Modelling innovation and 'improvement': the histories and geographies of the Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland's models collection

该合作博士项目与苏格兰国家博物馆（NMS）正式合作，重新激活了19世纪上半叶由苏格兰皇家高地和农业协会创建和展示的300多个农业工具、机器和基础设施模型，然后转移到后来的NMS。这些收集于1790年至1866年之间，将协会与许多其他行动者和社区联系起来，从城市工程师到土地所有者、农学家、工人、工匠和农村低地高地及其他地区的创新者。研究问题包括：这些藏品最初是如何收集的？这些藏品和该协会的博物馆对策展人、官员和参观者有什么意义？这些模型代表了哪些实践、人物和地点？例如，连接工业生产和农业实践、城市和农村地区以及苏格兰与世界其他地区的网络？活动、创新和合作的模式？经济生活和当地环境的变化？自从这些藏品被转移到NMS之后，它们的用途是什么？在不同类型的博物馆或主题区域内进行展示或分类有什么影响？这些藏品现在是如何被使用的，未来如何为研究人员和游客发挥其潜力？

This collaborative PhD project, in formal partnership with National Museums Scotland (NMS), reanimates an under-researched collection of over 300 models of agricultural tools, machines and infrastructure that was created and displayed by the Royal Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland in the first half of the 19th century, before being transferred to what later became NMS. The collection, assembled between 1790 and 1866, connected the Society with many other actors and communities, from urban engineers to landowners, agriculturalists, workers, artisans and innovators in rural Lowlands and Highlands and beyond.Research questions include:Why was the collection originally assembled and what meanings did it and the Society's museum have for its curators, officers and visitors?What practices, people and places are represented by the models? E.g. networks linking industrial production and agricultural practice, urban and rural areas and Scotland with other parts of the world? patterns of activity, innovation and collaboration? changes to economic life and local environments? To what uses has the collection been put since being transferred to NMS, and what has been the impact of display or classification within different kinds of museum or subject area?How is the collection used today and how might its potential be realised for researchers and visitors in the future?