6 Crescent Gardens, Belfast, Northern Ireland, BT7 1NS
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E-mail: info@nimc.co.uk
Museum Forum – Local Government Reorganisation and Museum Collections
2nd July 2014
1. What is the museum forum?
The aim of the Forum is to widen and share knowledge relevant to museums by: exploring
innovative approaches to museum practice; being a point of exchange and reference; and
through providing networking opportunities.
2. Who is the museum forum open to?
The Museum Forum is open to all staff, volunteers and members of governing bodies of
local museums in Northern Ireland, to NIMC members and people interested in the themes
under discussion.
Participants in this Forum came from
Armagh County Museum, Ballymoney Museum, Belfast City Council, Carrickfergus Museum,
Coleraine Museum, Derry Museum & Heritage Service, Fermanagh County Museum, Larne
Museum, Limavady Museum, Lisburn Museum and Irish Linen Centre, Newry and Mourne
Museum, North Down Museum, NMNI, Strabane District Council, University of Ulster
3. Objectives of the forum meeting
This meeting of the Museum Forum aimed to explore the fundamental issues concerning the
impact of the changes in local government in Northern Ireland upon museum collections,
and to look at what actions need to be undertaken to ensure that professional standards are
maintained and to mitigate the identifies associated risks.
4. Methodology
A discussion paper ‘Local Government Reorganisation and museum collections’ had been
circulated before the Forum. Drawing upon the content of the paper, Chris Bailey, Director of
NIMC gave a presentation entitled ‘Museum Collections – Preparing for the change’. This
provided an overview of the sector, the prevailing policy context and highlighted various
aspects of museum governance, collections policy and collections management that will
need to be attended to as part of the change process.
Copies of the presentation will be available on request from NIMC.
5. Interrogation of issues
A wide-ranging discussion took place covering various aspects of managing collections.
Beyond the day-to-day concerns, the following key issues were highlighted.
Museum Governance
Transfer of Title
 The processes for the transfer of museum collections as part of the ‘transfer of
assets’ is not presently defined.
 The process of transfer may give rise to issues around public perceptions of
collections going to new councils, especially if items have been donated.
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It is likely that museums will be expected to take custody of civic collections from the
‘old’ councils, how will this correspond with museums’ collections policies.
Council staff need to be made aware of the value of the records and files currently
held, so that they may appropriately be transferred to the local museum, to the Public
Record Office of Northern Ireland, or disposed of.
Insurance
 The need to ensure that the necessary insurance is in place to cover the change
process.
Heritage Assets
 Will Councils implement Financial Reporting Standard 30 concerning Heritage
Assets, and if so will some form of valuation of museum collections be required?
 How will the associated matters of cost, process, timescale and ensuring that any
valuation is carried out by persons with the necessary expertise be addressed?
Loans
 In light of the variation in the amount of loans in place across museums, clarity is
required on the scale of the review of the bilateral loan agreements and who will be
responsible for undertaking this review.
Collections Policy
Collections Development Policies
 All council-run museums define their collecting focus geographically, which will
require amendment due to the changes in council boundaries.
 Getting agreement on a new collections development policy will take time as it is
likely that museums will be ‘down the list’ of priorities for the new councils.
 No timeframe for approval of new structures or forward plans.
Forward Planning
 There is a lack of certainty regarding the way in which museums will contribute to the
forward plans of the new Councils before April 2015.
 Similarly, the structures are not in place which will allow museums to gain the
necessary approvals for policies and documents required for the Museum
Accreditation process.
Transfer of records
 Some amalgamations will see museums coming together which use different
documentation and collections management software.
 How will the transfer be managed?
 How should future records management be planned for?
 How will the collections that are available on-line be treated?
Rationalisation
 The rationalisation or disposal of collections is not considered a primary issue.
Collections Management
Housekeeping
 With the likelihood of changes in staffing structures, how can we ensure that the
museums retain staff with the necessary skills and expertise in the care and
management of collections?
Storage
 It is generally acknowledged that there is a shortage of museum storage space, but
the scale of the problem is not quantified.
 The amalgamation of councils could give rise to the sharing and consolidation of
museum storage.
Documentation
 While collections documentation is considered a priority (an ‘area for improvement’
for 95% of Accredited museums), it is not being addressed.
 How will the matter of different documentation software being used within a museum
service be tackled?
Security
 The lack of access to specialist experts will remain after the change in local
government.
Emergency Planning
 While recognised as importance, museum emergency plans have not yet been
reconsidered in light of the new council structures.
General
During the discussion on the current issues associated with museum collections and the
reorganisation of councils, the following points were made,
 While there is presently a lack of clarity on the corporate planning processes and the
new service structures, there was no better time to get these issues on the change
agenda.
 Within those councils that will operate a museum service based on extant museums,
there are significant opportunities to seek collaborative solutions to issues
 NIMC has an important role in catalysing the sectoral approach to a tackling the
issues and promoting the museum agenda to the new councils.
 There is a concern that as staff structures are altered, there is a loss of collections
specialists within councils.
 The requirement to adhere to the prevailing standards and code of ethics should be
highlighted within the change process.
6. Suggestions for actions to address these issues
Museum Governance
Transfer of Title
 Each museum to review its documentation, collection inventory and listing of nonaccessioned items by way of informing the transfer of assets between the old council
and the new one.
 Audit the existing civic collections and seek clarity on what will transfer to the
museum service.
 Communicate with donors, as appropriate, to inform them of the transfer of objects to
the new body.
 Museum staff and NIMC will highlight the need to purposefully consider the heritage
value and the destination of the records and files currently held by councils.
Heritage Assets
 Establish if the Heritage Assets listing is a requirement within the Council’s
procedures.
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Check on the thresholds for inclusion on asset listings (some organisations only list
items above a particular value).
Assess the accuracy of inventories and documentation.
As required, plan for the valuation of items.
Loans
 Local museums to review the loans agreements between museums and lenders in
order to update the legal entities that are party to the loan, and make any
adjustments concerning the display, acknowledgement and term of the loan.
Collections Policy
Collections Development Policies
 Both NIMC and the individual museums to raise awareness of Collections
Development Policy within forward planning and the need to review the scope of
such policies within the Museum Accreditation timescales.
 At some later stage, museum staff will need to prepare the rationale for dealing with
‘duplicates’ across merged collections (for example, two objects may be the same
but have different stories or be connected to different people or places).
 NIMC to offer support to the corporate planning process of new councils
Transfer of records
 As the scope and scale of the issues regarding the compatibility of documentation
and collections management software across ‘merged’ services will vary from place
to place, each service will need to identify the requirements for achieving
standardisation within the service and have them incorporated into the council’s
broader IT forward plan.
 NIMC will examine the prospect of holding a mini-conference on documentation and
collections management software
Collections Management
Storage
 Each museum to review its storage provision by way of informing the corporate
planning process and making the case for collections storage to the new council.
Documentation
 As this is an endemic issue, not consequential to change in local government, but
which will directly affect the new museum services, NIMC will examine the options for
a sector-wide approach to addressing documentation backlogs.
General
 NIMC will work with other organisations (eg NILGA and NMNI) to provide insights
and guidance to new Councillors on the operation of a museum service and its
social, cultural and economic value.
 The means and approach to tackling the identified issues will vary from one council
area to another, and each museum service will need to find the most appropriate
solutions. NIMC will provide support and information, particularly around the options
taken across the sector, so that museums have ‘answers ready to hand’ and to
inform local advocacy and planning.
 Museums feel that they have a moral responsibility to hand over collections and
assets in the best possible condition.
7. Date of next Forum meeting
The next forum meeting will be held in Dec 2014.