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CyMAL: Museums Archives and Libraries Wales Museums Current Awareness Service - Bulletin 137 Information about the Museums Current Awareness Service can be found on CyMAL's pages on the Welsh Government website. http://www.wales.gov.uk/cymal WELSH GOVERNMENT - CYMAL CyMAL Grants 2014/15 The CyMAL grant schemes for 2014/15 are now open for applications. There are minor changes to the grant programme, e.g. duration of the grant and new opportunities such as the commemoration of the First World War. Please see the Information for Applicants for full details. The closing date for applications is 24 January 2014. The grant paperwork can be downloaded from our website http://www.wales.gov.uk/cymal Emergency Salvage Day - Cardiff, 27 February 2014 Events can happen that dramatically impact on the ability of a museum, archive or library to function as normal. Collections and services can suddenly come under threat and the organisation will be expected to react efficiently and effectively. This course will allow museums, archives and libraries to experience a salvage exercise in a controlled environment. This should help you make improvements to the detail of your plan with regard to salvage operations. http://tinyurl.com/qb7rrf3 Audience Development: Understanding and growing your audience Wrexham - 20 February 2014 Swansea - 11 March 2014 This course is suitable for anyone who is responsible for engaging audiences; if you work in education, outreach or marketing, or if you have audience development as part of your role, but don't have lots of time and money to put towards it then this is the course for you. By the end of the course participants will be able to - recognise the barriers and motivations of potential audiences and apply this information to your own work - use your own and other audience data to understand more about audiences - identify and find audiences for your work - create an audience development plan Wrexham - http://tinyurl.com/nbd8xp4 Swansea - http://tinyurl.com/pyzv225 How to Engage with a Service Review - Llandrindod Wells, 25 February 2014 Local government is going through a period of unprecedented transformation as it attempts to respond to the impact of the economic situation. All types of services - including museums, libraries and archives are being involved in some type of review to inform change. This one day seminar is suitable for those leading or likely to be involved in a review of their service. Also for people who want to know what a review can entail. The day will be an opportunity to engage with and learn from peers. Sessions will be highly participative, with a mixture of presentations, discussions and group exercises covering: - key issues and understanding the context of service reviews - preparing for a service review and pitfalls to avoid - meeting wider outcomes - engaging local people and stakeholder mapping - effective advocacy - hints and tips to survive and thrive. http://tinyurl.com/q4w35mo WELSH GOVERNMENT Regional engagement and partnership structures in the tourism sector We're seeking views on what regional engagement and partnership structure would work best for the tourism sector in Wales. The aim is to support the effective implementation of the Welsh Government Strategy for tourism 'Partnership for Growth' by minimising duplication of representation, resources and effort and re-energising the sector with a fresh collaborative approach. The Tourism Advisory Board has considered a number of options and you are invited to comment on these as part of this consultation. This consultation is open until 27 February 2014. http://wales.gov.uk/consultations/tourism/tourismregengagementpartner/?lang=en CADW Segontium Roman Fort and Cae'r Gors go live! The former museum building at Segontium Roman Fort and Cae'r Gors, childhood home of the author Kate Roberts - both in and around the Caernarfon area - opened to the public last weekend. Segontium and its centre, a free entry site, will be open throughout the year on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays, 12pm to 4pm. Cae'r Gors will be open on Thursdays and Fridays from 12pm to 4pm during the winter season and Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays during the summer. Admission prices and further information http://tinyurl.com/p5whmb4 Cadw mobile phone app Access a wealth of essential information on the go with our mobile phone app. Explore 6,000 years of history across the country with the Cadw app. Preparing for your visit has never been so quick and easy! Search for your nearest Cadw site by distance, find it on the handy built-in map or simply use the route planner to find out how to get to your favourite site from your current location. You can search by date or location to find exciting events taking place at Cadw sites, check opening times and admission prices or call the site direct from the app. http://cadw.wales.gov.uk/cadwapppage/?lang=en NATIONAL ASSEMBLY FOR WALES Record of Proceedings - Questions to the Minister for Culture and Sport Tuesday 3rd December http://www.assemblywales.org/docs/rop_xml/131203_plenary_bilingual.xml#117662 ASSOCIATION OF INDEPENDENT MUSEUMS New executive director for AIM Sam Hunt has stepped down from his role as AIM's executive director this month and AIM Council has appointed Tamalie Newbery in his place. Tamalie Newbery knows AIM well, having formerly served on Council for 10 years, including as honorary secretary and vice chairman. She has worked with some of AIM's largest members such as Brooklands Museum, Chatham Historic Dockyard and Bath Postal Museum and