Collections Care Syllabus

The Collections Care Syllabus is a downloadable guide aimed at museum staff and volunteers who wish to develop their knowledge in collections care, created by SHARE Museums East in partnership with the Collections Trust.

This syllabus groups together the main topics associated with basic collections care with the aim of providing a ‘checklist’ of information.

You can download the Syllabus and the accompanying learning log below.

‘Practical Collections Care: a syllabus’ is organised into two sections. The first section deals with the concepts that underpin collections care, including collections care policies, risk assessment, insurance and emergency planning. The second section focuses on specific practical aspects of collections care including housekeeping, condition checking, labelling and marking, documentation, and handling and packing. Within each topic, there is a list of suggested learning outcomes, providing guidance on the kinds of information you would need to know to have a grasp of the topic. In addition, there are some suggested resources to support in developing knowledge.

The syllabus is underpinned by three published standards relating to collections care:

1. Publicly Available Specification 197: 2009 Code of practice for cultural heritage collections management, (2009), British Standards Institute (PAS 197)
2. SPECTRUM: the UK Museum Collections Management Standard, version 4.0 (2011), Collections Trust
3. Accreditation: the UK Standard for Museums and Galleries, (2011), Art Council England, (The Museum Accreditation Scheme)

As well as web-based resources, SHARE Museums East has a range of training sessions that support elements of the syllabus; relevant training can be seen below.

We have also created a Collections Care Syllabus ‘Learning Log’, the aim of which is to provide you with a way of recording what you have learned, either through attending training, exploring resources, or through developing your practice in your museum.

Collections Care is a central aspect of a museum. It is vital that the collections held in trust by museums are looked after well. It is this “looking after” of collections that often causes worry to museums of all sizes, whether they are volunteer run, or staffed. By gathering together the range of topics in the syllabus, the aim is to demystify some elements of collections care, and support people grow in confidence in terms of what they should and should not do with their collections – there is even a section on when to call in a professional conservator!

If you use this syllabus and accompanying learning, please do [email protected] and let us know what you think – we are always looking to develop and improve our support for the museums sector.