[Nhcoll-l] FW: making the case for natural history collections and their wider benefit to society and the environment
Schindel, David
schindeld at si.edu
Fri Jan 22 09:47:52 EST 2016
Greetings, Dirk,
There's no doubt that pulling the curtain back on the 'behind-the-scenes' collections space and activities can make really interesting news for non-professionals. I'm incredibly impressed with the American Museum's online video series "Shelf Life<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.amnh.org_shelf-2Dlife&d=AwIFAw&c=-dg2m7zWuuDZ0MUcV7Sdqw&r=CLFZJ3fvGSmDp7xK1dNZfh6uGV_h-8NVlo3fXNoRNzI&m=C6opnsvYYxKd7yZyqD95WYSairMcroCbz5xuYrFMQWg&s=r_qkUDWDWEGE_O2kdYwqMr0QikpzbEEcTGSIy183mDM&e= >". In my view it's the absolute best effort so far to explain the collections mission in an accessible, appealing way. You may not hear this often from someone at the Smithsonian but I say to our colleagues at AMNH 'Bravo, well done, thanks!" If each of our outreach efforts did no more than point to Shelf Life and say "We do stuff like that!" or "We wouldn't know a lot of the things in these exhibits without the research done with the collections you haven't seen." I think these approaches would be more effective than saying "Collections are the core business of museums, so if you like museums you need to support collections. Anyone using this latter approach could get stuck explaining why cost-effective, larger consolidated collections are a mistake.
Some of you are aware that Scientific Collections International<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.scicoll.org_&d=AwIFAw&c=-dg2m7zWuuDZ0MUcV7Sdqw&r=CLFZJ3fvGSmDp7xK1dNZfh6uGV_h-8NVlo3fXNoRNzI&m=C6opnsvYYxKd7yZyqD95WYSairMcroCbz5xuYrFMQWg&s=BO_z8gZRx6Vw4uvBLcNx2ca2ahpcfrzXtuAfML9KVJE&e= > (SciColl) is taking a different approach. The US Interagency Working Group for Scientific Collections<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__usfsc.nal.usda.gov_&d=AwIFAw&c=-dg2m7zWuuDZ0MUcV7Sdqw&r=CLFZJ3fvGSmDp7xK1dNZfh6uGV_h-8NVlo3fXNoRNzI&m=C6opnsvYYxKd7yZyqD95WYSairMcroCbz5xuYrFMQWg&s=olReoUNZM-kJOHbne6p6IMdkSPD6zshpyyOM99vMFIE&e= > took a similar approach in its 2009 Green Report<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__usfsc.nal.usda.gov_sites_usfsc.nal.usda.gov_files_IWGSC-5FGreenReport-5FFINAL-5F2009.pdf&d=AwIFAw&c=-dg2m7zWuuDZ0MUcV7Sdqw&r=CLFZJ3fvGSmDp7xK1dNZfh6uGV_h-8NVlo3fXNoRNzI&m=C6opnsvYYxKd7yZyqD95WYSairMcroCbz5xuYrFMQWg&s=1zXYEmg0w5jCIC07dD2nmj5vEyBAPDgoAPAPNJIDO30&e= >. For example, we're arguing that collections:
· Have been underutilized for some of our most pressing interdisciplinary research challenges (e.g., emerging infectious diseases, food security, global environmental change);
· Are essentially the evidence locker that allows us to go back and validate earlier research findings through re-inspection, re-analysis, and applying new analytical technologies;
· Could produce priceless, unique, irreplaceable information when new analytical techniques appear (e.g., SEM, isotope analysis, DNA sequencing); and
· Provide us with a time machine to analyze conditions going back in time. Astronomers and particle physicists try do the same thing with bigger and bigger telescopes and accelerators.
David
From: nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu [mailto:nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu] On Behalf Of Dirk Neumann
Sent: Friday, January 22, 2016 8:42 AM
To: nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu
Subject: Re: [Nhcoll-l] FW: making the case for natural history collections and their wider benefit to society and the environment
Hi David,
hi Andy,
this is not only a problem for smaller collections / museums, we see that budgets lines also for major collections are eroding and that there are calls to set "priorities". This is suited to start a negative cascade which leaves collections behind (with either "citizens science", "public exhibition / museum" or "research" fighting to raise the necessary attention to avoid cuts in their sector).
Instead of corporate approaches which integrate all parts of Natural History Research Museums, the different sectors start to cannibalise themselves in their struggle to survive. Vice versa, in some countries collections are "integrated" and fused to form larger units, which does not result in duplication of staff, of course.
The key question is to sell interesting pictures and news to media and local politicians so that we with our core business (=collections) remain present (and attractive) to a broad audience.
All the best
Dirk
Am 22.01.2016 um 13:51 schrieb Schindel, David:
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> [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<mailto: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
https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.spnhc.org&d=AwIFAw&c=-dg2m7zWuuDZ0MUcV7Sdqw&r=CLFZJ3fvGSmDp7xK1dNZfh6uGV_h-8NVlo3fXNoRNzI&m=C6opnsvYYxKd7yZyqD95WYSairMcroCbz5xuYrFMQWg&s=YkW7SfLOfKMcpWMex6SYlFHEuBxnpQLH3CNSrVNOz-c&e=
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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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