Archive, and some of the smallest, such as Arundel Museum Society and the group setting up the new Heath Robinson Museum. Tamalie can be contacted at [log in to unmask] PROMOTING MUSEUMS Five minutes with Michael Sheen Michael Sheen, star of TV, film and stage, has played a wide variety of roles ranging from Tony Blair in The Queen and David Frost in Frost/Nixon to Aro in The Twilight Saga. The actor now tells us about his latest role as patron of Kids in Museums, an independent charity dedicated to making museums open and welcoming to all families. http://tinyurl.com/paypl4u Museums + Heritage Awards for Excellence 2014 There are 11 different categories to choose from, offering an opportunity for everyone, regardless of the scale or size of project and budget. Cost-effectiveness is at the heart of these awards, as is creativity and resourcefulness, and we welcome entries from everyone. So, if you work in a local authority museum, a national or independent museum, a gallery or a heritage or cultural visitor attraction or perhaps you are a supplier to this sector, this is your chance to have your hard work recognised. The deadline for entries is Friday 7 February 2014. http://www.museumsandheritage.com/awards HERITAGE LOTTERY FUND £5m of great news for museums, libraries and archives The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) has announced an investment of £5m which aims to make a real difference in helping the UK's museums, libraries and archives develop their collections. This initiative - Collecting Cultures - builds on the achievements of the original Collecting Cultures programme which ran six years ago following extensive consultation with a wide range of museums, libraries and archives. Grants of between £50,000 and £500,000 will be available for developing collections over time through targeted purchases with an emphasis on enhancing knowledge, skills and public engagement. http://www.hlf.org.uk/HowToApply/programmes/Pages/CollectingCultures.aspx AMGUEDDFA CYMRU - NATIONAL MUSEUM WALES Appointment of Treasurer and Two Trustees to Amgueddfa Cymru - National Museum Wales Do you have the leadership qualities and experience to join the Board of Trustees of Amgueddfa Cymru - National Museum Wales? We need: - A Treasurer to commence on 1 December 2014, serving as a Trustee from 1 June 2014 to work alongside the existing Treasurer. - Two further Trustees; one to commence 1 June 2014 and one to commence 1 December 2014 http:// www.wales.gov.uk/publicappointments DOCUMENTATION, DIGITISATION AND ICT The steady march of the mobile device Access to online content is showing a steady shift towards the mobile device. What are the implications for Amgueddfa Cymru's own website? There has been much discussion in the museums digital sector lately on the significant rise in websites accessed via mobile devices. It was one of the focuses of the 'Let's Get Real' Action Research project run by Culture24, of which the Museum was a part. The V&A have recently been publishing their findings on what devices people use to access different areas of their website. http://tinyurl.com/obfh8va Visualizing the Tate's Collection: What Open Data Makes Possible (Museum 2.0) What does "big data" look like for museums? Collecting institutions have enormous stacks of data about the artifacts and artworks in their stores. Several museums around the world have worked hard to make their data accessible by providing free access to datasets, applying Creative Commons licenses to digital content, or creating APIs (application programming interfaces) that allow programmers to build their own software on the museum's data. Last month, the Tate joined the party when they opened up their collection database to the world on GitHub, a website where programmers collaborate on projects. http://museumtwo.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/visualizing-tates-collection-what-open.html Does your museum have a social media policy? In our digital era it's very important for museums to keep up with the time and use new technologies like social media to reach out for new audiences. If your institution uses services like Twitter or Facebook, it should have its own coherent policy and some inspiration might be very useful for developing this. The Online Database of Social Media lists more than 200 policy documents from the world's largest brands and agencies such as Apple or the Smithsonian Institution. http://socialmediagovernance.com/policies.php Museums in the Digital Age This publication takes a look into the future of collections, exhibitions and the museum experience in general. Written by Josef Hargrave, this report doesn't just cover the changes that are already happening in the museum world due to increasing digitization. First and foremost "Museums in the Digital Age" raises questions. How will future visitors be like? In which ways could museums use new technologies for themselves and how could exhibitions and collections look like in 2040? http://www.arup.com/Publications/Museums_in_the_Digital_Age.aspx EVENTS Join the Conversation: Museums, Politics and Power (Blog post from the Uncatalogued Museum) This week, amidst plans for both Thanksgiving turkey and IMLS grant applications, I'm very pleased to announce the launch of a new project I'm involved in: the blog, Museums, Politics and Power. Katrin Hieke and Kristiane Janeke from Germany and Irina Chuvilova from Russia, and I have initiated this blog with support of the ICOM committees in Russia, the U.S. and Germany as a run-up to the tri-national conference, Museums & Power in St. Petersburg, Russia in September, 2014. http://tinyurl.com/nrl2me7 