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Driving best practice
Our work supporting improvement and promoting excellence spans museums, libraries and archives, and over the coming months this showcase will expand and be refreshed with new case studies. We started the ball rolling with a collection of achievements from library services which can be seen by following the autumn 2008 case studies link on the right.
We hope these case studies will inspire and challenge others to be more creative and aspirational in what and how they serve individuals and communities. Over the coming year we will be developing our work in this area and our ideas about exactly what constitutes Best Practice. We need the active involvement of museums, libraries and archives to do this and would love to hear from you about any work you are undertaking that might inspire others, or any thoughts you have about the best practice agenda. For more information, please email Tola Dabiri, MLA Senior Policy Adviser Excellence, Improvement and Innovation at tola.dabiri@mla.gov.uk
Review results in award-winning modernisation
Communities in East Riding were missing out on a modern library service, but the mobile library now enables a wide range of otherwise isolated users to participate not only in book borrowing but also a range of other services.
> Read more about East riding mobile librariesWidening access to Victorian hospital records
HHARP is run by a team based at Kingston University’s Centre for Local History Studies. It is a collaboration between the Centre and several hospital archives to bring to life the records of young patients admitted to children’s hospitals in Great Britain in the Victorian and Edwardian eras.
> Read more about HHARPAn exciting opportunity for creative partnership working in Suffolk
Bringing together the arts, heritage, sports and tourism services, the project is documenting Olympians and Paralympians from the region and is also collecting the stories of people such as coaches, classifiers and artists who have had a part in the Games.
> Read more about Lap of honourUnlocking new funds for libraries
Warwickshire Library & Information Service (L&IS) has been exploring the potential of the strategic commissioning process to attract funding for both new projects, and for the continuation of existing library-based activities.
> Read more about Warwickshire strategic commissioningLeeds Learning Network displays benefits of working with JANET
To provide secure, filtered internet and email services to schools, libraries and learning centres, Leeds Learning Network needs a fast, high quality, reliable network infrastructure. It is using a JANET, a faster broadband service, as the backbone.
> Read more about JANET in LeedsExhibition reaps rewards of partnership working and community consultation.
A Renaissance-funded exhibition of 43 miniature terracotta figurines from the Chinese Han Dynasty at Colchester Castle Museum, Essex, resulted in a huge increase in visitor numbers and an increased tourist spend in the region.
> Read more about Guardians to the KingMobile museum enhances curriculum-based learning.
Plymouth Museum In Transit (MIT) is a mobile museum that takes up to 200 objects to local schools for a week. Rather than simply assembling a standard display on site, the MIT team facilitates students to create their own bespoke exhibition.
> Read more about Plymouth MITNorth West looks to demonstrate how reading fits with local authority priority agendas
Readers for Life 2 is a strategy that involves libraries in the North West region working across local authority boundaries. It looks to demonstrate, more specifically, how reading fits with local authority priority agendas.
> Read more about Readers for Life 2The library service has transformed itself following a thorough review
Manchester Library and Information Service has seen rapid change in the last five years and is now winning awards, meeting national targets and has seen a sharp increase in customer satisfaction.
> Read more about Manchester LISSection 106 planning agreement paves the way for innovative development.
The £2 million Shepherd's Bush Library was built and fitted out at zero cost to the taxpayer and shows that councils need not always look to fund service improvements through local resources or tax rises.
> Read more about Shepherd's BushTrust is flexible, entrepreneurial and quick to react to cultural opportunities.
The charitable trust has overseen improvements to cultural services. It is now viewed as a strong third-sector partner of the council and has an improved strategic working relationship with those bodies.
> Read more about Luton trustEssex proves worth of e-book service as users increase month on month
Essex County Libraries was one of the first library services in England to introduce electronic books. They launched the digital service in 2004 with two suppliers; ebrary, who provide a collection more suited to academic study, and Overdrive, who provide a large range of more mainstream titles for downloading. Five years on, 2,500 people are regularly using the Overdrive service and ebrary sessions total around 750 a month.
> Read more about essex e-booksHow to keep up book issues and visitor numbers through targeted marketing
A look at the services and approaches put in place by Norfolk Library and Information Service to meet the needs of the local population and the marketing methods used to used to discover those needs
> Read more about Norfolk marketingThe new library is now an important community space.
