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

这个合作的博士项目，与苏格兰国家博物馆（NMS）正式合作，重新激活了300多个农业工具，机器和基础设施模型的研究收集，这些模型是由苏格兰皇家高地和农业学会在19世纪世纪上半叶创建和展示的，然后转移到后来成为NMS。这些藏品于1790年至1866年收集，将协会与许多其他参与者和社区联系起来，从城市工程师到低地和高地农村的土地所有者、农业家、工人、工匠和创新者。研究问题包括：为什么最初收集这些藏品，以及这些藏品和协会的博物馆对其策展人、官员和游客有什么意义？模型代表了哪些实践、人和地方？例如，将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联系起来的网络？ 活动、创新和协作的模式？ 经济生活和当地环境的变化？这些藏品被转移到国家博物馆后有什么用途，在不同类型的博物馆或主题领域内展出或分类有什么影响？这些收藏品今天是如何被使用的，以及它的潜力在未来如何为研究人员和参观者实现？

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?