[Nhcoll-l] FW: making the case for natural history collections and their wider benefit to society and the environment

Fri Jan 22 07:51:11 EST 2016

Hi, Andy,

In reading this very attractive document, I was struck by the ABSENCE of an argument for collections.  Rather, the document advocates for museums and their role in raising public awareness.  No question that they are important for public awareness of Nature, extinction, environmental change, but I found no connection to collections.  In fact, other than mentioning the total number of specimens in the region’s museums and two page that describe what the collections contain and what goes on ‘behind the exhibits’ there’s no focus on the use of collections or their relevance to the public education mission.

This is not to say that we shouldn’t be advocating for museums as centers of education, advocacy and infotainment.  That being said, based on the text alone (setting aside what we all know and believe), a general reader might ask why good museum space is being used for collections rather than public exhibits, since the collections don’t seem important for exhibits and education.  I can imagine that this is a question that many smaller regional and local museums must answer.  It would be very interesting to hear ideas from people in smaller museums on how they make this connection to the collections for the public and funders.

David

From: nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu [mailto:nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu] On Behalf Of Bentley, Andrew Charles
Sent: Thursday, January 21, 2016 4:32 PM
To: nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu
Subject: [Nhcoll-l] FW: making the case for natural history collections and their wider benefit to society and the environment

This may be interesting to those folks looking at advocating for collections in various scenarios…

Andy

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Andy Bentley
Ichthyology Collection Manager
University of Kansas
Biodiversity Institute
Dyche Hall
1345 Jayhawk Boulevard
Lawrence, KS, 66045-7561
USA

Tel: (785) 864-3863
Fax: (785) 864-5335
Email: abentley at ku.edu<mailto:abentley at ku.edu>
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SPNHC President
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From: The Natural Science Collections Association discussion list <NATSCA at JISCMAIL.AC.UK<mailto:NATSCA at JISCMAIL.AC.UK>> on behalf of Henry Mcghie <henry.mcghie at MANCHESTER.AC.UK<mailto:henry.mcghie at MANCHESTER.AC.UK>>
Reply-To: The Natural Science Collections Association discussion list <NATSCA at JISCMAIL.AC.UK<mailto:NATSCA at JISCMAIL.AC.UK>>
Date: Thursday, January 21, 2016 at 9:34 AM
To: "NATSCA at JISCMAIL.AC.UK<mailto:NATSCA at JISCMAIL.AC.UK>" <NATSCA at JISCMAIL.AC.UK<mailto:NATSCA at JISCMAIL.AC.UK>>
Subject: making the case for natural history collections and their wider benefit to society and the environment

Hello- one of the things we have worked on in the North West is making a credible case for the value of natural history collections, in terms of the benefits they bring to people, society and the wider environment. This work was developed into an advocacy document which we have had it developed into a PDF, reformatted for printing/viewing on screen.

The arguments are tailored towards those working with policy and strategy (NGOs, societies, schools, PHE, HE and FE etc etc) rather than primarily for public consumption, hence the emphasis on ‘need’ messages rather than ‘love’/’feel’ messages. Although some of the content is specific to the North West, much of it is not; the PDF includes additional statistics not included in the hard copy.

You’re welcome to make use of this and to distribute it further, and please do send it round your networks. The work was developed with funding from Museum Development North West as part of a package of activities to support NW museums, collections and museum staff.

If you want to discuss this further, or if this sparks off ideas for possible collaboration, then feel free to get in touch. Any feedback is welcome.
Yours,
Henry
Henry McGhie BSc MA AMA | Head of Collections and Curator of Zoology (Honorary Scientific Associate, Faculty of Life Sciences) | Manchester Museum | The University of Manchester | Oxford Road | Manchester | M13 9PL |  0161 275 2482 | www.manchester.ac.uk/museum<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.manchester.ac.uk_museum&d=AwMGaQ&c=-dg2m7zWuuDZ0MUcV7Sdqw&r=CLFZJ3fvGSmDp7xK1dNZfh6uGV_h-8NVlo3fXNoRNzI&m=FjUZzZhOK8juKxXcQiXooH1gxTmII4hT1okAizDZLwA&s=vaQAarolUSJfD8Mql8YVBLDFTAi4bxMeeNP9IOE6MfQ&e=> | www.facebook.com/ManchesterMuseum<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.facebook.com_ManchesterMuseum&d=AwMGaQ&c=-dg2m7zWuuDZ0MUcV7Sdqw&r=CLFZJ3fvGSmDp7xK1dNZfh6uGV_h-8NVlo3fXNoRNzI&m=FjUZzZhOK8juKxXcQiXooH1gxTmII4hT1okAizDZLwA&s=7G_-TxOU08D3ZvpzfprtfPz_bMTqfq8ZtB9GGbsbgRI&e=> | Follow us on Twitter @McrMuseum

This year I am promoting biodiversity for the good of the environment and for people's well-being

Exhibitions: The Study, Opens 11 Sept / The Phantoms of Congo River, 11 Sept-10 Apr / Gifts for the Gods: Animal Mummies Revealed,8 Oct-17 Apr

Awards: Lever Prize 2015 for Real Life Science programme
Designated as an Outstanding Collection
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