The new Newcastle City Library has quickly become an award-winning landmark with high-profile architecture, high quality, sustainable design and furnishings and plenty of air and light.
> Read more about Newcastle LibraryWidening the audience and meeting the access needs of all visitors
Addressing the problems of access to meet the Disability Discrimination Act, at this Lancashire museum, also led to fresh look at ways to improve interpretation for audiences, such as school parties and enthusiasts.
> Read more about Helmshore MillsObjects-based learning at the museum
The Horniman Museum, in London, has developed a wide-ranging programme of community engagement with hands-on handling of the museum’s collection of varied objects, which includes ethnography, natural history and musical instruments.
> Read more about Horniman MuseumMaritime heritage is a focus for business enterprise
Since the closure of the Royal Naval Dockyard in 1984 with the loss of thousands of jobs the Chatham Historic Dockyard Trust has been successful in developing the site into a thriving business enterprise.
> Read more about ChathamThe Treasure House, Beverley, attracts a wider range of users
This newly published MLA Best Practice case study, shows how combining museum,library and archive services can see a big increase in users - an extra 120,000 people a year using this archive - and great improvements to the standards of collection management.
> Read more about East RidingBest practice case study - County Record Office guides project to reduce re-offending
The North Yorkshire County Record Office worked with the HM Young Offenders Institution in Northallerton, to educate young offenders about the lives of offenders in the past.
> Read more about North Yorkshire recordsFilms based on MOSI’s collection shown on the BBC Big Screen in central Manchester
A film-making project for homeless men in Manchester has successfully taught film-making skills and enhanced self-esteem, confidence and employability.
> Read more about Manchester MOSIPartnership results in learning resources and strengthened ties with schools
A partnership between Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery, Cumbria Record Office and a local history teacher has greatly benefited local schools.
> Read more about Tullie HouseProjects bring work of Muslim artists to audiences in the West Midlands
Exhibitions and events at Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery leads to new relationships with diverse communities in the West Midlands.
> Read more about art and IslamArchive and museum events celebrate end of the slave trade
A series of events across Teesside have have led to an increased public understanding of the slave trade and strengthened links with the local community.
> Read more about manacles and moneySensory Gallery brings art to blind and partially sighted people
A gallery enabling people to experience art using senses other than sight has been welcomed by blind and partially sighted people in Wolverhampton.
> Read more about Wolverhampton Art Gallery Hard-to-reach groups benefit from access to museum collections
A programme run by Chester's Grosvenor Museum to engage 'hard-to-reach' groups has been commended as a success by all involved.
> Read more about grosvenor museumScheme celebrates history of Blackpool's fairgrounds in a bid to boost tourism
The National Fairground Archive has been instrumental in an ongoing scheme to promote tourism in Blackpool.
> Read more about national fairground archiveGallery refurbishment leads to wider range of archive services
After a refurbishment taking two years, The Whitechapel Gallery has reopened to the public with more space for exhibitions and an improved range of facilities.
> Read more about Whitechapel GalleryLong term project nurtures creativity in looked-after children
Image and Identity encouraged the sharing of collections, collaborative working and the exchange of best practice between national and regional museums.
> Read more about image and identityYork Art Gallery established as 'centre of creativity' through Territories project
An external evaluation has commended the York Museum Trust's Territories project, saying it has "maximised the potential of working with the community."
> Read more about York Museum TrustSustainably designed museum and art gallery comes to Woking
The Lightbox has already won accolades, scooping the Art Fund Prize for museums and galleries in 2008, along with a number of other awards.
> Read more about Woking lightboxThe BPMA serves as a useful resource for student teachers
A ongoing scheme that placed teacher trainees at the British Postal Museum and Archive (BPMA) has encouraged participants to look beyond the classroom.
> Read more about BPMATyne and Wear museums discover the secret to volunteering success
A federation of 11 museums and galleries on Tyneside has found the key to successful volunteer management through an innovative programme launched in 2005.
> Read more about Tyne and Wear Imagined Lives enables ‘looked-after’ children to engage with archives.
An East Sussex archive scheme gave looked-after children the chance to explore what life was like for children like them in the 19th century.
> Read more about East Sussex record office Scheme celebrates the memories of Thames Gateway workers
A project which has been recording the memories of workers in London’s Thames Gateway has been praised by participants, volunteers and children.
> Read more about Thames Gateway