Firebird PR > Portfolio > Museums, Galleries & Heritage > MLA Designation Scheme

Case Study: Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA)

Conducting an independent review of the role and impact of the Designation Scheme

Area of expertise: Museums, galleries & heritage
Client: Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA)
Project: Independent review of the Designation Scheme

The brief

The Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA), a Non-Departmental Public Body, commissioned Firebird to conduct an independent analysis of the impact of the Designation Scheme which identifies and celebrates the pre-eminent collections of national and international importance held in England's non-national museums, libraries and archives.

Launched in 1997 for museums only, the Designation Scheme was extended to libraries and archives in 2005. While it was originally envisaged that around 30 collections would qualify for Designation, there are, at the time of writing, 131 collections held in 104 organisations throughout England, with a Designation panel meeting twice yearly to review further applications to join the Scheme.

Objectives

The purpose of the review process was to:

Define, understand and evaluate the role and impact of the Designation Scheme to date, providing a comprehensive historic assessment
Evaluate the achievements of the Scheme against its original remit as outlined in two key government reports: Treasures in Trust (1996) and Mark of Success (2001)
Highlight common themes including strengths and weaknesses of Designated Collection holders
Identify best practice amongst Designated Collection holders
Determine areas for further improvement and offer recommendations for the future of the Scheme

Strategy and plan

Key activities we undertook during our review included:

Desk research
Conducting fieldwork which consisted of three data collection techniques: a questionnaire, structured face-to-face interviews and focus groups
Producing a report with recommendations for the future promotion and development of the Scheme
Presenting our research findings and recommendations to the MLA Executive Board

Evaluation and measurement

Over a 2-month period, our primary research produced:

74% overall response rate to the questionnaire
63% response rate to electronic questionnaire
20 visits to Designated Collections across England, resulting in contact with over 50 individuals and averaging nearly 70 hours of discussion
Over 15 in-depth face-to-face interviews
5 visits to off-site museum and gallery collection stores
3 focus groups with a total of 19 participants and 7.5 hours of group discussion
Nearly 5,000 numerical responses to the questionnaire
Nearly 1,200 non-numerical responses to the questionnaire

PR Services provided

Successes

Funding allocated to libraries and archives
Reinvigoration of the Scheme
Renewing and strengthening the links between the recently restructured MLA and Designated Collection holders

Testimonial

"We had very clear requirements at the outset of the project and Firebird helped us to shape a very clear delivery plan for achieving those requirements as well as bringing their own expertise and skills to the project. Acting as ambassadors for Designation and MLA, Firebird demonstrated 100% commitment to this key piece of work and I would not hesitate to work with them again. From the outset it was more like working with colleagues than consultants and Firebird stand out for their commitment and passion for what they do."

Paula Brikci
Designation Manager, MLA