Subject Specialist Networks & Collections Advice

Subject Specialist Networks (SSN) were a key element of the original Renaissance in the Regions report. They are a way for the sector to share knowledge, expertise and collections, with the aim of improving visitors’ experience. They bring together the wider museums community, with expertise and experience from archive and library professionals. They strengthen the sector’s capacity to understand existing holdings and they extend the benefits to related collections outside the networks themselves.

Grant funding

Over £500,000 of Renaissance funding has been invested in Subject Specialist Networks. New and existing networks have benefited from two rounds of exploratory and implementation grants.

In April 2007, Renaissance anounced the names of 14 networks that were to receive funding in the latest round of implementation grants. Over £250,000 was available for projects running until March 2008.

The networks to receive funding were Social History Curators Group (SHCG), Fraternal and Friendly Societies and Associations, Archives in Museums, the British Aviation Preservation Council, the British Cartoon Forum, the Dress and Textiles Specialists (DATS), Fire Heritage Network UK, Medical and Healthcare, the Rural Museums Network, Plastics, Screen Heritage, the Association of Curators for Collections from Egypt and Sudan (ACCES), the Theatre Information Group, and Understanding British Portraiture.

Further details about the second round of implementation projects supported by Renaissance are available below.

Subject Specialist Network implementation grant project summaries 2007-08 (PDF 65KB)

Further details about the first round of implementation projects supported by Renaissance are available below.

Subject Specialist Network Implementation Grant 2005-06 Project Summaries (PDF 498KB) 

Collections Advisory Service

Collections Link is the new national advisory service for collections management. It is managed by MDA in partnership with the Institute of Conservation (ICON) and the National Preservation Office (NPO).

Collections Link is funded by Renaissance. The aim of the service is to provide direct access to advice by telephone and email in 16 areas of professional practice.

Collections Link provides direct access to a range of fact sheets, guidelines and other documents and links to resources elsewhere; the primary aim is to offer people as much value as possible in the service itself. Visit the website at www.collectionslink.org.uk. Click on 'Find a network' to get contact information about networks, including further details about the remit of each.