NRM rebranding - Railway Museum

[Ohmisterporter]

As time goes on the terms and wordage used in the museum will become accepted as "right" and those of us who try to correct it will be "wrong". I hate dumbing down and I think children like to addressed in an adult manner. Sometimes I wonder if the people doing the explanations in museums actually know the subject; or do they simply know how to write reports to satisfy their bosses. I read that there is one university in the UK offering Museum Studies as a course. If true then eventually all museums will follow the same method of display and explanation. Aimed at seven year olds.

[Arun Sharma]

As time goes on the terms and wordage used in the museum will become accepted as "right" and those of us who try to correct it will be "wrong". I hate dumbing down and I think children like to addressed in an adult manner. Sometimes I wonder if the people doing the explanations in museums actually know the subject; or do they simply know how to write reports to satisfy their bosses. I read that there is one university in the UK offering Museum Studies as a course. If true then eventually all museums will follow the same method of display and explanation. Aimed at seven year olds.

You are of course absolutely correct. As long as museums are effectively held to financial ransom by the Heritage Lottery Fund and Arts Council [England], they will require to be driven by an ethos which solely encompasses diversity, inclusivity and accessibility.

In practice, if you want money from these bodies [or the Government] then the best way is to put on dumbed down displays for the apparently poor, disaffected, educationally and physically challenged & disenfranchised. This anti-intellectual philosophy means that museums should no longer be regarded as collections and repositories  of material for research as that is self-evidently an "elitist" proposition.

The net result is that very often graduate curatorial staff can move from one museum to another [on promotion perhaps] without knowing or indeed, caring anything about the exhibits - Increasingly the exhibit knowledge base is held in the skulls of museum volunteers/Friends rather than in the skulls of the curatorial staff. Obviously this is a matter of differing degree in different museums.

 

I say this from personal knowledge being a long-term volunteer in a transport museum.

[jjb1970]

In themselves inclusivity and accessibility are entirely commendable aspirations for museums and should be encouraged. The question is the nature of that inclusivity and accessibility, achieving these commendable aims without diluting the core values and purpose of the museum.

[Boris]

 

 

Ugg

[TomJ]

Again I’m going to put my head above the parapet and defend the museum. I think I sort of get what they’re trying to achieve.

The word ‘national’ for a museum may well have negative connotations. It might hint at being a formal official title, perhaps suggesting a rather stuffy or dull museum of worthy things. It’s worth noting that the large museum in the group in London is always known as simply ‘the Science Museum’

 

And a periodic rebranding and refreshing is no bad idea, especially in the era of social media. It keeps the museum in the public eye and at the top of Facebook feeds etc.

 

We are the converted. We know what it does and visit anyway. Lots of people don’t

[sulzer27jd]

Perhaps those at the Railway Museum have discovered that the United Kingdom is not in actual fact a nation and that therefore their museum cannot be national. 

[sp1]

Perhaps those at the Railway Museum have discovered that the United Kingdom is not in actual fact a nation and that therefore their museum cannot be national.

But surely a ‘National ‘ railway museum means English, so anything outside that parameter should be cut up for scrap :-)

[2mmMark]

With a lot of the interesting exhibits elsewhere, it's the Notional Railway Museum.

[Peter Kazmierczak]

Talking of museums, we were at the Imperial War Museum yesterday with some friends over from the US. Haven't been there for ages.

 

Whilst the quality of the exhibits are excellent, we found it difficult to follow any sort of narrative in the WW2 section. There's Monty's staff car, oh, that's a bit of the Berlin Wall, now there's a Big Boy atomic bomb.........Maybe we didn't look at the exhibits in the way intended, but it seemed rather hotch-potch to me.

 

The WW1 section was better, though again, I felt rather lost by it all at times.

[Ohmisterporter]

We found the IWM North to be like that. A lot of money spent on the building itself and odd shaped rooms inside with a rather disjointed display inside. I like museums that tell the story in a flowing manner progressing from the earliest days to the present day. Liverpool's Maritime museum is good in this respect. Of course this is all subjective: what suits me may be anathema to someone else.

