Acquiring and Displaying Cultural Heritage materials
Due Diligence, Provenance Research, Legal and Ethical Issues
This CERL workshop will be held as an in-person event at the British Library on Friday 15 September 2023. There is no hybrid option and we will not record the event, because we wish to ensure that participants feel free to openly discuss what at times may be sensitive matters.
The facilitators of the sessions each have extensive experience in the field and aim to organise the workshop so that much time will be set aside for group work and discussion. The language of conversation will be English.
Venue: British Library, London. Please convene at the BL Staff entrance on Midland Road at 8.50am.
Programme
In the context of acquiring, exhibiting and lending cultural heritage objects, libraries set out to legally and ethically do the right thing. In this workshop we will explore how we can ensure such a legal and ethical approach through the application of due diligence and provenance research, and how relevant workflows and policies can be established. Together we will explore the potential tension between ‘legal’ and ‘ethical’, how the provenance of some items in our collection may make them unsuitable for display or lending, and what impact libraries’ research into the origins of cultural heritage objects may have on libraries’ relationships with donors, the book trade, and other libraries in their country.
Morning programme
| 9.00 | Assemble in the BL meeting room |
| 9.10 | Welcome by Sir Roly Keating, British Library |
| 9.15 | Participants introduce themselves |
| 9.30 | Due diligence: presentations by Pierre-Jean Riamond, Chef du bureau du patrimoine Ministère de la culture, France and Lucy Mulroney, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University. Followed by group work |
| 10.45 | Break |
| 11.15 | Provenance research – introduction by Adrian Edwards, British Library and Anne Pasquignon, Bibliothèque nationale de France. Followed by group work. |
| 12.30 | Establishing a due diligence programme workflow by Helen Vincent, National Library of Scotland |
| 12.50 | Wrapping up the morning session: questions / discussion |
| 13.00 | Lunch |
Afternoon programme
| 14.00 | Is it legal/is it right? Presentation by Kristian Jensen, Chairman of CERL |
| 14.30 | The ethics of collecting and stewardship, including possible unethical or illegal content in existing collections, by Michelle Light, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University, and Adrian Edwards, British Library. Followed by group work |
| 15.30 | Break |
| 16.00 | The environment in which we operate, relations with the trade, benefactors, other potential buyers: honour and reputation. Presentations by Scot McKendrick, British Library and Bente Granrud, National Library of Norway. Followed by group work |
| 16.50 | Wrapping up the day: thank you and next steps |
| 17.00 | End of the event |
