NMDC publishes briefing about museum partnerships 12 Aug 2014
NMDC has produced a briefing paper which looks at the breadth and variety of partnerships our members' organisations are involved in. Partnerships: an NMDC briefing outlines the many different sorts of partnerships national museums and Major Partner Museums develop.
Thousands of objects are lent and borrowed by museums each year in the UK - lent to places where the object has special significance, or to form the content for a museum or historic house, or for a shorter period for an exhibition. Loans ensure a much wider audience can see the objects, and this can increase visitors and drive regional tourism. Museums work in partnership to share good practice and knowledge, and on almost every area of museum operations - from acquisitions to learning, volunteer programmes to marketing, and through formal and informal networks dedicated to the care of collections.
Museums continue to adapt the focus and nature of partnership working as a way of managing the impact of cuts to public funding and developing greater resilience. However, it is important to recognise that much of the work detailed in the briefing had begun before cuts to public funding had begun, and therefore it is unlikely that this level of activity could be maintained if public funding to museums continues to decline.