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What is Collections Link?
Welcome to Collections Link, the national collections management advisory service.
Collections Link is a collaboration of more than 20 national professional groups, bodies and associations who are responsible for providing advice and support to museums, archives, libraries and other collections-holding organisations. The aim of the service is to provide a single point of access to best practice in the care and management of collections.
There are four main elements to Collections Link:
- An online library of best practice guides and factsheets
- A telephone and email advisory service
- A national database of training and skills development opportunities
- A commissioning fund to support the development of new resources
Collections Link is managed by the Collections Trust, the UK's independent organisation for collections, in partnership with the Institute of Conservation (ICON) and the National Preservation Office (NPO). The service is funded by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) through the Renaissance in the Regions programme.
A note about audiences
The defining principle behind Collections Link is that the professional processes involved in managing a collection of physical objects are the same in any context, and any country, irrespective of whether you are a museum, library or an archive.
Although the Collections Trust is a museum-sector body, and some of the resources make explicit reference to museums, the service has been designed and developed in conjunction with leading organisations across libraries and archives. Every effort has been made to provide resources that are equally applicable across all 3 domains and, indeed, any other context in which collections management is an issue - as it is for Local History Societies, cathedrals and private collectors.
This principle will inform the commissioning and development of all future content for the Collections Link service, and we welcome any and all input from people with collections throughout the UK and worldwide to help us make this the best service it can be.
That's it! The service is free to use, and we hope you will find it useful and informative.
Best regards,
Nick Poole
Collections Trust Chief Executive
