Development of the 3rd Edition of SPECTRUM

SPECTRUM is the industry standard for Collections Management.

First published in 1994, SPECTRUM has been adopted throughout the museum community both nationally and internationally and incorporated into a wide range of Collections Management systems.

SPECTRUM consists of 21 procedures, 8 of which are classed as 'primary'. These primary procedures are embedded into the Museum Accreditation Scheme as a national minimum standard for managing information about collections.

The standard also includes Units of information which define key terms and concepts in Collections Management.

spectrumlogo

From November 2003 MDA developed a revised edition of the SPECTRUM standard in partnership with a network of c100 museum practitioners and this was published in April 2005. It represents an important stage in the evolution of the standard. Key new features include:

New procedures covering Transport, Rights management and Pre-entry
Newly combined procedure on Insurance and indemnity management
Re-naming of the Despatch procedure as Object exit, to reflect museum practise

In accordance with MDA's commitment to promoting best practice in Collections Management, the SPECTRUM standard is freely available as an electronic document (pdf) and as webpages for non-commercial use by museums and individuals.

SPECTRUM is also available on a commercial basis to software suppliers and developers wishing to embed the standard into their systems through becoming an MDA Partner. To complement this, MDA is working on a compliance framework to allow buyers to identify systems that enable them to comply with the standard.

From April 2005, SPECTRUM became an open standard, which MDA holds in trust on behalf of the sector. This means that it will continue to evolve over the coming years through feedback received as the standard is implemented.

To download SPECTRUM go to spectrum.htm. To join the community of museum practitioners involved in its future development, e-mail spectrum@mda.org.uk with the subject line 'Join SPECTRUM'.

MDA is directly funded by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) to support and interpret the SPECTRUM standard.

SPECTRUM supports the documentation requirements in the Museums Accreditation Scheme.

For those interested in how the standard was revised please refer to the schedule below.

November 2003 - January 2004

An open call for participation in the SPECTRUM Working Groups was circulated to organisations and professional groups including: Association of Independent Museums (AIM), Museums Copyright Group (MCG), Federation groups, UK Registrars group (UKRG), English Heritage, Museums Computer Group (MCG), Group for Education in Museums (GEM), Museum Advisers National Network (MANN), Forum on Information Standards in Heritage (FISH), Modes Users Association, Museums Libraries and Archives Council (MLA), Museums Association (MA), Multi MIMSY group, and individuals including contributors to the second edition.

A call for participation in the SPECTRUM Expert Advisory Group was circulated to individuals.

By January 26th 2004 we had received 44 expressions of interest for participation in the SPECTRUM Working Groups and 23 responses to the call for the Expert Advisory Group.

The SPECTRUM Expert Advisory Group was established at a meeting held at the Imperial War Museum in December 2003.

The first specification draft for the development of SPECTRUM was produced on the basis of the outcomes of the above meeting.

The SPECTRUM Expert Adviser Group electronic list was set up and the specification draft was circulated to the group for discussion.

February 2004

The specification for the SPECTRUM development project was finalised.

The participants' interests in specific Working Groups were registered.

The chairs for each of the Working Groups were appointed.

March - August 2004

The chairs of the SPECTRUM Working Groups met with MDA staff and SPECTRUM Advisers on 15 March 2004 to discuss working and communication methods.

The main outcomes of the 15 March meeting were:

The SPECTRUM Standard will be stripped of most interpretative information and will consist of a) the SPECTRUM Procedures and b) the Data Standard. Interpretative information, such as the Legal and Management Issues section, will be held separately in 'SPECTRUM Family' publications. Definitions of the areas of activity and methods of working for each of the Working Group have been agreed.

The four content Working Groups were established. Much of the communication took place via the electronic lists specifically set up for each group.Work on content was completed by the end of August 2004.

September - December 2005

The final Working Group, the Usability Group, was established. The main areas of work included testing the revised procedures and examining its consistency and compliancy with the second edition.

The Usability Group completed work on the revised procedures in December 2004.

January - March 2005

Final content and proof-editing took place.

The standard was converted to webpages and to a pdf.