TRAINING AND CONFERENCES Digital Past 2014: New technologies in heritage, interpretation and outreach - Llandudno, 12-13 February 2014 Digital Past is a two-day conference showcasing innovative digital technologies for data capture, interpretation and dissemination of heritage sites and artefacts. The conference will be of value to anyone working in or studying the archaeological, heritage, education and museums sectors, and is designed to allow informal networking and exchange of ideas within a friendly and diverse audience made up of individuals from commercial, public and third-sector organisations. Open House sessions will also give the opportunity for display and demonstration of projects or products, and the chance to talk to heritage organisations, product developers and retailers. http://digitalpast14.blogspot.co.uk/ 2014 Annual Conference: Museums and Memory: Challenging Histories - Waterford, Republic of Ireland, 21-23 February 2014 The IMA Annual Conference 'Museums and Memory: challenging histories' will take the 'Decade of Commemorations' as a starting point to examine how different societies and nations memorialise and remember moments in history which are of importance to the shaping of their national identities. http://www.irishmuseums.org/annual-conference/ WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT New report finds ageing workforce is a threat to cultural heritage and historic environment sector Creative & Cultural Skills, in partnership with English Heritage and with additional support from the Sector Priorities Fund Pilot, publish a new report today on the serious skills issues faced by the historic environment and cultural heritage sector. The report, entitled 'The Historic Environment and Cultural Heritage Skills Survey' spoke to over 1,000 organisations within the sector in order to provide a detailed understanding of some of the critical skills issues facing their workforce. http://ccskills.org.uk/en/news/story/432 http://tinyurl.com/pslbprb CHARITIES AND VOLUNTEERS MA publishes guide to museums and tax The Museums Association (MA) has published a short online guide that aims to signpost tax incentives and reliefs that benefit museums. The guide covers areas such as Gift Aid and other tax schemes to encourage charitable giving, incentives that help museums to acquire objects, as well as signposting where museums can go to get more detailed information. It also aims to clarify some of the other tax issues affecting the sector, taking a brief look at areas like VAT and business/non-domestic rates. http://tinyurl.com/pgqna2e http://www.museumsassociation.org/campaigns/museums-and-tax Embedding Impact: A Roundtable Discussion A recent Roundtable discussion, Embedding Impact, hosted by Big Society Capital on the 10th September 2013 brought together senior staff from 15 social purpose organisations working in different sectors to discuss how to be effective in reliably achieving targeted outcomes and delivering impact. http://tinyurl.com/qzuuuxe PUBLICATIONS AND RESEARCH Impact and Engagement: University Museums for the 21st Century In November 2013 UMG launched a new advocacy document for university museums. 'Impact and Engagement: University Museums for the 21st Century' contains case studies which illustrate how University Museums contribute to the academic missions of higher education, alongside a remarkable record for wider public engagement and impact on behalf of universities in the life of their communities. http://universitymuseumsgroup.wordpress.com/advocacy/ RESOURCES AHI Conference 2013 papers online You can browse and download six papers from the 2013 conference. We have presentations from Carl Atkinson, James Carter and James Loxley, Nigel McDonald, Nick Needham, Jo Scott and Sarah Watts. We will be adding more papers over the next week or so, as well as adding audio clips from selected papers. http://www.ahi.org.uk/www/news/view_detail/117/ SITUATIONS VACANT Gwynedd Museum & Art Gallery, Bangor, Gwynedd Council Community Heritage Participation Officer Bangor Collections Officer Community Heritage Learning Officer Museums Manager & Volunteer Co-ordinator http://www.gwynedd.gov.uk/ NEWS - ENGLAND Mystery of moving Egyptian statue is solved When an Egyptian statue started turning slowly of its own free will in the Manchester Museum, there were whispers that it could be an ancient curse. But an engineer, called in to look at the statue, found that vibrations from a busy nearby road were causing the 3,800-year-old stone figure to rotate. The convex base of the figure made it "more susceptible" to spin around than the cabinet's other artefacts. Dr Campbell Price, curator at Manchester Museum, told BBC Radio 5 live's Drive: "There were several supernatural explanations but Egyptian stuff attracts that." http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-25034950 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. If you know anyone who would like to be added to the circulation list, or would like a 'hard copy' of the main mailing, or if you don't have access to the internet and need prints from the sites listed - please contact Carol Whittaker. People who currently receive hard copies will continue to do so. Welsh and English versions of the bulletin will remain separate in response to requests from readers. --- Elizabeth Bennett CyMAL: Amgueddfeydd Archifau a Llyfrgelloedd Cymru - CyMAL: Museums Archives and Libraries Wales Llywodraeth Cymru - Welsh Government Rhodfa Padarn, Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, SY23 3UR. Ffon/Tel: 0300 062 2101 Fax/Ffacs: 0300 062 2052 e-bost/e-mail: [log in to unmask]