The first-ever National Audit of Scotland?s Museums and Galleries, commissioned by the Scottish Executive as part of its National Culture Strategy and carried out by the Scottish Museums Council (SMC), has created an authoritative picture of the museums sector and its importance to key aspects of Scottish life including tourism, learning, and community development.
The largest survey of its kind ever undertaken in Europe, the Audit covers 170 organisations and 435 sites including independent museums, local authority services and large national organisations and has identified over 12 million items in Scotland?s museum collections. The report highlights examples of excellence but also identifies opportunities for improvement, and SMC, which is the national agency and membership body for non-national museums in Scotland, is calling for a new National Framework which will allow historic funding procedures which have led to inconsistencies in funding provision to be reformed. There are also calls for debate about capacity building within the museums? sector in terms of staffing numbers and skills; the contribution museums make to educational programmes; measures to encourage access and new audiences; and ways of raising standards to meet rising expectations from visitors at home and abroad.
For further details contact SMC t: 0131 229 7465.