A new set of benchmark standards for museums and galleries has been published by The Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA), to encourage greater emphasis on the needs and interests of visitors.
The MLA?s Accreditation Scheme sets nationally-agreed standards for UK museums and will provide guidance for managers and governing bodies in planning and developing services. It will also set a benchmark against which grant-making bodies, sponsors and donors can evaluate a museum?s activities. The prime aim of the Scheme is to set a minimum level of standards in order to increase public confidence in museums? abilities to hold collections in trust for society and manage public resources appropriately.
To qualify for Accreditation, museums will have to demonstrate that they meet basic requirements in caring for and documenting their collections, how they are governed and managed, and on the information, services and facilities they offer to their users. All accredited museums will have to establish procedures for assessing who their users are as a step towards broadening access. They will also have to consult with users to find their views on matters such as visitor facilities and opening arrangements. Learning is recognised as a core purpose of museums, which will have to provide a range of approaches to communicating ideas and information about collections to visitors. The Scheme covers all museums, from major national institutions to small, volunteer-run organisations. More rigorous criteria will have to be met by museums that use ?national? or similar terms in their names. These institutions will need to demonstrate that their collections are ?substantial? and that they ?offer visitor facilities of a quality appropriate to a museum purporting to provide a national facility.?
The criteria for the accreditation process were defined by a three-year period of consultation carried out across the whole sector. It is expected that many grant-making bodies will adopt the new benchmark as a pre-requisite of funding. In time, the MLA hopes that the Scheme will be developed into a ?kite mark? or publicly promoted assurance of quality for museum visitors.
To gain their Accreditation, museums and galleries will have to be assessed by one of the nine regional agencies in England, the Scottish Museums Council, the Northern Ireland Museum Council or CyMAL ? Museums, Libraries, Archives Wales. Following assessment, applications will go forward to an independent committee of senior professionals, for final approval. Returns will have to be filed every two years for museums to maintain their accredited status. The Accreditation Scheme replaces Museum Registration, which was established in 1988 to encourage public confidence in museums and increase donations to collections, more than 1,800 museums were part of the old scheme.
Launching the Scheme, Mark Wood, Chair of the MLA, said, ?Setting an ?industry standard? will give donors and visitors alike a guarantee of quality, and will allow museums to continue to raise their game.? The Scheme was welcomed by the Museums? Association, the independent body which represents the sector, Helen Wilkinson, Policy Officer, said ?This is a big improvement on the previous scheme. It covers many more areas of museums? work.?