Significance training
In the 1990s a number of community workshops were held to discuss and trial a standard approach to assessing the significance of movable cultural heritage. The formal result of these workshops was the first edition Significance (2001) text. Since then the authors have conducted many workshops, or advised organisations on use of their ‘significance method’, particularly in Australia’s eastern states and territories.
Jai Paterson, Roving Curator for Arts Tasmania, teaching museum volunteers at Oatlands Courthouse, Tasmania
Photo: Elizabeth Adkins
Reproduced courtesy of Arts Tasmania
Some motivated people working with collections have followed the advice in the book to teach themselves significance assessment and reported their work to conferences. Some organisations adapted the method to their particular audiences. For example, together with the Heritage Collections Council, Museums and Galleries New South Wales developed Training significance: Using Significance – a guide to assessing the significance of cultural heritage objects and collections in 2002. [1]
Significance workshops for the public are offered periodically by the outreach officers of large collecting organisations, by cultural heritage professional associations, service organisations, the Community Heritage Grant Program, and by universities.
University and Technical and Further Education (TAFE) enrolled courses in collections management often contain a significance assessment component. A Significance e-learning module will become publicly available from the TAFE sector in the near future – the Collections Council of Australia is a partner in this project funded by the Australian Flexible Learning Framework.
[1] Heritage Collections Council and Museums and Galleries Foundation of New South Wales, Training significance: Using Significance – a guide to assessing the significance of cultural heritage objects and collections (2001), Commonwealth of Australia, Canberra, 2002, viewed 15 March 2009, http://www.collectionsaustralia.net/sector_info_item/6
