Collections Demography

Collections Demography
A new UK/US project on archival and library collections

Have you ever thought of books as individuals, and of collections as
populations? The new collaborative research project Collections
Demography, will explore these interesting parallels in a very
interdisciplinary manner.

A computerised model of collections will be developed, in relation
to

    How old they are
    How often they are used
    The environment in which they are housed

One of the novel features of this work is that the model will be
seen through the lens of the values attached to heritage.

Led by the UCL Centre for Sustainable Heritage, the
interdisciplinary team will include collaborators from The National
Archives, University of East Anglia, English Heritage and the US
Library of Congress. There is a large body of research on the
influences of environment and use on heritage materials and objects.
The Collections Demography model will pull these research strands
together into a single model.

The heritage partners will play a key role in this project, acting
as case-studies for the development of the model. Nancy Bell, Head
of Collection Care at The National Archives, was enthused by the
idea: "By viewing collections as dynamic populations growing and
ageing in their own right, this exciting study is expected to
transform collection management across libraries and archives and
beyond." The involvement of conservators, art historians, chemists,
environmental, building and material scientists alongside
statisticians will ensure a holistic approach new in this area.

The researchers will start by looking into the future and factoring
in expected changes in climate and pollution patterns. They will
review the past history of damage and deterioration in library and
archival items--effectively their life-stories--and feed essential
"census data" derived from collection surveys into the model.

In an innovative move, the team will enlist the help of the general
public to gain insights into the aesthetic and practical value of
collections, in particular what is valuable and to whom. It is
expected that the model will then serve as a test-bed for a range of
scenarios of collection management.

The project is financed by the UK AHRC/EPSRC Science and Heritage
Programme.

In the frame of the project, two post-doc researcher positions will
open in the near future.

For details please see

    <URL:http://www.ucl.ac.uk/
        sustainableheritage/collectionsdemography.htm>

    **** Moderator's comments: The above URL has been wrapped for
    email. There should be no newline.

Matija Strlic
Principal Investigator
Senior Lecturer and Course Director MRes Heritage Science
University College London
Centre for Sustainable Heritage
The Bartlett School of Graduate Studies
Gower Street
London WC1E 6BT - U.K.
+44 20 7679 5994
Fax: +44 20 7916 1887
Mobile: +44 79 6492 5660
Skype: matija.strlic


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