A blog by Kristin Hussey, whilst the Assistant Curator of the Hunterian Museum at Royal College of Surgeons reflecting on the issues raised at a workshop held on 14 June 2014 that explored how to encourage clinical research in natural science collections. Read on to find out how collaboration can help…
Image: Kristin Hussey asking the question: What makes our collections unique?
At the beginning of the session we asked delegates to consider the crucial question, why is clinical research important to museums? The range of responses was illuminating with comments including: to reveal untapped potential for multidisciplinary research; to inform what material we should be acquiring; to quantitatively demonstrate importance of collections and to challenge the idea that museums are refugia for dead scientific expertise. Common themes of the responses focused mainly around demonstrating our collections’ relevance, improving knowledge of our existing holdings, tapping into new sources of funding, and informing our acquisition policies. Historic museum collections offer a wealth of potential research material to a clinical audience. In return for source material, clinical researchers can provide new and innovative ways of looking at existing collections, as well as informing new acquisitions.
When I began working with the National Programmes: Collections team at the Natural History Museum to develop a knowledge-sharing workshop; it became clear that reaching out to this particular research audience is something museums are increasingly focusing on. Working with the NHM team, we brought together colleagues from across museums and disciplines to think about improving access to our collections for clinical researchers. The results were discussions which were challenging, stimulating, and raised bigger questions about the future of access to natural science collections. For the purposes of the day, we defined clinical research as any project with outcomes which would demonstrably improve the welfare of patients, both human and animal. This broad definition allowed us to consider work undertaken by doctors and surgeons as well as dentists and veterinary surgeons.
Key discussions from the day included:
- Raising an awareness of museum collections as research resources by holding seminars and/or training days at veterinary colleges and medical schools
- Encouraging researchers to approach museums with access requests prior to funding deadlines to allow time to negotiate conditions and terms of access, including bench fees
- Recognizing the importance of demonstrable significance when considering applications for destructive analysis
- Future-proofing our collections by looking forward to new technological advancements
- Fostering stronger cooperation between museums and clinical researchers in order to share knowledge and expertise
The collections of the Hunterian Museum and the Natural History Museum are already accessed by clinical practitioners. For example, the Natural History Museum is often consulted by veterinarians dealing with unusual cases involving exotic and rare species such as the Thames whale or the recent autopsy of the last Javan rhino in Vietnam. The Royal College of Surgeons collaborates closely with practicing surgeons and dentists who use the collections to inform their studies. Research carried out by academics can also be considered clinical if the outputs of their projects contribute to patient well-being. For example, the Institute of Dentistry at Queen Mary University of London have developed the London Atlas of Tooth Development and Eruption, informed by the human remains collections at the Hunterian Museum and the Natural History Museum. This revised Atlas allows doctors to more accurately assess the age of children, which is particularly relevant when working with at risk children and refugees.
One of the main aims of the workshop was to formulate practical recommendations for facilitating collections access by clinical researchers. The kinds of issues raised by thinking about this specific audience seemed to reflect wider concerns within museum community with regards to research access. Constantly developing analytic technologies, particularly with reference to destructive analysis, were a topic of discussion, particularly the need to ensure we preserve our collections for the future. Further points of concern included how museums determine the relevance and significance of research requests and the charging of fees for staff and collections resources. Lastly, the group considered what more could be done to raise awareness amongst the research communities of how to access and make the best use of museum reserve collections.
Raising awareness of how researchers can access museum collections for study is an issue that spans far beyond a clinical audience. Researchers from different disciplines may not be familiar with the workings of a museum and therefore might be surprised to learn that our institutions often need to charge bench fees for the use of finite research spaces and even more precious staff time to accommodate their requests. It is equally very disappointing to have to inform a researcher that one or several of the specimens they already included in their funding proposal will be unavailable to study for conservation reasons. Fostering an open communication between practitioners and museums, ideally very early in the research process, can make access less stressful for both parties. It was discussed whether, particularly in the case of the medical and allied professions, there needs to be more effort made to reach out to universities and training centres to tell students about the opportunities available for them with museum collections.
A number of museums have already created resources with the goal of helping researchers along their way to including museum collections in their project- not only in terms of promoting the possibility of collections as a resource, but also the procedure which should be followed for the best results. Of particular interest are:
- The Grant Museum’s Research Page
- The Hunterian Museum’s Research Page
- The Natural History Museum’s Page
Also, Mark Carnall (then the Curator at the Grant Museum) has written a very helpful blog on the topic: How to find and research biological specimens in UK museums.
What I realised through my discussions with colleagues over the course of the workshop was that while research with clinical outputs was important, these projects still must demonstrate their relevance, significant and originality in the same way as any other research proposal. This is particularly the case when clinical research involves loans to off-site laboratories or destructive analysis. Whether its clinical or academic research, the priority of museums must be to preserve their collections for the future. Fortunately, while our collections are a finite resource, the way we go about preserving them has also improved with technology. Creating a digital copy of an object (through 3D scanning) or a molecular reproduction through DNA and isotope sampling are techniques for future proofing our collections in ways we never thought possible. Paradoxically, although it is the research community which puts a strain on our collections, it is through working with this outside community that museums can keep up to speed with what’s next. As ever, museums and researchers should have a collaborative relationship which acknowledges how one can assist the other in achieving their goals.
Kristin Hussey was the Assistant Curator of the Hunterian Museum at the Royal College of Surgeons. For enquiries related to research access please contact museums@rcseng.ac.uk
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