The following resources are designed to enable you to access documentation and resources related to the content of the training programme at the British Museum. Hard-copy publications are mostly omitted in favour of online material, which is necessarily more widely available.
Please note that many of the below resources are not authored by the British Museum, which cannot accept responsibility for any of the views expressed therein.
Museums: role and ethics
The British Museum’s policy on ethics and code of conduct for staff:
http://www.britishmuseum.org/pdf/20070707ethics%20policy.pdf
The British Museum’s policy on human remains (acquiring, storing and displaying): http://www.britishmuseum.org/the_museum/news_and_press_releases/statements/huma n_remains.aspx
Guidance for the Care of Human Remains in Museums (Department for Culture, Media and Sport): www.culture.gov.uk/images/publications/GuidanceHumanRemains11Oct.pdf
Human Tissue Act: www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2004/ukpga_20040030_en_1
The International Council of Museums, Code of Ethics:
http://icom.museum/ethics.html
Museum and Government (UK)
Department for Culture Media and Sport: the British government department with overall authority for museums, including funding.
The British Council: UK’s international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural heritage
The Heritage Lottery Fund: The Fund has awarded a series of grants to fund museum infrastructure, projects and positions.
The Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA): the national development agency working for and on behalf of museums, libraries and archives and advising government on policy and priorities for the sector.
Museums Association: museum ethics, conferences, museum-sector job adverts and training courses
English Heritage: the national organisation responsible for many of England’s greatest monuments and buildings. English Heritage is also the Government’s adviser on archaeology. www.english-heritage.org.uk/
Museums: international organisations, guidelines, relationships and treaties
The International Council of Museums, an organisation committed to the conservation, continuation and communication to society of the world’s natural and cultural heritage, present and future, tangible and intangible.
International Council on Museums and Sites: non-governmental organisation providing forum for museum and site-management professionals. www.icomos.org/ICOMOS_Main_Page.html
The Illicit Antiquities Research Centre: resources, news and articles relating to illicit trade of antiquities.
www.mcdonald.cam.ac.uk/IARC/home.htm
Museums (UK)
The British Museum: www.britishmuseum.org
Partnership UK programme, linking the British Museum with other UK museums, underlining its role as ‘a national museum for the nation’: http://www.britishmuseum.org/the_museum/museum_in_the_uk/partnership_uk.aspx
The 24-Hour Museum: news, listings and features from over 3,000 museums, galleries and heritage sites.
Cornucopia: Discovering UK Collections gives a complete picture of the wealth of UK museum collections through a comprehensive database available on this website. This pilot website provides information on the 50 museums in England with Designated collections. www.cornucopia.org.uk
PastScape is a public digital database provided by English Heritage, which is derived from the National Monument Record’s national datasets of up to 400,000 monument records, including maritime sites and wrecks. Although it is thus mainly concerned with sites and monuments, it also includes over 48,000 finds of artefacts.
Museum news
The Art Newspaper: news, articles and comment about museums and galleries, including job adverts.
UNESCO
Handbooks for printing:
Documentation of Artefacts’ collections
http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0015/001514/151447e.pdf (English/French) http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0015/001514/151447f.pdf (French/Arabic) http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0015/001514/151447a.pdf (English/Arabic)
Security at Museums
http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0014/001484/148462E.pdf (English/Arabic) http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0014/001484/148462A.pdf (French/Arabic) http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0014/001484/148462F.pdf (English/French)
Manuscripts
http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0014/001484/148463E.pdf (English/Arabic) http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0014/001484/148463A.pdf (French/Arabic) http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0014/001484/148463F.pdf (English/French)
Running a Museum: A Practical Handbook.
