Mapping Museums: The history and geography of the UK independent sector 1960-2020

总结：该跨学科项目旨在绘制和分析1960-2020年英国独立博物馆部门的出现，特征和发展。从1970年到1989年，大约有1300家新博物馆在英国开放。这些新的博物馆绝大多数都是独立的，由社区和特殊利益集团以及个人收藏家建立，它们与公共部门的博物馆有很大的不同，以至于它们被认为是“革命性的”。英国现在有大约1600个独立的博物馆，但尽管它们的数量激增，我们对它们知之甚少。地区和国家资助机构和博物馆协会收集关于独立博物馆的数据，但这些数据没有相互参照，并且仅限于其特定的职权范围和感兴趣的领域。他们没有记录博物馆开放的时间，如果他们关闭，小型博物馆通常会完全消失，现有的信息无法映射或容易搜索。在研究的第一阶段，我们将整理和补充现有信息，以建立1960-2020年英国所有博物馆的数据集，并反过来建立一个数据库，可以根据包括位置，成立日期、主题、规模、博物馆类型以及这些属性的组合。这些信息将以视觉方式绘制，并将以开放源代码格式在Bishopsgate研究所主办的项目网站上免费提供。在研究的第二阶段，我们将使用数据库来识别独立博物馆的出现，发展和关闭模式，然后通过使用进一步的可视化，与艺术理事会英格兰工作人员的焦点小组，历史研究，以及与博物馆工作人员的广泛系列访谈来寻求这些趋势（或异常）。这项研究将提供英国独立博物馆的第一个权威数据库，以及它们最近发展的第一个历史。它对博物馆研究，艺术管理，文化研究以及文化和社会历史的学者很重要，因为它将：1。提供独立博物馆部门的细致入微的历史概述。2.对博物馆行业的大规模扩张和变化时期进行详细分析。确定地方或国家关注的主题。对英国博物馆繁荣的正统历史提出质疑。5.展示小型独立博物馆部门的规模和多样性，以及非专业文化生产的规模和多样性。为未来的研究人员创造资源。这项研究还将为艺术资助者和政策制定者以及独立和公共部门博物馆的工作人员带来好处，因为它将：1。2.追踪独立博物馆的出现与特定资金流之间的相关性。揭示博物馆行业的区域差异。4.为他们的部门提供坚实的知识基础，从而提高基于证据的宣传和决策能力。我们还预计研究将引起公众的兴趣，因为它将：1.制作一份口述历史档案，供业余历史学家使用。提高对志愿者组织的认识。为志愿者经营的博物馆提供其行业的概述。

Summary: This inter-disciplinary project aims at mapping and analysing the emergence, character, and development of the UK independent museums sector from 1960-2020. Between 1970 and 1989, approximately 1300 new museums opened in the UK. The vast majority of these new venues were independent, were founded by community and special interest groups, and individual collectors, and they differed from public-sector museums to such an extent that that they were judged to have 'revolutionized' the sector. There are now some 1600 independent museums in the UK, but despite the extraordinary boom in their numbers we know very little about them. Regional and national funding bodies and museums associations collect data on independent museums, but it is not cross referenced and is limited to their specific remits and areas of interest. They do not keep records on when museums opened and if they close, small museums often fall from view entirely, and the information that is available cannot be mapped or easily searched.In the first phase of the research we will collate and supplement existing information to establish a dataset of all UK museums from 1960-2020 and, in turn, build a database that is searchable according to factors including location, date of foundation, subject matter, size, type of museums, and combinations of these attributes. This information will be mapped visually and will be freely available in open source format on a project website to be hosted by the Bishopsgate Institute. In the second phase of the research we will use the database to identify patterns in the emergence, development and closure of independent museums and then seek to account for those trends (or anomalies) through the use of further visualisations, a focus group with Arts Council England staff, historical research, and an extensive series of interviews with staff in museums. This research will provide the first authoritative database of independent museums in the UK, and the first history of their recent development. It is important for academics in museum studies, arts management, cultural studies, and cultural and social history in that it will:1. Provide a nuanced historical overview of the independent museum sector. 2. Provide a detailed analysis of a period of massive expansion and change within the museum sector.3. Identify subjects that were or are of local or national concern.4. Bring orthodox histories of the UK museum boom into question. 5. Demonstrate the scale and variety of the small independent museum sector, and hence of non-professional cultural production.6. Generate resources for future researchers.The research will also have benefits for arts funders and policy-makers, and for staff in independent and public-sector museums in that it will:1. Inform our understanding of the factors that underpin the emergence and closure of independent museums.2.Track correlations between independent museums' emergence and specific funding streams.3. Reveal regional differences across the museum sector. 4. Provide a solid knowledge base about their sector and thereby improve capacity for evidence-based advocacy and decision-making.We also anticipate the research being of interest to a general public in that it will:1. Produce an oral history archive that can be used by amateur historians.2. Raise awareness of volunteer-run organisations.3. Offer volunteer-run museums an overview of their sector.