RAMM nominated for Collections Practice Award

RAMM’s Collections Review has just been nominated for national Collections Practice Award from the Collections Trust.

These awards celebrate projects which demonstrate the application of innovative practice to improve the sustainability and use of collections. The winners will be announced on 2 July 2013.

RAMM is home to almost a million objects and support from Arts Council England has enabled the museum to take stock of this wealth of material. Wishing to unlock the collections’ potential for learning, research and inspiration and to ensure that our collections will be enjoyed by generations to come, a thorough collections review process was formulated and the entire collection is now being scrutinised.

The pioneering process sets out to capture a snapshot of the quality of the collections and collections information by looking at the database records and immediately available information resources the museum had created. To do this, the collections were divided into review units – several hundred of them – and a sample of 50 database records taken from each. An independent, non-curatorial assessor then interrogated the sample using questions adapted from existing methodologies. These covered historical meaning and significance, representativeness of type, sensory and emotional impact and potential for use in learning and business. Specialists were also invited to explore lesser known parts of the collection.

The Collection Trust Awards aim is to encourage the best possible practice and recognise and celebrate outstanding work in the collections community. They celebrate projects that demonstrate the application of innovative practice to improve the sustainability and use of collections in arts and cultural organisations including museums, archives, libraries and galleries.