CyMAL: Museums Archives and Libraries Wales
Museums Current Awareness Service - Bulletin 97
Information about the Museums Current Awareness Service can be found on CyMAL’s pages on the Welsh Assembly website.
http://www.wales.gov.uk/cymal
MUSEUMS LIBRARIES AND ARCHIVES COUNCIL
Using Web2.0 to Reach New Audiences
London - Wednesday 27th October
York - Wednesday 3rd November
Exeter - Tuesday 9th November
Birmingham - 25th November
In response to the success of its series of workshop in 2009/10 on Web2.0 & Social Networking, MLA has commissioned a follow up programme which for autumn 2010 entitled ‘Using Web2.0 to Reach New Audiences’ There are four workshops which are open to the whole of the museums, libraries & archives sector. The workshops are free of charge and early booking is advised to secure a place.
http://www.mla.gov.uk/what/events/using_web_2
DEPARTMENT FOR CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT
Taking Part: The National Survey of Culture, Leisure and Sport Adult and Child Report 2009/10
The latest estimates from the 2009/10 Taking Part adult and child surveys produced by DCMS were released on 19 August 2010 according to the arrangements approved by the UK Statistics Authority.
http://www.dcms.gov.uk/publications/7386.aspx
MUSEUMS ASSOCIATION
MA warns of danger of introducing admission charges at free museum.
Speaking on BBC Gloucestershire, incoming MA president Vanessa Trevelyan said: “I worked at the V&A when they were free and they brought in a charge and their visitor numbers fell by 40 per cent, and that’s a fairly standard percentage fall if you’re introducing a charge to a museum that’s hitherto been free.” Her comments follow an announcement that Gloucester City Council will ask its museum service to find around 20 per cent of savings, with the City Museum and Art Gallery’s annual grant reduced from £1m to £800,000, and is “actively considering” admission charges for it and the Folk Museum.
Effective Collections Special Project Fund
The Special Project Fund is for exceptional projects with museums to increase use of collections, primarily through sharing them. With grants of up to £25,000, we are seeking projects that achieve significant public benefit and serve as exemplars to the museum sector and wider partners. The criteria and terms for this fund are deliberately broad to encourage innovative ideas. Applications for the third round of special projects must reach the MA by Friday 3 September 2010. http://www.museumsassociation.org/collections/funding-opportunities
PROMOTING MUSEUMS
Relic trails in museums
The summer holidays have been an extremely fruitful period in terms of A History of the World with nearly 170 museums across the UK devising and running their own Relic trails, based on the British Museum/CBBC series Relic: Guardians of the Museum. If your museum is running a trail we'd be grateful if you could email us with some feedback for evaluation purposes? We would welcome any figures for the take-up of the trails and feedback from both users and staff.
And it's not too late to confirm your interest in the Relic trails - many of the museums will continue to run trails after the summer and some will join in for the autumn half-term - please email [log in to unmask] if you need any information about taking part.
Growing and growing
You might like to know that there are now more than 500 museums and collections participating in A History of the World. To make sure your museum is listed, please go to this page: http://www.bbc.co.uk/ahistoryoftheworld/about/map/. If you can’t see the name there, please contact Claire Burgoyne.
COLLECTIONS
Dare to share: new approaches to long-term collections management - London, 6 September 2010
A Research Libraries UK and Preservation Advisory Centre joint conference exploring how collaborative activities can form part of a strategic approach to collections management across research and higher education institutions. This one day conference examines how libraries and other research institutions can benefit from integrating preservation into broader, long-term collections management strategies with a particular emphasis on collaborative preservation ventures.
http://www.bl.uk/blpac/dare.html
EVENTS
Ask a Curator Day - September 1, 2010
Museums and Galleries not only house fascinating collections, they are also the home to leading experts who love to share their passion for art, history and science. 'Ask a Curator Day' on September 1st 2010 will open the door to these experts with a unique worldwide question and answer session which will let interested members of the public put questions to museum and gallery curators. We are using the popular website Twitter to host 'Ask a Curator'. You can find a list of participating cultural venues in the 'who to ask?' section of the website.
http://www.askacurator.com/about.html
BBC Hands On History
Hands on History is a two-year learning campaign offering audiences inspiring ways to take the next step from watching programmes to discovering history around them. We've worked with more than 20 heritage and history organisations to offer a range of events and activities, including Norman walks and trails, family activity packs and teachers' lesson plans.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/handsonhistory/
FUNDING AND AWARDS
Nominations are now open for the Jodi Awards 2010
The Jodi Awards are for museums, galleries, libraries, archives and heritage venues which use digital technology to widen access to information, collections, learning and creativity for disabled people. We also welcome nominations for projects and services by disability organisations, which focus around museum, library and archive collections. The deadline for nominations is 13 September.
Museums Association Effective Collections Special Project Fund
Applications for the third round of special projects must reach the MA by Friday 3 September 2010.
http://www.museumsassociation.org/collections/funding-opportunities
Applications are open for the Archaeology Training Forum Award
The Archaeology Training Forum has announced that its ATF Training Award, which recognises excellence in learning, training and professional development across the archaeological sector, is now open for nominations. The award is open to archaeological organisations, individuals, partnerships and collaborative projects throughout the United Kingdom, whether paid or voluntary. Entries must demonstrate an overall commitment to learning or training and an innovative approach to best practice. The Award will be judged by an ATF panel consisting of representatives from the Council for British Archaeology, the Institute for Archaeologists, the National Heritage Agencies and the Higher Education Academy. The award will be presented at the 2011 IfA Conference and the winner will receive a certificate and publicity for their work through the ATF network.
http://www.britarch.ac.uk/news/100805-ATFAwards
Collaboration Is The Word…
The European Cultural Foundation offers Collaboration Grants which fund transnational, cross-sectoral activities by independent cultural and artistic organisations working together or with independent organisations from other sectors. Collaboration grants are designed to support projects that bring a renewed understanding of Europe to people of all backgrounds. The 'how to apply' PDF booklet explains exactly what you need to do to make an eligible application. And can be accessed from the ECF website. Next deadline for applications: 6 September 2010. The selection process will be finalised in the week of 25 October 2010.
http://www.eurocult.org/grants/collaboration-grants
CHARITIES AND VOLUNTEERS
WCVA Trustee news August 2010
Inside Trustee News this month:
- Winding up charities. This article was written and submitted by Rosie Stokes, Head of Communications at the Charity Commission Welsh Office.
