comments) on why museums decide not to adopt some standards. The perspective will be a broad one, and as well as documentation can include standards for management, collection development, access, display, interpretation, conservation, storage, and anything else. How important are the following aspects? * The cost of changing: museums that would like to adopt some standards but cannot afford the new equipment or premises that would be needed. Do these museums have a long-term plan to move gradually as funds become available? * Compatibility with existing practice in a museum or with other associated museums: changing would mean that old and new systems or procedures would co-exist for a long time, and the complexity of this is not worthwhile. * Disagreement with the content of standards: museums that think that some standard recommendations are not as good as their current practice. Have such museums tried to influence the standard-making processes? With what success? * Lack of knowledge of standards that exist, or difficulty in deciding which standard to adopt, where there is more than one covering the same field. Has there been a positive decision to defer a decision until one emerges as widely accepted? * Inability to find currently available products, such as software packages, which implement the standards a museum wishes to adopt. * Legal or administrative constraints. Do these prevent the adoption of standards, or would the adoption of standards impose restrictions on a museum's freedom to act as it wishes (e.g. by having an active buying and selling policy for items in its collections). I am posting this to the MUSEUM-L mailing list and to the uk.culture.museums newsgroup. If you have any ideas or comments of general interest, I would welcome open discussion in these places. If you prefer to contact me privately, please feel free to do so. I shall summarise such comments for the list, suppressing identification information if you wish me to preserve confidentiality. Leonard Will -- Willpower Information (Partners: Dr Leonard D Will, Sheena E Will) Information Management Consultants Tel: +44 (0)20 8372 0092 27 Calshot Way, Enfield, Middlesex EN2 7BQ, UK. Fax: +44 (0)20 8372 0094 [log in to unmask] [log in to unmask] ---------------- <URL:http://www.willpower.demon.co.uk/> ---------------- ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ museum-l.html. You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). 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