Museum Collection Panel

Draft Minutes of Inaugural Meeting Held in Building 2, SHC

at 10am on 23 November 2011

Present:     Apologies:   In attendance:

David Baker, Steve Parker, David Dawson; SCC representatives: Steve Minnitt, Dennis Parsons   David Hill     Chris Sidaway, George Middleton, Nicky Woodgate (Minutes)

 

The agenda items were discussed in the following order: 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 5, 6.

 

Steve Parker (Chair) left after Item 3 and David Baker (Vice Chair) took over proceedings.

 

	Item	Action
1.	Introduction to the panel and tour of Building 2. See item 3b below.
2.	Appointment of a Chairperson and a Secretary.   The Panel will consist of David Dawson, David Baker, Steve Parker and David Hill, with Steve Minnitt and Dennis Parsons representing SCC.  Chris Sidaway, George Middleton and other Executive Offices of the Society will attend as required.    It was agreed that Steve Parker should be appointed Chair of the Panel, with David Baker as Vice Chair.  George Middleton would act as pro tem Secretary at the next meeting until an appointment could be made; CS would approach David Hill.	CS
3a.	Terms of Reference and determination of day to day working arrangements.   The Terms of Reference had been previously circulated with the Agenda, and read by Panel members.  It was agreed to adopt the Terms of Reference and advise the Board accordingly.   The Panel reports to the Board of Trustees.    It was agreed that the purpose of the Panel was to perform specific tasks and report back to the Board.  It was felt that there was sufficient representation of expertise within the Panel with both David Dawson and David Hill being museum-qualified, in addition to Steve Minnitt and Dennis Parsons from SCC.  This was agreed with the understanding that the Panel could draw on other experts as and when required by co-option.   The following comments were made re the Terms of Reference:   There should be a current forward plan.  The Society needs to be seen to be working in harmony with SCC. The Society will continue to pursue its charitable objectives and will find ways in which this can be achieved through the Forward Plan. The Society’s collections are now kept within exceptional standards and safety. Agreed that ‘inspection’ under the 2 September 2008 Agreement should be regarded as a formal audit rather than a casual view by Society members.	GM
3b.	Tour of Building 2   It was agreed that the Panel had carried out a formal inspection of the Reserve Collection as the first part of its meeting and would report its findings to the Board.   The Panel had been shown all the spaces in which the collection is now kept and was impressed by the degree to which the objective to provide an appropriate standard of care and access had been achieved through the removal of the collections to the Somerset Heritage Centre.   The Panel carried out a number of spot checks of museum database records relating to SANHS owned and part-owned objects to ensure that due acknowledgement was given to ownership and funding contributions (where appropriate). Panel members were satisfied with the outcome.   The Panel acknowledged that there was a great deal of work required to update the documentation with the new locations.   The Panel expressed its gratitude to Steve Minnitt and Dennis Parsons for being so open and helpful in providing the tour and congratulated the museum staff on such an impressive achievement.   The Panel was particularly impressed by the conducted tours already being given on the reserve collections.  They noted the opportunities for tours to be given to SANHS members and for items from the reserve collection to be used for SANHS sponsored events.  This should be publicised.   It was also agreed to recommend that the next annual report should include the Forward Plan and that the Terms of Reference should be put on the SANHS website and appended to these Minutes.	SP                                                             GM
4.	Items for immediate decision.   a)    Research student from Durham   Steve Minnitt advised that a student from Durham has asked to borrow the Clevedon beads for analysis.  They would have a non-destructive scan.  The same student also wished to borrow 4 or 5 (of which 1 or 2 would be used for carbon dating and 1 for isotope analysis) of the 10 teeth from the cist burial at Clevedon.  The Panel agreed in principle that these could be loaned, with the proviso that they must be insured and collected in person and that due acknowledgement must be given to their ownership by SANHS.   b)    Mick Aston’s “Arthur to Alfred”   Steve Minnitt advised that Mick Aston had funds for another six carbon dating items.  He would like to date the possible human remains that are in the care of SANHS (but was not yet sure which ones).  The Panel agreed in principle subject to the usual conditions.	SM              SM
5.	Accreditation and the Museum Forward Plan   The September 2008 loan agreement with SCC requires that the Panel agree a Forward Collections Management Plan and attend at least one meeting per annum.   The Panel agreed that it was their duty to advise the Board.  The Panel have seen the summary of the draft SCC Forward Plan which has been agreed in principle.    The Forward Plan is needed for accreditation purposes and to state what is to be achieved; the Society can feed into the draft Forward Plan through the Collection Panel.   It was agreed that the paper by David Dawson entitled “SANHS and the Museum Service Forward Plan” should be brought to the next agenda.  It was envisaged that the content would be incorporated in to the SCC Collections Management Plan as SANHS policy.	GM
6.	Review of the terms of the Museum Exhibits Fund   It was regretted that the original Terms of Reference could not be found for the Museum Exhibits Fund.  It was suggested that the purposes should be: ·         To contribute an allocation to purchase items for the County collections. ·         To support conservation of items within the SANHS collections It was noted that the Fund includes the proceeds from the sale of the St Mary Redcliffe staircase.   The Panel will review the terms of reference and asked David Dawson and Steve Minnitt to draft a comprehensive statement to circulate by e-mail to assist the Panel in making a recommendation to the Board.	DD/SM
7.	Correspondence with Dr Nix referred to the Panel by the Trustees   Chris Sidaway referred to the queries raised by Dr Nix in relation to the management and ownership of the Society’ Museum Collection, the status of the Museum Exhibits Fund and the disposal of the St Mary Redcliffe Staircase.  Papers had been distributed to the Panel.  As Chair of SANHS, he is endeavouring to collate the documents requested by Dr Nix. The point was made that all SANHS records are public documents other than those protected by Data Protection relating to individuals.   David Dawson distributed the Terms of Reference for the working party charged with managing the disposal of the staircase. He reported that Anthony Bruce had collated a large volume of documentary material relating to this disposal, which would be made available to Dr Nix.   After discussing all the issues the Panel came to the view that, while they could not answer the detail of Dr Nix’s questions or search for the documents requested, they could provide fresh eyes and give their opinion on the points of principle involved. A report was required for the next meeting of the Trustees.	CS                           GM
	Date of next meeting   Wednesday, 14 March 2012, 10:30 am, Learning Room, SHC

 

Meeting closed at 13:40 pm.

 

 

Attachment: Terms of Reference