Can volunteers sustain a successful museum?

Recently, Britain’s Prime Minister once again tried to enthuse people for his ‘Big Society’ idea. In the words of the Big Society Network: ‘The Big Society is a society in which individual citizens feel big: big in terms of being supported and enabled; having real and regular influence; being capable of creating change in their … Continue reading Can volunteers sustain a successful museum? →

Budget cuts: What Sense of Heritage Will We Have Left?

The latest issue of the UK Museums Journal gives plenty of evidence of the impact budget cuts have on the museums and heritage sector. English Heritage is about to shut down its entire (!) outreach department, the Victoria and Albert Museum has downgraded its post of Director of Learning and Interpretation to Head of Education … Continue reading Budget cuts: What Sense of Heritage Will We Have Left? →

Interpretation…or Visitor Experience?

Today I attended a conference titled, ‘The Role of Interpretation in Tourism’. As may be expected, none of the speakers questioned that interpretation was an intrinsic part of any tourism effort. This is not a given however: at a conference a few months ago, the host country’s Director of Tourism unblushingly claimed that interpretation had … Continue reading Interpretation…or Visitor Experience? →

Enough with the woolly!

In the UK the impact of budget cuts is starting to become evident all around us. The latest issue of the Museums Journal abounds with news of museum closures, staff reductions or reduced opening hours. The Museums, Libraries and Archives Council is about to become usurped by the Arts Council in England and funding programmes … Continue reading Enough with the woolly! →

Who needs heritage anyway?

After reading this month's Museum Journal (published by the British Museums Association) one may well wonder if today's leaders really no longer value heritage. Stories of funding cuts have dominated both British and international coverage for months and we now read about the consequences of budgets thus slashed. Winter opening hours are shortened, as with … Continue reading Who needs heritage anyway? →

The Heritage of the People – ICH

Recently, a wiki website was launched to inventory the Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) in Scotland. This is a response to the 2003 UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage which defined ICH as 'practices, representations, expressions, knowledge, skills' and the objects and cultural spaces associated with these [1]. The convention called for all … Continue reading The Heritage of the People – ICH →

Trust the properties’ wisdom

This month's Museums Journal (UK) reports on the National Trust's 'Going Local' strategy which gives considerably more management power to local properties, retaining only core functions like financial management, legal services and conservation advice at head office ('National Trust restructure will lead to redundancies', by Gary Noakes, p. 5). The rationale behind the decision is … Continue reading Trust the properties’ wisdom →