[doilum]

Given the diversity of the visiting public, has anyone asked them "What would you like to know?" "What would you like to understand or learn about?"

The answer may be surprising or it might be "Nothing, it is all about the experience."

[APOLLO]

Why not call it -------- wait for it -----

 

B R M

 

The British Railway Museum !!!

 

Sounds like a familiar magazine !!!!!

 

Brit15

[RANGERS]

I noted that the GDPR email which arrived from Locomotion, but which originated with the Science Museum, still names it as the National Railway Museum.

[E3109]

Perhaps those at the Railway Museum have discovered that the United Kingdom is not in actual fact a nation and that therefore their museum cannot be national.

 

Of course the United Kingdom is a nation.

I realise I may well attract the disdain and chagrin of, say, Scots Nationslists and so on but England, Scotland and Wales are mere REGIONS of the COUNTRY known as the United Kingdom.

 

I prefer to use the term 'Great Britain' personally, as Northern Ireland is a special case within this nation, I can empathise with both sides on the NI spectrum so I'd rather leave that one alone TBH...

 

But you're off your rocker if you think this country er, isn't one.

[sulzer27jd]

Of course the United Kingdom is a nation.

I realise I may well attract the disdain and chagrin of, say, Scots Nationslists and so on but England, Scotland and Wales are mere REGIONS of the COUNTRY known as the United Kingdom.

 

I prefer to use the term 'Great Britain' personally, as Northern Ireland is a special case within this nation, I can empathise with both sides on the NI spectrum so I'd rather leave that one alone TBH...

 

But you're off your rocker if you think this country er, isn't one.

 

The United Kingdom defines itself, to the United Nations as;

 

"A constitutional monarchy consisting of four constituent parts:

• 2 countries: England + Scotland
• 1 Principality: Wales
• 1 Province: Northern Ireland."

None of the constituent parts are "regions" of UK. We exist in a multi-nation political union, but that would probably be too big a sign for the MNPURM and simply calling itself the Railway Museum actually better reflects the facts.

[Fenman]

Of course the United Kingdom is a nation.

I realise I may well attract the disdain and chagrin of, say, Scots Nationslists and so on but England, Scotland and Wales are mere REGIONS of the COUNTRY known as the United Kingdom.

 

I prefer to use the term 'Great Britain' personally, as Northern Ireland is a special case within this nation, I can empathise with both sides on the NI spectrum so I'd rather leave that one alone TBH...

 

But you're off your rocker if you think this country er, isn't one.

 

I think you’re mixing terms.

 

To me (YMMV), England and Scotland are clearly “nations”.

 

At the other extreme, the “United Kingdom” (sic) is obviously an entity of some sort, but I don’t think of it as a “nation” - the constituent parts are too separate. “Country” or “state” might be a good word for it.

 

It reminds me of the US (“one nation under God”, allegedly); yet within it are entities with names like “Navajo Nation” - which suggests things might be more complicated than they first appear.

 

Paul

Edited May 31, 2018 by Fenman

[Dava]

There is of course a Museum of Scottish railways at Bo'Ness [plus Riverside at Glasgow], and two sites in Northern Ireland at Cultra and Whitehead which constitute Ulster's or even an all-Ireland collection. So 'national' is really a collection representing England and Wales.

[Pacific231G]

Why not call it -------- wait for it -----

 

B R M

 

The British Railway Museum !!!

 

Sounds like a familiar magazine !!!!!

 

Brit15

The British Railway Museum would imply that it only included items of British provenance or use. National Railway Museum suggests that it's the nation's collection of railway related objects which may well include items from other counries.

The National Gallery has a lot of works from non-British artists from Raphael to Monet but if a gallery was advertising its British Collection I'd assume I was only going to see the work of British artists or works created in Britain.  Of course all that goes straight out of the window when you set foot in the British Museum which is mainly full of objects that were simply brought to Britain. 

As always it's very hard to come up with titles that actually define things. We all sort of know what a railway is but I'd be surprised if anyone here could actually define it in a way that we could all agree with.

