Collections Research and Travel Bursaries: Almond Vallery Heritage Trust

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It is crucial to effective collections use that museums enhance, communicate and value the knowledge they hold, yet many museum staff and volunteers feel they rarely have the time or resources to carry out dedicated research or to develop collections expertise. This case study illustrates how an MGS Collections Research and Travel Bursary assisted staff within one member museum service not only to improve their own confidence in working with a specific collection, but also greatly enhanced subject-specialist professional relationships and opened up new cross-sector research opportunities.

The bursary assisted with travel and subsistence costs to enable Almond Valley Heritage Trust’s Collections Development Officer, Karen Bell, to attend the annual meeting of the European Oil Museums Network (now ‘Oil museums in Europe’) in Kohtla-Järve, Estonia. The visit was intended to help broaden individual knowledge and familiarity with oil museum collections, as well as to maintain and develop professional relationships and to exchange knowledge with European museums and collection specialists holding similar collections.

Karen undertook various activities, including attending various presentations and participating in discussion with group members, viewing the collections of the host museum and undertaking tours both of the town and of Kohtla Mining Park-Museum, a substantial former underground oil shale mine. The group was accompanied on the tour by reporters from Estonian National Television, who interviewed the Almond Valley Heritage Trust representative. The visit concluded with an excursion to the historic Estonia/Russian border city of Narva, together with a guided tour of Narva Castle.

• Opportunity to visit a region where the mining of oil shale and production of shale oil is an active industry.
• New information and exchange of ideas about oil museum collections.
• Development and strengthening of relationships with other European oil museums.
• Potential for more tangible outcomes including a shared website and the opportunity to participate in Europe-wide research projects.

• New museum contacts for advice and potential future loans.

Solid work was achieved in planning a group website which will help to publicize this specialist group of museums, with the potential of generating visitors and increasing access to the collection from across Europe. The possibility of opening up collections for European-wide research into the history of oil and gas production, as well as opportunities for the development of common exhibitions and potential sources of sponsorship, are exciting prospects.

The experience of Almond Valley Heritage Trust demonstrates how taking the opportunity to improve on collections care and knowledge can help not only to refocus the activities of an individual museum, but also to lend a new dynamism and sense of purpose to their work through the strengthening of professional relationships across the sector.

The participant prepared a report on the visit and provided feedback to other staff. Upon returning from the meeting, the existence of the group was mentioned to a member of the Capturing the Energy Group at the University of Aberdeen. As a result of this, Aberdeen Maritime Museum are planning to join the group and attend the 2010 meeting, to be hosted at Almond Valley Heritage Trust.

Almond Valley Heritage Trust were asked to fill out an evaluation form and to provide a brief illustrated report, measuring the outcomes against their aims and objectives and assessing how the project provided a learning and development opportunity which benefitted the individual, the organization as a whole, and the organization’s Collections Management Plan.

For more information on the bursaries, see the Collections research and travel bursaries page.

Categories
Collections
Grants

Project Start
1st Jun 2009

Project End
1st Oct 2009

Published
19th Jan 2010

Who Led?
Almond Valley Heritage Centre

Who Paid?
MGS provided a bursary towards the cost of the project.