London Museums Hub Information Policy Framework. Claire Sussums Head of Information Resources Museum of London

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1 London Museums Hub Information Policy Framework Claire Sussums Head of Information Resources Museum of London

2 Work History 1996 to 2002, V&A: Documentation Assistant, Documentation Officer, Documentation Manager and (systems administrator) 2002 to 2004, Tate: Collections Information Manager 2004 to present, Museum of London; Head of Information Resources

3 Overview Information in society Information in the Museum sector The London Hub Information Policy Framework project Where we are now..

4 Some definitions before we start Knowledge - what we acquire from our interaction with the world; it is the results of experience organised and stored inside each individual s own mind in a way that is unique to each Information - what human beings transform their knowledge into when they want to communicate it to other people. It is knowledge made audible or visible Elizabeth Orna (Information Strategy in Practice)

5 Information in society Type, scale and scope of information available to the average citizen is radically different with the advent of the internet, mobile phones etc Unprecedented generation of and access to information Information is more portable and re-useable then ever before These changes have brought about fundamental changes in our expectations of and entitlement to Information and it has an enhanced profile and new importance in both public and private life

6 Information Landscape More complex than ever before More competitive More demands on our information More legislation Greater expectations More opportunities

7 Information Challenges Data redundancy Unplanned duplication Maintenance issues Increasing costs Information overload Capture for the sake of it

8 Challenges: Information Risk Lives have been put at risk by data losses, Information Commissioner warns (Telegraph.co.uk October 2008) Fears for personal data after government passwords left in pub car park (Guardian.co.uk 02/11/2008) Public could foot multimillion pound bill after prison officers' details lost (The Sunday Times 07/09/2008)

9 UK Government agenda Therefore information and it s management is high on the Central and local government agenda This evidenced by a number initiatives: Wealth of policy and guidance materials being produced on Information management particularly around security and risk Increasing number of government departments conducting information audits/assessments and writing strategies

10 Information in the Museum Museums are information businesses Our major asset is Information (collections, collections information and the stuff we know and record about the world we live in/lived in) Our major outputs are information: exhibitions, catalogues, learning sessions, new galleries, putting collections on-line etc Sector

11 Information in the Museum Potential for greater reach and a higher profile More publishing outlets More choices More opportunities Sector

12 Specific challenges for the sector More to lose? i.e. if we don t make the right choices Fear of losing out More risk (reputation, security, cost etc) Finding a balance between the information needs of our audiences and those of our organisations Potential for fragmentation through choice and therefore dilution of aims

13 Some questions How many times do you record information about the same individual or thing in different places? How much time is spent by your organisation retrieving information or recreating it? Do you know what information you hold and where it is? What are the most important information assets you hold? What is the status of collections information in your organisation?

14 Do we have the information we need? Do we have the information required to implement the organisations strategic objectives? Who is responsible for creating that information? How should we prioritise which information work should come first? What measures are we putting in place to ensure the long term viability of that information?

15 What to do? We need to implement a suitable infrastructure for the management of our information (as we do for other Museum functions e.g. Human Resources, Finance etc) We need a cultural change so that information is viewed and managed as an asset not a by-product We should put information at the centre of our work and not the edge Director of Technology and Chief Information Officer, National Archives - David Thomas

16 This is not new A lot of research and guidance specifically for Museums Information Management in Museums (Elizabeth Orna and Charles Pettit 1998) Many museums looking at the issues in the late 1990 s Spectrum Knowledge

17 London Hub Information Policy Framework Project Started in 2007 Funded by Renaissance Initial aims: to assess the what gains could be made by implementing information policies in the hub museums Investigate the risks, impacts and missed opportunities arising from the lack of information polices/strategy

18 London Hub Information Policy Framework Project Arose out of identified need at the Museum of London Bid for funding via the hub in 2006 in parallel with an application for the records management project Original bid was to implement information policies, project was slightly re-scoped Began work in 2007 by hiring Alice Grant Consulting to conduct the work

19 What is an information policy and what does it do? A tool that defines: The objectives of information use The priorities among those objectives The principles by which information will be managed It is a dynamic tool that can be used to develop information strategy, assist effective decision making on resource allocation, and provide and objective criteria for assessing information based activities.

20 Project Methodology 1. Research best practice in the sector of the development, scope and use of information policies in the sector, and wider public and commercial sectors 2. Consultation with information management staff at each hub museum to identify local information issues 3. Propose a framework for an information policy which could be adopted and locally adapted by Hub museums and other regional museums 4. Review and trial the framework

21 Stage one: research Conclusions were that whilst information policies were prevalent in the academic sector very few museums have them Planning information at a strategic rather than project or departmental level is uncommon

22 Stage two: consultation Hub Museum information staff were interviewed and an analysis of issues, impacts and the actions needed to resolve them was drawn up Whilst some findings were specific to the individual organisations a large number were common to all Museums

23 Some commons issues raised: Lack of clarity about responsibility for information across the organisation Lack of clarity about who has access to what systems, who needs access and who has responsibility for the data Information is often not reused Lack of clarity with regard to where museums sit in their respective information markets Cost and value of information not recognised

24 London Museums Hub Information Policy Framework Purpose is to is to provide a basis for each of the London Hub museums to answer key questions about the way in which they create, manage and use information. These are: What do museums need to know to succeed in their aims? What information do museums need to support this knowledge? How do people need to interact in using information?

25 London Museums Hub Information Policy Framework The aim of the Information Policy framework is to museums answer these questions by enabling: the development of an appropriate infrastructure competitiveness and productivity skills and education organisational cohesion participation of staff and users the formal recognition of legal responsibilities the provision of a context for strategic planning

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30 Key points about the framework It is flexible (you can pick and choose which elements to focus on depending on your organisational situation/priorities) It is designed to be scalable It provides the basis for making a business case for specific actions by outlining potential outcomes The approach is specifically tailored to the Museum environment but could be used in other sectors It s a light touch

31 The project: where are we now? We are currently piloting elements of the framework with particular emphasis on the first theme enabling effective Information management and access i.e. establishing who is responsible, what we have/what we don t have that we need, so that Information Policies can be written This includes the following work: Audit conducted at the Geffrye, Museum of London (MOL), currently in progress London s Transport Museu (LTM) and Horniman using work on their intranets as a starting point LTM, Geffrye and MOL have established senior level information champions and established Information Policy forums All work will be used to construct a set of resources to enable other Museums to build information maps, implement information policies and corresponding strategies

32 Some last thoughts If we can improve the way we view, create and manage information we will be able to : Foresee opportunities and be better placed to take advantage of them Strengthen our role in the information market place as a recognised and trusted information providers Maximise the use of our resources and the money spent by tax payers Be able to effectively complement our own information with the knowledge of others Be better able to join up our information products with those of others Improve the profile of collections information within our organisations

33 Save the date March 30th: seminar on information management in the sector at London s Transport Museum Come and join the debate csussums@museumoflondon.org.uk

34 Some definitions cont d.. Knowledge Management What the people who make up organisations need to know to act successfully in the organisations interests.supporting individuals in managing the process of transforming knowledge into information Information Management the implementation of information strategy in order to meet information objectives within the overall constraints of available resources.

35 We have more information now than we can use, and less knowledge and understanding than we need. Indeed, we seem to collect information because we have the ability to do so, but we are so busy collecting it that we haven't devised a means of using it. The true measure of any society is not what it knows but what it does with what it knows. Warren Bennis