News

The report arising from Collections Trust’s ODI-supported research into how the museums sector might work differently with collections data has been published.

A list of the eight small museums selected to take part in the Making it FAIR project supported by the Towards a National Collection programme.

A list of the winning and highly commended museums in the 2021 Collections Trust Award.

Collections Trust welcomes Qanitah Malik, our first Researcher in Residence, who will spend three months investigating what decolonisation means for collections, and how we can employ digital tools to rethink database structures and develop sustainable community engagement.

Collections Trust and its partners invited applications from small museums to join the Making it FAIR project exploring digital content and storytelling with collections.

Collections Trust wins support, mentoring and funding from the Open Data Institute to explore how all 1,700 museums in the UK might sustainably share their collections data with each other and a range of other users.

Whilst continuing to advocate for the survival of the museum sector, Collections Trust, the Association of Independent Museums and the Museums Association are urging the government to protect the collections of those that do go into administration, specifically by using new powers created in the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020.

Submission from Collections Trust to the DCMS Select Committee’s call for evidence on the impact of Covid-19 – a proposal for temporary protection of collections at risk when museums become insolvent

Spectrum Partner Axiell has published a guide to choosing the right collections management software (CMS).

A week into our quick survey asking UK museums whether staff and volunteers are able to access their museum’s collections data from home, the responses so far suggest that staff and volunteers in at least a third of UK museums don’t have remote access to the information they need to do any kind of collections-related work, even if they wanted to.

Collections Trust seeks speakers for its 2020 conference on the theme of ‘dynamic information for dynamic collections’. Please send an initial outline to Kevin Gosling by 31 March 2020.

A PDF of Collections Trust’s annual review for the financial year 2018-19 can be downloaded here.

Oxford’s History of Science Museum and Pitt Rivers Museum have jointly won the 2019 Collections Trust Award for Multaka-Oxford, a project that creates volunteer opportunities in the museums for forced migrants who have recently arrived in the UK. Multaka, which means meeting point in Arabic, uses the collections as a meeting point to bring people together and bring different perspectives to the presentation and interpretation of the collections (read more about it on the Collections Trust blog).

Collections Trust has just completed a set of ‘pathways’ to guide you through digitising your collections. They join many other handy ‘digital pathways’ curated and hosted by Culture24. Starting with an overview of what’s involved, the new pathways answer the common questions you are likely to have about digitisation.

The forms we publish to help museums follow best practice and meet Spectrum standards have been revised to take account of the 2018 changes to data protection law, with those signing the forms now indicating that they have been made aware of the museum’s privacy notice.

Scottish Fisheries Museum has won the 2018 Collections Trust Award, which recognises the achievements of those who manage the collections at the heart of museums.

The British Museum have created a series of films to help museums become ‘loan-ready’. Part of the British Museum’s Collections Skills Training resources, the videos offer guidance on many aspects of the loans process; from researching collections before an initial request, through to how objects will be moved and stored after being on loan.

The Collections Trust Award recognises the often-unsung achievements of those who manage the collections that lie at the heart of all museums. The theme of the 2018 award is the same as our conference: Spectrum in action. We want to hear what difference Spectrum 5.0 has made to collections management in your museum. What have you done differently since the latest version of the standard came out last year? And what impact has this had?

We know that many of you are anxious about how the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) will affect personal information held in your collections documentation, which may go back decades.

Museums and other cultural organisations that want to understand how they should be responding to current and forthcoming General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) can now benefit from a free Success Guide from The Association of Independent museums (AIM) called Successfully Managing Privacy And Data Regulations In Small Museums. The AIM Success Guide is for trustees, senior staff and members of staff and volunteers involved in fundraising or marketing and the guide outlines the main data protection issues to help museums and cultural organisations carry out an audit of their current position and draw up an action plan and there is a useful action checklist included

As Arts Council England is currently reviewing museum accreditation, many questions have arisen. Museum Development Northwest have put together a list of FAQs which may well be helpful to those who are unsure about the ramifications.  

The winner of the Collections Trust Award 2017 was revealed on 21 September at the organisation’s Pulling together conference in York. Taking the stage, Collections Trust CEO Kevin Gosling proclaimed the National Motor Museum in Beaulieu as the winner of the £2,000 prize for its innovative project, Keep CALM and STEAM Ahead, while handing out commendations to Beamish Museum and Grant Museum.

Six new trustees have been appointed to the Collections Trust board. The appointments build on the digital expertise and political advocacy of the existing board, as well as maintaining links with the National Museum Directors’ Council. Two early-career professionals will bring to board meetings the perspective of our users working day-to-day in collections management.

The Collections Trust team has followed in the (very big) footsteps of Dippy the dinosaur and left our old home at the Natural History Museum.

We have been asked to extend the Spectrum 5.0 consultation period, and have put back the deadline for feedback to the end of May. The consultation is now open until Wednesday 31May 2017, and we plan to publish the final version in the summer. With the help of a number of working groups that have […]

Welcome to the new Collections Trust website. We hope you will find it easier to find the resources you are looking for, and are a little clearer about who we are and what we do.