Accreditation:
The UK standard for museums & galleries
the new approach
Isabel WilsonProject Manager: Quality & Standards, MLA
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Accreditation Development Project Isabel Wilson
Accreditation 2011: Do we need it?
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• 22 years supporting UK museums to raise standards
• High levels of voluntary participation & new interest
• Evidence that externally validated standard is highly valued across sector
• Distinct from the range of improvement frameworks and national standards
• The Museum Standard is about the inter-relationship between people and collections
• Recognition from external stakeholders
• Accreditation brings the museum community together
• Yes – the foundation for museum development
Challenges for the next few years
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• Reduction in public funding
• Increased competition for visits
• Possibilities of technology
• Retaining staff
• Reviewing building footprints
• Environmental pressures
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Challenges for the next few years
• Diversifying income for longer term sustainability
• Rethinking what museums are for
• Serving communities, building relevance
• Balancing demands of collections management
• Developing new business models
• Greater reliance on volunteers
• Keeping up with user expectations
What were the aims in developing it?
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• To evolve it so it addresses current and future issues
• To embrace consumer view
• To make it more centrally useful to museums
• To streamline the process for participants
• To consult widely to ensure standard is appropriate
• To support strategic advocacy for museums
• To strengthen it as a benchmark; a badged award and as
an improvement tool.
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Accreditation 2011 - new emphasis and approach
• Focus on organisational sustainability
(only ‘fit’ museums will survive – and not all of them!)
• Responsive to communities with service delivery and
development influenced by feedback
• Interest in ‘how’ doing things not just ‘what’ doing
• Less of a strait jacket
• Less of a discrete exercise
• Existing participants don’t apply from scratch
• Accreditation as a prompt and a framework to help
museums address resilience and relevance
The evolution of the Standard
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Robert TaylorAccreditation Committee Member
The new standard
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•1988 Registration
•1995 Registration Phase Two
•2004 Accreditation Standard
•2011 Further developed Accreditation Standard
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Changes to the standard
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Accreditation 2004
• Governance and museums management
• User services
• Visitor facilities
• Collections management
Accreditation 2011
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• Organisational health:Accredited museum as responsible, responsive and resilient.
• Collections:Accredited museums effectively manage and make collections available for everyone.
• Users and their experiences:Accredited museums are welcoming and accessible and have a planned approach to identifying and providing a good quality service for a broad range of users, bringing people and collections together.
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Benefits of change
• Helps organisations focus on planning and key activities
• Helps governing bodies focus on what is important
• Reflects improvements in collections management
practice
• Ensures the user experience is given a high priority
Organisational health
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• Appropriate management arrangements
• Effective forward planning, which includes:
– A review of the previous plan– Analysis of the environment to understand the risks– Key aims– An action plan to achieve objectives– A resource plan
The Committee’s role
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• Provide advocacy for the scheme
• Provide external validation of the scheme
• Ensure standards are maintained
• Provide expertise to assess what is an appropriate
standard for each museum
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Scalability
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• Accreditation has always been an inclusive standard
• The new Standard will continue this
• The Committee ensures that the requirements are
interpreted appropriately
• Transparency around assessment criteria
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Current challenges
• Reductions in resources
• Reductions in museums’ staff
• Reductions in opening hours
• Closure/consolidation/ relocation of collections
• Financially motivated disposal
Benefits to museums
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• Public recognition
• Confidence for potential donors
• Staff morale and motivation
• Importance of core curatorial services
• Eligibility for grant aid
Accreditation 2011
What does this mean for my organisation?
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Samuel RowlandsAccreditation Manager, MLA
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Accreditation Development Project Samuel Rowlands
Accreditation 2011
How can this help my museum?
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• Provide external support and advice for developing key policies and plans
• Provides a flexible framework to use as needed by your museum
• Provides effective and timely prompts to ensure all key management policies and plans are up-to-date and relevant
• Provides access to funding
• Offers recommendations for improvements linked to the standard by looking holistically at your museum
• Encourages regular reviews of your whole organisation
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Accreditation Development Project Samuel Rowlands
Accreditation 2011
Key points
• Accreditation is a UK scheme
(including the Isle of Man, Jersey and Guernsey)
• Decisions are made by an independent expert panel
• A badged award understood by external stakeholders
• Mark of a decent museum
• Retains shortcuts: IiP, VAQAS & Visit Scotland
• Scalable standard for all eligible museums
• Existing policies and plans remain compliant and can
be developed longer term by agreed review date
• Participants will also be able to request an early return
review for specific local or political reasons or to combine
return reporting for a service with multiple sites
Accreditation 2011
Roll out
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• Scheme management will transfer from MLA to Arts Council England on 1st October 2011
• Accreditation (v2011) will be launched during October 2011
• New applicants will be welcomed from 1st November 2011
• The 2011 Standard will be implemented through Biennial Returns, not new applications (for existing participants)
• Existing participants will be timetabled in phases dependent on when they were last fully assessed
• A full rollout plan will be published
Accreditation 2011
What documents will be available?
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• The Accreditation Standard (v2011)
• Assessment Guidance
• Published case studies and toolkits
• Model documents and templates
• Support from www.collectionslink.org.uk
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What do you think?
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