OpenCulture

My theme today is ‘rising to the Digital Challenge in Difficult Times’.

Many of you will know that this is one of my favourite themes - because I think that some aspects of the new Digital environment offer us an unprecedented opportunity to do something new. To become something new. To win a new place in the hearts and minds of a society that is disaffected with the politics and economics of short-termism and instant gratification. To establish a new contract with punters that is based on meaning and validity in a turbulent world. Read the rest of this entry »

Why do museums have the things they do? Sometimes the answer is obvious - because they help tell the story of key moments in human history and achievement. Sometimes less so. Collecting is not a single, consistent process. It is tumbling, organic, opportunistic. It happens in waves, in fits and starts according to the availability of material, money and enthusiasm. Read the rest of this entry »

By: Mar Dixon (@mardixon)

On January 16th, after reading the newspapers on line, a particular statement from one article kept repeating in my head.  The article was on the many library cuts hitting the UK and the writer said something along the lines of ‘Libraries are vital because’ and then went on with what were very relevant reasons, but they weren’t reasons with which I personally could identify. Read the rest of this entry »

As the cuts to Arts funding chunter ever onward, some new motifs are emerging. ‘Where is the leadership?’ people cry. ‘When will the Minister intervene?’. But even as we enter the darkest hour for museums, some new aspects of this landscape are becoming clear. Read the rest of this entry »

It’s a simple question. How much would it cost to Digitise everything in Europe’s museums, archives and libraries? Answering it turned out to be one of the biggest challenges the Collections Trust has ever faced. Read the rest of this entry »

I was fortunate to be invited by the Natural History Museum’s Collections Committee to join them for their awayday last week. Part of the Museum’s larger strategic development, the aim of the session was to devise a new Collections Strategy and to connect it to the broader Science Strategy. Read the rest of this entry »

And so it was that I found myself in the warm fug of the day before Christmas Eve visiting some friends of friends. There, in a group of 15 or so professional, intelligent, educated and culturally-engaged people, the topic turned to my profession and the current economic climate. Read the rest of this entry »

Attending today the Europeana Scotland event co-organised by the Collections Trust and Museums Galleries Scotland. The event is an opportunity for Scottish museums and other cultural institutions to find out what Europeana is, how it works and what it can do to help them get their Collections to a wider audience. Read the rest of this entry »

Having signed off our huge research project on the Costs of Digitising Europe’s Cultural Heritage (of which more in a forthcoming post), I found myself today heading over to the British Standards Institute for a meeting of the Steering Group for the new standard for Environmental Management, which we are co-sponsoring with MLA and the National Archives. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Business Models, Digital Inclusion, Digitisation, Europe, Nick Poole | 2 Comments »