The Museums, Libraries and Archives Council response to Accreditation Development: Analysis and interpretation of online survey findings and Curatorial Adviser Review 2010. Published January 2011.

Introduction

The Accreditation Scheme is being redeveloped in a project led by MLA with input from stakeholders across the UK.

This redevelopment is designed to strengthen Accreditation as the UK agreed standard, making it a more powerful improvement tool for museums, focusing on the needs and aspirations of users, as well as a more rigorous benchmark.

The new standard is currently being tested in a pilot phase in ten museums and services across the UK.

As part of the development, MLA commissioned Fusion Research + Analytics to devise and analyse an online survey to gauge the sector’s reaction to the proposed new requirements. Hopkins van Mil (HVM) was commissioned to write a report interpreting the responses.

MLA also commissioned consultants Emma King and Alison Bodley to undertake a review of the Curatorial Adviser (CA) network across the UK and identify ways in which it could be improved.

MLA welcomes these reports. This paper outlines MLA’s response to their main findings. It also details our vision for Accreditation having taken the key recommendations of the reports into account.

Where we are now?

In December 2010 it was confirmed that Arts Council England (ACE) will become the new administering organisation of the Accreditation Scheme during the latter end of 2011. Accreditation is widely recognised as a strong, sustainable and cost effective standard which has quietly transformed museums over the past two decades. Participation in Accreditation continues to grow and it is a model that generates interest internationally and in other cultural sectors.

The review of Accreditation has developed since December 2008 in a consultative and iterative way. MLA is very aware that Accreditation’s strength comes from voluntary participation in the scheme. Recognising the diversity of the sector, a balance has to be struck between the need to encourage the sector to develop through higher requirements in particular areas, while continuing with a standard which has one set of criteria.

As of January 2011, piloting of the developed standard: Accreditation 2011, is still underway. MLA is extremely grateful to the colleagues at the ten museums and services that volunteered to try this out. Feedback from the pilots is being used to refine the standard further and to develop the associated process and guidance.

Detailed work to transfer Accreditation to ACE and to progress the elements of the development project which were put on hold until the future became more certain, will now begin.

Accreditation 2011

One of the main aims in renewing Accreditation was to make it more useful to participants. We wanted to re-focus the standard so that it helped colleagues address contemporary challenges. We also want to ensure that museums are relevant, understanding and able to respond to the needs of the communities they serve, with a focus on becoming increasingly resilient and effectively managed.

Accreditation 2011 has at its heart the relationship between the museum and the people who use it. As we enter a period of reduced public funding it is vital that museums demonstrate a clear ambition to engage with their users, focusing on learning and identity, understanding their role in the wider agenda. It has three interlinked sections:

• Organisational health
• Collections
• Users and their experiences

Museums will be asked to demonstrate how they have met the standard requirements in each section. Information relating to each section should interlink to demonstrate the connections between delivery, management and planning activity.

This iteration of Accreditation focuses the spotlight on users and their experiences and needs, ensuring museums are responsive, for example through requiring consultation processes that feed directly into forward planning.

Throughout the consultation there has been a high degree of consensus about how Accreditation should develop. However, the sector was divided on the question of whether the standard should include a requirement about environmental sustainability. Some thought the inclusion of this requirement was beyond the scope of Accreditation, whereas others considered it a central issue for museums. Overall, regardless of the scale of the museum, between 44 to 60 per cent of respondents rated it as important to include this within the UK standard for museums. The Advisory Panel therefore recommended that all museums should be asked to articulate their approach to environmental sustainability in the new standard. As with all the requirements this will be scalable and guidance will be provided.

The Accreditation Standard will be published as a succinct document presenting a clear list of requirements, available in both electronic and printed form.

The standard will be accompanied by a guidance document, incorporating advice and case studies and signposting additional support such as the revised ’Benchmarks in Collections Care’, the ‘National Code of Practice for Visitor Attractions’ and the ‘Kids in Museums Manifesto’.
In addition, assessment criteria will be published providing greater detail on the type of documentation and information museums should provide to demonstrate compliance. Within this, the reasonable expectations on museums of different scales – the crucial scalability factor, will be made explicit.

Another key aim of the review of Accreditation, was to simplify processes and make participation in the scheme more straightforward. As a result, there will be greater flexibility regarding the evidence that will be accepted to demonstrate that requirements have been met. This will apply to both new and existing participants and will be detailed in the ‘Assessment Criteria’.

There will be no new application process for existing participants - compliance will be demonstrated through an updated Accreditation Returns process. Returns will be pre-populated where possible and tailored to each museum to make Accreditation less of a discrete exercise and instead one that is increasingly aligned to each individual museum’s management and planning activities. Going forward, there will be more interest in how museums are doing things, not just what they are doing.

During the summer 2009 consultation phase3, colleagues asked for the opportunity to demonstrate where their museum was achieving above the standard, with a view to identifying good practice. This will be accommodated with new free text areas in the application form which provide the ability to provide additional information. We would like to actively share the good practice which often witness through administering the scheme.

All returns and applications will be assessed, and considered by an Accreditation Panel before an award is agreed. Following consideration at a Panel, museums will receive notification regarding the status of their museum and a new development report to support future management and planning activity.

Accreditation will continue to have participation throughout the UK, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands.

Recommendations of the consultation

The report Accreditation Development: Interpretation of Online Consultation Responses 2010 put forward some key recommendations for the scheme which MLA has responded to as follows.

