Collections Trust
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Contents |
Overview
The Collections Trust is an independent charitable organisation which works to improve the management and sustainability of cultural collections in the United Kingdom. The Collections Trust has offices in London and its work is supported by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) and Museums and Galleries Scotland.
Mission
"To campaign for the public right to access and engage with Collections by promoting Best Practice, encouraging Innovation and representing the interests of the Sector."
Standards
The Collections Trust is a publisher of professional standards, including the SPECTRUM 3.1 SPECTRUM standard for Collections Information Management.
The Trust has also collaborated with the British Standards Institute to sponsor a joint Code of Practice for Cultural Collections Management: 'BSI PAS 197:2009 A Code of Practice for Cultural Collections Management'.
The Trust is responsible for supporting museums, archives and libraries in achieving best practice. This support includes advice and guidance on achieving Accredited status under the Museum Accreditation Scheme.
The Trust also works with the International museum standards community, for example through participation in the development of the CIDOC Conceptual Reference Model.
Services
The Collections Trust is responsible for the following services and websites:
- Collections Link (Collections Management Advisory Service)
- Cultural Property Advice
- Digital Services for the Cultural Sector
- Virtual Library of Museums Pages
- SPECTRUM Terminology
Digital
The Collections Trust is a leading digital agency in the cultural heritage sector. It is responsible for the development of several key initiatives including:
- OpenCulture - a UK-wide network of digital media organisations across the Creative & Cultural Industries, including the BBC, London Olympics Organising Committee, British Library, National Archives and a variety of others.
- The Grid (formerly the Integrated Architecture Project) - a national infrastructure which will aggregate content from cultural venues and syndicate it to mainstream edia partners.
- Quality Standards for Digital Content - including the development of standards for Digitisation and Digital Preservation.
- SSNConnect - a simple web-publishing tool which draws on content from sector partners and services including Culture24.
- MLA Schools Participation Database - a UK evidence base demonstrating the use of museum services by schools.
- 2012: The Peoples Record - a community archive of content arising from the London Olympics in 2012
- Sector Legacy - an ongoing web archiving initiative to ensure the ongoing availability of sector professional information.
- Persistent Identifiers - the development of a framework of persistent identifiers to be applied to objects, collections and institutions.
- Terminology Server - web-services access to structured terminologies built around a standard SKOS model
Copyright
The Collections Trust is one of the UK's most active campaigners on the issue of copyright for cultural collections. It aims to promote best practice in the management and use of Copyright material, to encourage innovative approaches to licensing and to develop sustainable economic models for the delivery of cultural services to the public.
International
The Collections Trust works internationally both independently and in partnership with the International Council of Museums.
International activities include the development of localised versions of the SPECTRUM standard in the Netherlands and Flanders.
The Collections Trust is responsible for delivering the UK's contribution to Europeana in partnership with the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA). The Trust is also the UK coordinator for the related ATHENA project.
Related Digipedia articles
Further information
Museums, Libraries and Archives Council
Strategic Content Alliance
Museums Computer Group
Culture24
UKOLN
Museums Association
Association of Independent Museums
Institute of Conservation
