Skip to main content Skip to footer
FREE ENTRY Docklands open Monday-Sunday, 10am-5pm Plan your visit For families For schools Collections
Menu
Museum of London
Supporting London museums Specialist support
In this section
About us
News
Training and skills
Local support
Specialist support
Development and grant programmes
Information services

Supporting museums with collections

For 2023 - 2024 we will support London museums with collection care via a FREE dedicated service provided by conservation specialists Spencer & Fry.

Museum of London’s Regional collection care programme includes training in areas like insect trapping

Collections care support, advice and training

London regional collection care programme includes training in areas like insect pest monitoring.

Online advice

Do you need direct advice about the conservation and care of your collection? London museums can access FREE advice via online platform (Zoom, Teams, etc) or telephone direct from conservation specialists Spencer & Fry. As well as offering direct advice, the specialists at Spencer & Fry will also appropriately signpost other support available through this programme and elsewhere.

To arrange your advice session email MD London collection care support


Training

There will be a comprehensive FREE collection care training programme for 2023-24 provided for Museum Development London by conservation specialists Spencer & Fry. Some of the training will be online sessions jointly commissioned with the Museum Development services for South East & Eastern England (SHARE Museums East).

Confirmed training sessions - click on title of event for details and how to book:

Completed training sessions

  • Collections Care and Conservation - PAST, held in July 2023
  • Environmental monitoring & control - PAST, held in Sept 2023
  • Hazardous materials: Mould - PAST, held in Oct 2023
  • Condition Checking and Materials for Display and Packing - PAST, held in Oct 2023

Upcoming topics - watch this space for details:

  • Environmental responsibility in collections care - Thurs 11 Jan 2024, ONLINE
  • Photographic materials - Thurs 25 Jan 2024,ONLINE

In addition, there will be a small number of full-day bespoke in-person training sessions to be delivered specifically for London museums, looking at popular topics in more depth.

Details of all these sessions and how to book will appear on our training page as soon as they are ready.


Emergency Planning

For 2023 - 2024 we have commissioned Spencer & Fry to provide free intensive support on emergency planning for a cohort of up to 12 London museums.

Emergency planning training programme - Starts Wed 22 Nov 2023 - NOW FULLY BOOKED!



Site visits

For situations where more complex and in-depth advice is required, a small number of free specialist on-site visits are available from Spencer & Fry.

To enquire about a site visit, either contact via your local Museum Development Officer or email Spencer & Fry direct: MD London collection care support


'How To' practical videos

The former Regional Collections Care team produced a set of practical Collection Care demonstration videos to accompany one of its training courses on the care of books and paper in 2020-21. These are now hosted on MD London's YouTube site as a Collection Care playlist:

  • Cutting strips
  • Introduction to book cushions
  • Paper corners
  • Quick tip on using a book pillow
  • Using a book mount
  • Using Secol strips


Online tools

Museum Development London offers a range of collection care e-learning resources developed by the former Regional Collections Care team, to help support museums with collections care skills. You can use them free of charge, to train your own collections team if needed.

The resources can be accessed by following the links below. Resources will open in a new tab:

Contact the team

Organisational health

Collections

Audiences