MLA’s Designation scheme identifies collections of national and international importance held in England’s non national museums, libraries and archives. These inspiring collections represent a vital part of our national cultural heritage.
The MLA Designation Development Fund for libraries and archives 2010-11, provided a first-time opportunity for Designated library and archive collections to apply for funding to improve the care and sustainability of these iconic collections.
The following information provides a short overview of the projects selected for funding, followed by an independent evaluation report, conducted by Firebird on behalf of MLA.
Executive summary
MLA’s philosophy for Designated collections
MLA’s Designation Scheme Value Statement endorses the core ideals held by the best museums, libraries and archives, being:
Continuous Improvement, Excellence, Innovation, Sustainability and Sharing. This is encouraged and enabled by Investment in Professional Development and Extensive Scholarship.
For further details visit: http://www.mla.gov.uk/what/raising_standards/designation/Value_Statement
Aims
MLA conducted research in 2009 to identify challenges which organisations faced in achieving in full the values that Designation aims for. To assist Designated collections in reaching the aspiration for excellence and to realise ambitious goals around curation, research and engagement, MLA offered funding to four organisations to undertake projects during 2010-11.
The four projects were:
Royal Geographical Society - the Society’s African cartographic and photographic materials were reappraised from African perspectives. Through partnership with a number of African communities and individuals c200 maps and photographs were reviewed and reassessed. These communities have included members representing the Congo, Ghana, Nigeria, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Sierra Leone and South Africa. The resulting exhibition provides an exploration of African perspectives on materials that have recorded and documented African people, cultures and landscapes often from a western perspective.
British Postal Museum & Archive - The Picture Post project aimed to research, catalogue, digitise, and provide access to the images of ‘GPO Britain’ from the BPMA’s extensive photography collection. The project involved collaboration between the BPMA’s Cataloguing, Archives, Access and Learning and Development and Communications teams, and established new partnerships with community organisations in London and Swindon.
University of Reading - The project focused on the archives of two successful publishers of children’s literature – the 20th Century iconic Ladybird books and George Bell & Sons 19th Century archive. The archive collections were used as a springboard for engaging new audiences and developing learning resources.
John Rylands University Library - The First Impressions project has drawn upon the John Rylands University Library’s world-class collection of early-printed books, a companion collection of historic printing equipment and the employment of curatorial and technological expertise to create a suite of innovative conservation, research, education and digital online resources to improve staff and visitor knowledge alike.
Summing up
Each of the four projects emphasised the impact of projects upon improving their understanding of collections, and the opportunities afforded for professional development of staff. This has resulted in very positive outcomes, not only in terms of achieving better standards of care and management of collections but also in an overall ability to improve resource planning and to achieve more refined goals.
Sustainability and innovation were demonstrated by all participants – the University of Reading were able to build a collaborative relationship with the Penguin Group, depositors of the Ladybird Archive. This has enabled the University of Reading to utilise archive images more widely, increasing the capacity for more online public engagement as well as identifying synergies with other potential depositors.
Furthermore, BPMA has developed an in-house image management system to better manage the photographic collection but also to develop commercial image-licensing which has revolutionised BPMA’s capacity to manage, facilitate access and showcase the photographic collections.
Continuous improvement was also a strong thread of all 4 initiatives. John Rylands University Library took advantage of the opportunity to develop cross-team working and staff training across the Library during the project, ensuring outcome sustainability beyond the lifetime of the funded project. In addition, Education and Learning workshops can now form a key component of the Library’s ongoing offer to schools. The Royal Geographical Society has developed a significant contribution towards increased scholarship via reinterpretation of historical maps and images.
Further details about each project and the Designation Development fund can be found in the independent evaluation report here:
An evaluation of the Designation Development Fund for libraries and archives (PDF 320KB)