1. Promote Accreditation as a standard which helps ‘future-proof’ organisations

A number of comments made by survey respondents support the fact that Accreditation focuses attention on what needs to be done to get museums through challenging times (risk awareness/resource planning). HVM recommends that MLA and its successors work in partnership with existing support organisations to promote Accreditation as a standard which helps ‘future-proof’ organisations.

MLA’s response

The emphasis of Accreditation 2011 is squarely on organisational sustainability, placing the user at the centre of the organisation.

For the sake of their sustainability all museums, whatever their size or scale, should be clear about how they plan to involve and engage users and communities. Such engagement needs to lie at the heart of organisational development.

Forward planning is key for effective management, development and delivery and the requirement for appropriate consultation during planning will therefore help define a direction for the museum which is responsive to communities and consumers.

The developed requirements for forward planning, e.g. risk awareness and indicative resource planning will be supported with guidance, resources and training where needed. For resource planning MLA will provide prompts and guidance so that it is not onerous to work out an estimate for the amount of money and people needed to realise the museum’s objectives and aspirations.

The development of Accreditation is supported by an Advisory Panel4 made up of senior representatives from stakeholder organisations, e.g. Arts Council England; the Association of Independent Museums; the Heritage Lottery Fund, Museums Association, the British Association of Friends of Museums. The Panel supports the intention that Accreditation is promoted with branding that is more outward-facing than the previous brand and is independent from the managing organisation.

2. Clarity around expectation for each requirement of the revised standard

It is recommended that the administering organisation for Accreditation invests time in ensuring there is clarity around the expectations for each requirement of the revised standard. The qualitative findings demonstrate ambiguity around understanding some terms such as ‘resource plan’ and ‘organisational risk awareness’. This is most prevalent for the ‘access’ requirement (see findings 3.5).

Those applying for Accreditation, or renewing their information, need a better definition of what they are being encouraged to do to meet the standard.

MLA’s response

MLA accepts that the language in the survey was at times confusing. We are aware from the analysis and feedback that we had not been clear enough about what we were asking.

For the components that caused most confusion – for example the various collections elements - the requirements are being revised and re-written. We are getting useful feedback from the pilots on this.

The standard: Accreditation 2011 will be presented as a clear list of requirements which define an Accredited museum. Guidance for participants will be available in a separate electronic document which will be signposted from the standard and which can be easily updated. The assessment criteria will be available for participants and these will demonstrate what the reasonable expectations are on museums of different sizes and different levels of resource.

3. Mentoring and peer support as a way of encouraging the practical implementation of Accreditation

The report findings show that the size of museums may influence how easy or difficult the new requirements are to implement. MLA, and those that develop the standard in the future, should consider the value in mentoring and peer support as a way of encouraging its practical implementation.

MLA’s response

A real strength of the scheme has always been that any organisation meeting the definition of a museum, ranging in size from British Museum to the smallest volunteer-run museum can participate. It is one bar, but it is not one size fits all; scalability is crucial. The recently undertaken Curatorial Adviser Review, in support of the development of Accreditation, is clear that within the scheme, Curatorial Advisers have been pivotal. They have made the breadth of participation possible by voluntarily providing guidance to museums that require professional input.

The report praises the CA network, recommending significant alteration to its support and coordination. This includes improved advocacy to raise the profile of the role to benefit the advisers, their employers and the museums supported. In recognition of the broader support role undertaken, which is wider than collections specific advice, it is recommended that Curatorial Advisers are re-named ‘Museum Mentors’, and training and support is increased. The report recommends a national training fund or bursary. The experience and qualifications necessary to perform the role will be aligned with the experience and qualifications required for museums employing professional staff. Interactions with Trustees and Support Officers will be clarified. Recruitment and network coordination will be reformed. National museums, the National Trust and English Heritage will be encouraged to participate more fully. A national email network will be implemented.

It is recommended that all Museum mentors operate through a signed volunteer agreement with the museum, outlining the time commitment of the role.

MLA welcomes all the recommendations of the report, and will advocate their implementation within the revised Accreditation Scheme, as well as the re-structured Renaissance programme. Further consultation work is necessary with Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. MLA will also explore with ACE as part of the transfer of Accreditation the opportunities for mentoring and peer support more widely within the cultural sector.

4. Flexible approach to training provision across museums of different sizes

Tied to the previous recommendation is the need for a flexible approach to training provision across different sizes of museums. Survey results show that for most of the requirements, museums require ‘a little training’. We therefore recognise that a flexible programme of training support, as well as guidance on where support is available, is needed.

MLA’s response

During 2011 MLA and our partners in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are planning events around the UK to introduce the standard.
We are also developing a programme to train and familiarise the Accreditation Panel, Museum Development Officer and Museums Mentors (previously known as Curatorial Advisers) with the new criteria.

In England, via the museum development strand within Renaissance, we will encourage training tailored to particular requirements within the standard which will be widely available. We are also going to meet with the Association of Independent Museums, the Museums Association, Visit England and other significant stakeholders to discuss support for related training. Training providers are actively identifying elements and are arranging training to fit.

As mentioned earlier in this report, MLA is actively compiling guidance, prompts and scalable case studies linked to requirements within the standard which will provide support and encouragement to museum colleagues that are actively working to develop their museums to be a resilient and relevant as possible.

Contacts

Isabel Wilson, Project Manager: Quality & Standards, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Samuel Rowlands, Accreditation Manager, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

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