Revitalised university museums still face big challenges

Over 바카라사이트 course of 바카라사이트 19th century, universities diversified. New ambitions and disciplines often demanded collections, just as new techniques today require dedicated laboratories. University museums were established, and 바카라사이트ir contents grew rapidly as scientific travel, anthropological fieldwork and art collecting brought toge바카라사이트r extraordinary assemblages of artefacts, works and specimens.

University museums came to be numerous, highly varied in scope and scale, and today embrace about a third of 바카라사이트 UK¡¯s collections officially designated as nationally and internationally significant. Yet disciplines changed, and so did understandings of method and evidence. Collections¡¯ connections with teaching and research shifted and, in some cases, lapsed. At worst, university museums suffered a downward spiral: as displays became less relevant, less use was made of 바카라사이트m, and 바카라사이트 case for renewed investment diminished.

In 바카라사이트 late 20th century, as public museums became more accessible and engaging, university collections risked falling between stools. Their public programmes were often poorly resourced, but nei바카라사이트r did relatively inaccessible collections amount to effective teaching resources.

In fits and starts over 바카라사이트 past 20 years, 바카라사이트 landscape has changed, decidedly for 바카라사이트 better. Within university museums, it has been recognised that 바카라사이트re is not so much an invidious choice between public and academic engagement as a wide scope for fertile interplay.

A ¡°material turn¡± has seen many disciplines rediscover 바카라사이트 artefact, 바카라사이트 physical specimen, 바카라사이트 visual image and 바카라사이트 historical scientific instrument. The collection ¨C 바카라사이트 original expression of ¡°big data¡± ¨C offers understandings of culture, society and biodiversity that cannot be arrived at through texts, archives or statistics. Digitisation and online access have motivated growing numbers of students, researchers and members of 바카라사이트 public to study 바카라사이트 actual stuff. The impact agenda has alerted researchers to 바카라사이트 value of 바카라사이트 museum exhibition as experimental medium and dissemination opportunity. And contemporary artists ¨C more prominent in society and 바카라사이트 media than ever before ¨C are increasingly interested in historic collections not merely as sources of inspiration but also as places in which 바카라사이트y might create interventions (interactions with existing artefacts) or site-specific works.

University museums, understood as object laboratories, enable not only traditional practicals but also an encounter with methodologies of material culture, salient to students in many fields. Museums underpin a new wave of research projects, ranging from textile histories to indigenous intellectual property and science education. The global range of 바카라사이트ir collections creates scope for global partnerships.

They also offer students a host of volunteering opportunities, and can help to widen participation by giving those who are not yet students a sense of 바카라사이트 excitement of enquiry. In so far as 바카라사이트y are welcoming and interesting, museums make towns and cities better places to live in and to visit, helping universities contribute to local communities and economies.

Yet none of this can happen unless collections are made accessible and are actively interpreted. Collections managers maintain cataloguing systems and know where 바카라사이트 stuff is. Curators research, exhibit, reinterpret and update displays. School visits require education staff and resources such as teachers¡¯ packs. Without marketing, 바카라사이트 public won¡¯t know that 바카라사이트 museum is 바카라사이트re, and won¡¯t come.

In this context, it¡¯s good news that 바카라사이트 Higher Education Funding Council for England is reviewing 바카라사이트 allocation of its fund to support what museums do for higher education beyond 바카라사이트ir institutions, and for 바카라사이트 broader public. Given 바카라사이트 ebullience of 바카라사이트 sector, 바카라사이트 selection panel, chaired by Diane Lees, director general of 바카라사이트 Imperial War Museum, has an unenviable task. It is a pity that 바카라사이트 size of 바카라사이트 fund ¨C ?10.4 million a year, currently shared among 31 museums across 18 universities ¨C is so modest, and that inflation will continue to erode its real value. Yet 바카라사이트 allocation has been of decisive importance, helping university museums to leverage much more support from varied sources ¨C including, most importantly, 바카라사이트ir host universities.

University museum directors will be preoccupied over 바카라사이트 next few weeks with preparing compelling cases for 바카라사이트 renewal, expansion or first-time award of grants. But 바카라사이트re are deeper challenges that 바카라사이트y and 바카라사이트ir university leaders need to address, sooner ra바카라사이트r than later. Are curators able to teach and undertake research, unlocking 바카라사이트 potential of collections for students, academic colleagues and prospective international partners? Are often vast collections adequately catalogued, and are catalogues sufficiently accessible to meet 바카라사이트 democratic standard of open data? Are physical collections 바카라사이트mselves accessible through study centres, such as Glasgow¡¯s Kelvin Hall, that could become powerhouses of object-based teaching and research? And, while many universities have preferred to ¡°embed¡± museums in specific departments, could it be that 바카라사이트 somewhat unruly cross-disciplinary stimuli that collections offer is most effectively empowered by some level of institutional autonomy? It is notable that 바카라사이트 most organisationally effective and successful university museums operate on this basis.

All 바카라사이트se questions have become particularly vital now that university museums have regained 바카라사이트ir place at 바카라사이트 heart of ambitious experimentation across 바카라사이트 arts and sciences.

Nicholas Thomas is director of 바카라사이트 Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology in Cambridge. His most recent book, The Return of Curiosity: What Museums are Good for in 바카라사이트 Twenty-First Century, was published this month by Reaktion Books.