Streamlining facilities for access and preservation of Cultural and Heritage collections at the University of Leeds

简化利兹大学文化遗产收藏的获取和保存设施

• 批准号: AH/V01191X/1
• 负责人: Timothy Procter
• 金额: $ 141.73万
• 依托单位: University of Leeds
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2022 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=AH%2FV01191X%2F1
• 关键词: Streamlining; facilities; access; preservation; Cultural

The University of Leeds has one of the largest cohorts of arts and humanities researchers in the UK. This is matched by the significance of our cultural and heritage collections, managed by the University Library Special Collections. Five manuscript and rare book collections have been designated by Arts Council England as of national and international importance. We are archive and museum accredited, and the University Art Collections receive support from Research England to increase research access to the collection beyond Leeds. Special Collections operates a public Research Centre in the Brotherton Library, alongside two Library galleries, The Treasures of the Brotherton and the Stanley and Audrey Burton Art Gallery that are freely open to all. Special Collections is responsible for the International Textile Collection.Collections are located across different stores, with varied challenges. Collections have grown at pace over the last decade, diversifying in format. Stores are full to capacity and were not designed to accommodate many of these items, leading to a differentiation in environmental conditions and security. Moving collections across campus is challenging, limiting their use. In effect, some collections are inaccessible to researchers and at significant risk of degradation in quality. Collection knowledge is at risk of diminishing across the curatorial staff team and inefficiency in collection management limits time available to support research. These factors could decrease research use of some of the most outstanding collections in the country rather than placing them at the centre of many interdisciplinary research projects. The ambitious project supported by AHRC will transform preservation, access and use of collections with a number of concurrent programmes of upgrade works. The project will improve the research study environment. It will allow us to realise our ambition to provide access and increase use of all cultural and heritage collections in one facility. This coherent offer will enable researchers to work with diverse format items, across multiple collections, in a digitally enabled facility fit for the 21st century. By upgrading storage systems in our art gallery seminar space, we will enable creative use of the textile collection. By consolidating and reorganising several store areas we will improve preservation conditions, curatorial efficiency and knowledge. Pests will be minimised and large, challenging formats will have expansion space with storage solutions appropriate to their needs. This urgent and timely upgrade to facilities strategically aligns to the University Research Strategy and the Library Space Strategy. It addresses long term challenges that impede our ability to support research as broadly as the collections warrant. Our improvement plans approved by the National Archives accreditation scheme focus on the urgency of storage upgrades. The AHRC project brings significant added value to a philanthropic and University investment which will extend the Research Centre to offer new teaching and research room facilities, tripling our capacity to enabling new research collaborations with collections.The AHRC project will enable curatorial staff to spend more time supporting research visits and promotion of underused and newly acquired collections. It will enable groups to work with a rebalanced blend of physical and digital engagement in one facility. Creative activities will be developed with regional partners across the creative industries to deepen engagement. There will be a greater output of publications from the collections and a scaling up of research grant applications focused on the collections.

利兹大学拥有英国最大的艺术和人文研究人员群体之一。这与我们的文化和遗产收藏的重要性相匹配，由大学图书馆特别收藏管理。五个手稿和稀有书籍收藏已被指定为国家和国际重要性的艺术理事会英格兰。我们是档案馆和博物馆认证，大学艺术收藏品获得研究英格兰的支持，以增加研究访问收集超越利兹。Special Collections在Brotherton图书馆设有一个公共研究中心，旁边还有两个图书馆画廊，The Treasures of the Brotherton和Stanley and Audrey Burton Art Gallery，免费向所有人开放。Special Collections负责国际纺织品收藏。收藏品位于不同的商店，面临各种挑战。收藏品在过去十年中迅速增长，形式多样化。商店已满负荷运转，其设计无法容纳其中许多物品，导致环境条件和安全方面的差异。在校园内移动收藏品具有挑战性，限制了它们的使用。实际上，研究人员无法接触到一些收藏品，而且存在质量下降的重大风险。收藏知识在整个策展人员团队中有减少的风险，收藏管理的效率低下限制了支持研究的时间。这些因素可能会减少该国一些最杰出的收藏品的研究使用，而不是将它们置于许多跨学科研究项目的中心。澳大利亚人权委员会支持的这一雄心勃勃的项目将通过若干并行的升级工程方案，改变收藏品的保存、获取和使用。该项目将改善研究性学习环境。它将使我们能够实现我们的雄心壮志，在一个设施中提供所有文化和遗产收藏品的访问和增加使用。这种连贯的服务将使研究人员能够在适合21世纪世纪的数字化设施中处理多种格式的物品。通过升级我们画廊研讨空间的存储系统，我们将能够创造性地使用纺织品收藏。通过整合和重组几个商店区域，我们将改善保存条件，策展效率和知识。害虫将被最小化，大型，具有挑战性的格式将有扩展空间，存储解决方案适合他们的需求。这一紧急和及时的设施升级战略上符合大学研究战略和图书馆空间战略。它解决了长期的挑战，阻碍了我们的能力，以支持研究广泛的收藏保证。我们的改进计划得到了国家档案馆认证计划的批准，重点关注存储升级的紧迫性。AHRC项目为慈善事业和大学投资带来了显著的附加值，这将扩大研究中心，提供新的教学和研究室设施，使我们的能力增加两倍，使新的研究与收藏合作。AHRC项目将使策展人员能够花更多的时间支持研究访问和促进未充分利用和新获得的收藏。它将使团体能够在一个设施中重新平衡物理和数字参与。将与创意产业的区域合作伙伴开展创意活动，以加深参与。将增加馆藏出版物的产出，并增加以馆藏为重点的研究补助金申请。