Towards a National Collection Two-Day Conference 2024

We are delighted to share the recordings of our final conference. The TaNC Conference 2024 was a celebration of the research and development embraced and supported by TaNC.

In 2021, TaNC initiated five major Discovery Projects aiming to investigate and harness digital technologies in order to break down the barriers between different cultural heritage collections, opening them up to new research, and enhancing opportunities for public engagement. At the conference, the TaNC Discovery Projects presented their achievements through a variety of presentations as well as dynamic and performative media. 

At the programme’s final conference, TaNC also launched its policy recommendations, aiming to help and inspire the UK cultural heritage sector and its funders to transition to a common set of standards which make will collections more visible, discoverable, inter-operable and secure. To view and download the Unlocking the potential of digital collections – a call to action policy document, please click here. English and Welsh language versions are available. 

TaNC also launched Towards Digital Collections; Resources for Galleries, Libraries, Archives & Museums, a training course aimed at Galleries, Libraries, Archives, and Museum (GLAM) professionals, funded by Towards a National Collection/ UKRI AHRC. The course is aimed at those starting or continuing their digital collections journey at small and medium sized GLAM institutions, but many across the sector would potentially find the materials useful. To access the course materials and book free training sessions, click here. 

 

All key sessions of the conference have been recorded and are publicly available on our YouTube channel. To view the videos, click on the links in the following overview of presentations: 

DAY 1

Welcome and Introduction from Georgina Young, Manchester Museum; Laura Pye, National Museums Liverpool and Sir Roly Keating, The British Library.
 

Lost in the Flood: Finding and using Community Generated Digital Content

Chair: Paul McCann, National Library of Wales

Speaker: Professor Lorna M Hughes, University of Glasgow
 

IIIF in action: Foundation Projects and beyond
Chair: Dr Carlotta Paltrinieri, Royal Holloway University of London
Panel: Dr Gethin Rees, The British Library; Joseph Padfield, The National Gallery; Ronald Haynes, University of Cambridge; Adam Tovell, The British Library
 

Community Generated Digital Content - Our Heritage Our Stories
Chair: Professor Barry C Smith, University of London
Panel: Professor Hannah Barker, University of Manchester; Professor Lorna M Hughes, University of Glasgow; John Sheridan, The National Archives; Professor Andrew Prescott, University of Glasgow; Professor Goran Nenadic, University of Manchester
 

The Sloane Lab: History with innovation in shared collection development
Chair: JD Hill, The British Museum
Speakers: Professor Julianne Nyhan, TU Darmstadt, Germany; Dr Andreas Vlachidis, University College London
 

Transforming Collections: Reimagining art, nation and heritage

Chair: Sara Wajid, Birmingham Museums Trust
Speaker: Professor susan pui san lok, University of the Arts London

DAY 2 
Introduction: Dr Allan Sudlow, Arts and Humanities Research Council. 

A social machine for the creation of a useful UK digital industrial history collection
Chair: Elizabeth Llabres, Bradford District Museums and Galleries
Speaker: Dr Tim Boon, Science Museum Group

Amplifying potential: developing training to unlock digital collections
Speakers: Dr Megan Gooch, University of Oxford; Professor David de Roure, University of Oxford

“To unpath’d waters, undream’d shores”: Five key transformations in UK marine collections connectivity
Chair: Professor Julian Richards, University of York
Speaker: Barney Sloane, Historic England

Co-Creation: Unpath'd Waters and The Sloane Lab
Chair: Dr Eleanor Schofield, Mary Rose Trust
Panel: Professor Stuart Jeffrey, Glasgow School of Art; Jonathan Combey, National Maritime Museum; Dr Andrew Flinn, University College London; Dr Alda Terracciano, University College London

Policy Recommendations - Unlocking the potential of digital collections: A call to action
Chair: Sir Roly Keating, The British Library
Speakers: Rebecca Bailey, Towards a National Collection; Dr Chris Michaels, Human Economics

Policy Forum: A call to action
Chair: Dr Allan Sudlow, Arts and Humanities Research Council
Panel: Dr Chris Michaels, Human Economics; Professor Tom Crick, Department for Culture, Media and Sport; Professor Julian Richards, University of York; Brigitte Vezina, Creative Commons; JD Hill, The British Museum; Josie Fraser, National Lottery Heritage Fund

Beyond a National Collection: Closing Remarks by Professor Ross Parry, University of Leicester