The Collections Trust has updated guidance for UK collection management standard Spectrum, with the aim of encouraging a more inclusive approach.
The updated Spectrum 5.1 includes revisions made in a “bid to address the ‘gatekeeper’ mentality that can be a barrier to opening up collections information and achieving Arts Council England’s (ACE) ‘creative people’ outcome”.
The revised advice on Cataloguing and Use of collections has been influenced by several rounds of public consultation earlier this year, it said. New policy questions and updates to suggested procedures including new guidance notes have also been added.
The revised definition of the cataloguing procedure now reads: “The ongoing process of recording and managing information about collections, often from multiple perspectives, to meet the needs of a range of users.”
The revised definition of Use of collections has been made to make “clear that this procedure also covers the use of collections data: Managing and recording how collections and associated data, including images and other reproductions, are used, whether by you or anyone else.”
The launch of the revised procedures will be supported by case studies, events, training and online discussions.
It has also made “small but important” changes to some of the language used, to make the tone more outward-looking.
For example, ‘your needs’ has been changed to ‘user needs’; and ‘your collections’ to ‘collections in your care’ or just ‘collections’.
The changes in Spectrum 5.1 follow the publication of Spectrum 5.0 in 2017. There are no new or changed units of information in Spectrum 5.1, so software systems that are Spectrum 5 Compliant continue to be so.
Sarah Brown from Collections Trust said: “We believe that cataloguing should be an ongoing, inclusive, and flexible activity – and Spectrum 5.1 reflects this key message. Thank you again to everyone who responded to the consultation.”
A summary of changes are available on the Collections Trust website
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