English: http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0014/001410/141067e.pdf
Arabic: http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0014/001410/141067a.pdf
Running a Museum: manual http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0014/001478/147869E.pdf
Object registration and documentation
The Acquisitions Policy of the British Museum:
http://www.britishmuseum.org/pdf/Acquisitions.pdf
The De-Accession Policy of the British Museum:
http://www.britishmuseum.org/pdf/Deaccession.pdf
Photography
British Museum Picture Library: www.bmimages.com
Equipment and software used by the British Museum Photographic Department:
Digital sensor back: www.phaseone.com
Camera: www.sinar.ch
Lights and flash equipment: www.elinchrom.com
Computers: www.apple.com
Image software, particularly Photoshop: www.adobe.com
Collections storage
The British Museum’s policy on storage, conservation and documentation of its collections: http://www.britishmuseum.org/the_museum/management_and_governance/museum_gov ernance.aspx
Museum security
Museum Security Network: Thefts from museums, and newsletter www.museum-security.org
Exhibitions planning, delivery and evaluation
The British Museum’s policy on displays:
http://www.britishmuseum.org/pdf/Display.pdf
Touring exhibitions and object loans
The British Museum’s policy on loans:
http://www.britishmuseum.org/PDF/Loans.pdf
Human Resources
The British Museum’s policy on Human Resources:
http://www.britishmuseum.org/pdf/Gender%20Equality%20Scheme%20-%20V1.0.pdf
The British Museum’s policy on ethics and code of conduct for staff:
http://www.britishmuseum.org/pdf/20070707ethics%20policy.pdf
The British Museum’s policy on Health & Safety:
http://www.britishmuseum.org/pdf/Health%20and%20Safety%20Policy.pdf
The British Museum’s policy on volunteers:
http://www.britishmuseum.org/PDF/Volunteering.pdf
Museum finance
The British Museum’s policy on financial control:
http://www.britishmuseum.org/pdf/management%20statement.pdf
Conservation
Conservation at the British Museum: http://www.britishmuseum.org/the_museum/departments/conservation_and_scientific.asp x
The International Institute For Conservation Of Historic And Artistic Works:
www.iiconservation.org/index.php
International Council of Museums; Committee for Conservation http://icom-cc.icom.museum
International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property www.iccrom.org
The Institute of Conservation (UK):
The American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works (USA):
The Getty Conservation Institute (USA):
www.getty.edu/conservation/institute
Canadian Conservation Institute (Canada):
Scientific Research Methods
Investigative techniques employed at the British Museum:
www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/science/techniques/sr-tech-intro.html
The Society for Archaeological Sciences (USA):
Information on radio-carbon dating:
The journal Radiocarbon (US): www.radiocarbon.org
Further information: www.c14dating.com
Thermoluminescense dating: Oxford Authentication (UK)
www.oxfordauthentication.com/index.htm
Dendrochronology: Dr. Henri D. Grissino-Mayer (USA)
Association for Environmental Archaeology (UK)
Laboratory For Archaeological Chemistry, University of Wisconsin-Madison (USA)
http://www.anthropology.wisc.edu/larch/award.htm
Archaeology and Museums
Museum of London Archaeological Service (MoLAS): professional body which undertakes excavations, but also provides resources on archaeological standards.
www.museumoflondonarchaeology.org.uk/English/SkillsServices/
Archaeological site manual:
http://www.museumoflondonarchaeology.org.uk/NR/rdonlyres/056B4AFD-AB5F-45AF-9097-5A53FFDC1F94/0/MoLASManual94.pdf
Archaeology Data Service: supports archaeological research, learning and teaching with digital resources, for example through virtual reconstructions. http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/index.html
Internet Archaeology: online journal with reports on excavations and research throughout the world.
Current World Archaeology: magazine: book reviews, reports and opportunities in world archaeology.
www.archaeology.co.uk/cwa/index.htm
Intute Arts and Humanities: database of links to archaeological reports, methods, institutions etc.
http://www.intute.ac.uk/artsandhumanities/
Education and outreach
COMPASS: The British Museum’s online database of over 5000 objects from the collections, with photographs, short essays and online tours. http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights.aspx
Education programmes at the British Museum:
http://www.britishmuseum.org/learning.aspx
Ancient Civilisations Websites:
www.ancientcivilisations.co.uk
The Group for Education in Museums: facilitates exchange of educational ideas and resources between museums.
National Association for Gallery Education: international association for gallery educators, artist educators and other arts and education professionals
Inspiring Learning for All: run by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council, the site offers guidance for those involved in educational programmes, including evaluation tools.
www.inspiringlearningforall.gov.uk
Other museums with good educational resources
The National Gallery: www.nationalgallery.org.uk/education/default.htm
National Archives online resources website: www.learningcurve.gov.uk
The Tate Gallery: www.tate.org.uk/learning/
London Borough of Islington Object Library website: www.objectlessons.org/
National Gallery of Art, Washington DC: www.nga.gov/education
Portable Antiquities Scheme
This website provides background information on the Portable Antiquities Scheme, news articles, events listings and access to our database of objects and images.
www.finds.org.uk/treasure/treasure_summary.php
Provides a summary of the Treasure Act
The Portable Antiquities Scheme’s Advice for Finders of Archaeological Objects:
www.finds.org.uk/treasure/advice.php
Treasure and Finds Legislation (UK)
The Treasure Act leaflet published by the DCMS:
www.finds.org.uk/documents/treasurefinders.pdf
The Treasure Act Code of Practice:
www.finds.org.uk/documents/treasure_act.pdf
Wales: http://www.museumwales.ac.uk/
Scotland: www.treasuretrovescotland.co.uk
Northern Ireland: www.ehsni.gov.uk/built/legislation/legislation.shtml
Dealing in Cultural Objects (Offences) Act 2003:
www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2003/20030027.htm
Dealing in Tainted Cultural Objects guide (DCMS publication):
www.finds.org.uk/documents/Dealincultural.pdf
Export Licensing (UK):
Export Licence Advice:
http://www.culturalpropertyadvice.gov.uk/trade/export_import_regulations
Export licence form:
www.finds.org.uk/documents/ExportLicenceApplication.pdf
Academic Resources
JSTOR:
A vast archive of scholarly journals, accessible in electronic format. Participation fees for any academic or not-for-profit institutions on the continent of Africa have now been waived under the Open Africa Initiative.
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