[Coryton]

I noted that the GDPR email which arrived from Locomotion, but which originated with the Science Museum, still names it as the National Railway Museum.

 

I think it is still the National Railway Museum, but the new logo just calls it the Railway Museum.

 

Not at all confusing.

[Steamport Southport]

I think it should be renamed the Naughty Railway Museum. 

 

 

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-44324691

 

 

 

 

Jason

[Fenman]

The British Railway Museum would imply that it only included items of British provenance or use. National Railway Museum suggests that it's the nation's collection of railway related objects which may well include items from other counries.

The National Gallery has a lot of works from non-British artists from Raphael to Monet but if a gallery was advertising its British Collection I'd assume I was only going to see the work of British artists or works created in Britain. Of course all that goes straight out of the window when you set foot in the British Museum which is mainly full of objects that were simply brought to Britain.

As always it's very hard to come up with titles that actually define things. We all sort of know what a railway is but I'd be surprised if anyone here could actually define it in a way that we could all agree with.

“The” National Gallery? There is of course also a Scottish National Gallery in lovely Edinburgh. Not far from the National Library of Scotland. Etc.

 

This stuff is fun!

 

Paul

[Steamport Southport]

There's also a National Museum Of Liverpool....

 

http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/

 

 

 

Jason

[Pacific231G]

“The” National Gallery? There is of course also a Scottish National Gallery in lovely Edinburgh. Not far from the National Library of Scotland. Etc.

 

This stuff is fun!

 

 

I haven't been to it for many years but the Scottish National Gallery - which was the National Gallery of Scotland until about 2011- describes itself as " the national collection of Scottish and international art" and its aims are "to engage, inform and inspire the broadest possible public"* .Presumably its aims also include conserving the national collection but it's that balance between engaging informing and inspiring (which echoes the Reithian BBC aims to Inform, educate and entertain)  that is the tightrope that museum curators and governors always have to negotiate.You can't inspire and inform people without engaging with them but there's little point in having hordes of people coming through the doors if you then do very little to inform or inspire them. 

 

Quite frankly,  many of the museums I remember from my childhood with endless glass cases full of objects but the barest of descriptions and no interpretation failed on all three counts though they were no doubt a useful resource for scholarly research. .  

 

 

* Meanwhile in not so obviously beautiful Glasgow, the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum claims to be Scotland's most visited free attraction. It is though more than  just an art gallery. 

[Fenman]

...

Quite frankly,  many of the museums I remember from my childhood with endless glass cases full of objects but the barest of descriptions and no interpretation failed on all three counts though they were no doubt a useful resource for scholarly research. .  

...

 

 

You can still find a few old-school places around.

 

They are from the German tradition - a country where it is still commonplace to walk around a museum and see one giant glass case after another, each containing dozens of flint hand axes all of which are ever so slightly different from the next one. The polite word is a "typological" approach. Though that word is not usually at the forefront of my mind when I am a visitor...

 

The typological approach was common in the development of archaeology as a science: but from the second half of the twentieth century, first in North America then in the UK (and elsewhere), the "New Archaeology" took over, based more on anthropological science than traditional typologies of objects.

 

And, in a heroic effort to get us back On Topic - maybe the NRM is going through a similar shift?

 

Paul

Edited June 1, 2018 by Fenman

[stewartingram]

Not that I agree with the rebranding, and more so with the so called explanation from them, but look at it this way:

 

You walk down the High Street, and find a large Co-op departmental store (Not so easy nowadays though!).

The sign outside says Co-op, as it does over its branches in other towns. So replace Coop with Science & Technology Museums (is that what they are called?, both being the respective brand names.

You turn left in when in the door, a sign says Grocery. Or you turn right and a sign says Mens Clothing. Different departments in the same store. Or to put it in the other context, you enter one of the chain of museums, the sign says Science Museum. Another building somewhere else says Photography Museum, another says Rail Museum. Different departments of the same chain again.

 

Slightly different viewpoint which I think explains it a bit, but I still prefer no change.

 

Stewart 

Edited June 25, 2018 by stewartingram