- Fit and proper person and charity tax
- Trustee payments - encouraging the payment of trustees
- Public benefit test - reference to Charity Tribunals
- ICO and data protection
- Collaborations and mergers
- Government advice on equalities
- Charity Commission launches Trustee Week
Trustee News is produced for WCVA e-members who have signed up to receive information about trustee and governance issues. Trustee News is sent out on a monthly basis. If you’d like to sign up to receive Trustee News please visit the WCVA website. http://www.wcva.org.uk/membership
PUBLICATIONS AND RESEARCH
Sustainable Museums: Strategies for the 21st Century
How can museums remain resilient in uncertain times? How can they thrive under changing economic, legislative and cultural conditions? In "Sustainable Museums: Strategies for the 21st Century", museum sustainability expert Rachel Madan covers new territory for any museum interested in becoming more sustainable. This is not a book about changing light bulbs. Sustainable Museums provides a system which enables you to start making changes that are both transformational and lasting. It will help you create a museum that is resilient, confident and secure in its sustainability approach.
http://www.museumsetc.com/?p=3265
But Is It Legal??
Making culture accessible, published by the Council of Europe, is now available. This publication presents a general overview of existing legal and policy frameworks in Europe, covering access to and participation in cultural life, cultural provision and cultural rights.
http://book.coe.int/EN/ficheouvrage.php?PAGEID=36&lang=EN&produit_aliasid=2499
RESOURCES
Audiences Wales publish free training guide
Audiences Wales, the arts marketing and audience development agency for Wales, has published a new guide to market research. The guide is available for free in the resources section of the Audiences Wales website. The latest guide offers an overview of market research and aims to equip arts organisations with a clear understanding of the techniques involved and how they can apply them to their organisations.
New arts and health website showcases research
There is now a new national resource for creativity and health. The website is designed to act as a signpost to help you to find individuals and organisations which are using the arts to influence health, the research and guidelines which support this work and other sources of information about all aspects of arts, creativity and wellbeing.
http://www.cultureandwellbeing.org.uk
NEWS - WALES
National Museum Wales acquires 'tax payment' painting
An 18th Century painting of Venice's Grand Canal has been acquired for Wales after it was offered instead of paying inheritance tax. The small oil by Francesco Guardi will join others of Venice on show in the National Museum Wales in Cardiff later in the year. The former owner's name and the value of the painting have not been revealed. But its value was more than the tax owed, so the museum paid £85,000, including a £20,000 charity donation. The painting is to undergo minor cleaning before joining the museum's 18th Century collections on display in a recently refurbished gallery in November.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-11035553
Maths pioneer + anniversary = Tenby Museum show
The 500th anniversary of the birth of the mathematician who invented the equals sign is being celebrated in his home town in Pembrokeshire. Robert Recorde was the first to write books on arithmetic in English, rather than Latin or Greek, so ordinary people could understand them. The town's museum is holding an art exhibition, and also offering a chance to read Recorde's work.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-11041824
NEWS - UK
UK museums make £1bn from tourists
The UK's major museums and art galleries raked in £1bn from overseas visitors in 2009, according to the national tourist authority. Of about 30 million visits made to the UK last year, over a third included a trip to a leading cultural institution, a report by VisitBritain said. French tourists paid the most visits to museums, while holidaymakers from the US favoured art galleries. The data derives from a VisitBritain-sponsored question on the International Passenger Survey, carried out by the Office for National Statistics.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-11035579
NEWS - INTERNATIONAL
Show your support for a European Industrial and Technical Heritage Year
The European Federation of Associations of Industrial and Technical Heritage (E-FAITH), launched a campaign asking the European authorities to declare a European Industrial and Technical Heritage Year. To show there is a large body of support for this heritage across Europe, E-FAITH is asking heritage organisations, local preservation groups, associations for regional and local history, associations of museum friends and friends of heritage sites, museums, regional development and tourism organisations to endorse the campaign by approving the memorandum. Once at least 250 organisations from at least 15 European countries have signed up, E-FAITH will submit the memorandum to the EU and the Council of Europe.
http://www.e-faith.org/EITHY/EITHY_ENG.htm
Elizabeth Bennett & Carol Whittaker
Current Awareness Service
Inclusion of third party information in the Museums Current Awareness Service does not constitute an endorsement by CyMAL. CyMAL takes no responsibility for the quality of third party events, products or services featured in this Newsletter. Whilst every care is taken to provide accurate information, neither CyMAL nor the editor undertakes any liability for any error or omission.
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Welsh and English versions of the bulletin will remain separate in response to requests from readers.
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Elizabeth Bennett
CyMAL: Amgueddfeydd Archifau a Llyfrgelloedd Cymru - CyMAL: Museums Archives and Libraries Wales
Llywodraeth Cynulliad Cymru - Welsh Assembly Government
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