Designation Scheme
The Designation Scheme is an English system that awards "designated status" to museums and library collections considered to be of great importance by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA). As of 2009, 125 collections are officially recognized.[1] National museums are not eligible for designated status.
The scheme was first launched in 1997 and originally covered only museum collections. It was expanded to libraries and archives in 2005.
Harewood House became the first stately home to be awarded designated status in 1998.[2]
Designated collections
- Ashmolean Museum, Oxford
- Barber Institute of Fine Arts, Birmingham
- Bath & North East Somerset Heritage Services
- Birmingham Libraries (Photography collections Archive collections)
- Birmingham Museums & Heritage (Fine and decorative arts Science and industry (housed at Thinktank) Birmingham history (including numismatics))
- Beamish Museum, County Durham
- Bovington Tank Museum, Bovington Camp
- Bowes Museum, Durham
- Bristol City Council Museums, Galleries & Archives Service (Collections related to Bristol’s role as a manufacturing city and major seaport)
- Bristol City Record Office and Bristol Central Library’s Local Studies Service
- Britten-Pears Library, Aldeburgh
- Cambridge University Museum of Zoology
- Cheltenham Art Gallery & Museum (The arts and crafts collections)
- Colchester Castle Museum (Archaeology collections)
- Compton Verney, Warwickshire (Archaic Chinese bronzes)
- Cornwall Record Office (The archives relating to Cornwall's hard-rock mining industry)
- Corporation of London (Guildhall Library and London Metropolitan Archives) (The History of London collection)
- Courtauld Gallery, London
- Coventry Transport Museum
- Dulwich Picture Gallery, London
- Durham University Library (The Bishop Cosin’s Library and The Sudan Archive)
- Durham University Oriental Museum (Egyptian and Chinese collections)
- Firepower, The Royal Artillery Museum, London
- Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge
- Hampshire Record Office, Winchester
- Harewood House, Harewood, Leeds
- Horniman Museum and Gardens, London (The musical instruments collections and ethnographic collections)
- Institute of Engineering and Technology, London
- Institution of Civil Engineers, London (The library, archive, and works of Art)
- Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust
- Jewish Museum, London (The Ritual Judaica collection)
- John Rylands University Library, University of Manchester
- King’s College London (Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives)
- Kingston upon Hull City Museums and Art Galleries
- Lambeth Palace Library
- Lancashire County Museum Service (The textile industry collections)
- Lapworth Museum of Geology, Birmingham
- Leeds Museums and Galleries (Natural science, fine and decorative arts, and industrial collections)
- Leeds University Library Special Collections (The English Literature Collection, The Romany Collection, The Cookery Collection, The Leeds Russian Archive)
- The Library and Museum of Freemasonry, Freemasons' Hall, London
- Lincolnshire Archives, Lincoln (Episcopal Rolls and Registers)
- Liverpool and Merseyside Record Offices (Photographic image collection)
- London Metropolitan University (The Women's Library)
- London School of Economics and Political Science
- London Transport Museum
- Manchester City Galleries (Fine and decorative art, and Costume collections)
- Manchester Museum
- Mary Rose Trust, Portsmouth
- Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Cambridge
- Museum of Domestic Design and Architecture, London (The Silver Studio collection)
- Museum of London and Museum of London Docklands
- Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester
- Museum of the History of Science, Oxford
- Museums of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, London (The Hunterian Collection)
- National Co-operative Archive, Co-operative College, Manchester
- National Motor Museum, Beaulieu, Hampshire
- National Tramway Museum, Crich
- Norfolk Record Office (Collections relating to the history of Norfolk)
- Northampton Central Museum and Art Gallery (Boot and Shoe Collection)
- Norwich Castle Museum and Art Gallery
- Oxford University Library (Special collections at the Bodleian Library: Rare books, Manuscripts and Archives, Maps, Music, and Oxford University Archives)
- Oxford University Museum of Natural History
- People's History Museum, Manchester
- Petrie Museum, London
- Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford
- Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery (The Cottonian collection)
- Royal Academy of Music, London (The Special Collections and Archives of the Royal Academy of Music Library)
- Royal Albert Memorial Museum, Exeter (The world cultures collections)
- Royal Engineers Museum, Chatham
- Royal Geographical Society (with Institute of British Geographers) (All geographical collections)
- Royal Institute of British Architects, London (The British Architecture Library)
- The Royal Mail Archive, London
- Royal Pavilion, Libraries and Museums (Brighton and Hove) (Decorative arts, World Art and Anthropology, and Natural History)
- St John's College, Cambridge (Old Library collection)
- Salisbury and South Wiltshire Museum (The archaeology collections)
- Sedgwick Museum of Earth Sciences, Cambridge
- Shakespeare Birthplace Trust and Royal Shakespeare Company, Stratford Upon Avon (All collections relating to Shakespeare’s life and times)
- Sheffield City Museum (Metalwork collections)
- Sir John Soane's Museum, London
- Southampton City Council Cultural Services
- Stoke-on-Trent Museums Service
- Tyne and Wear Archives (Shipbuilding, Marine and Maritime Trade Collection)
- Tyne and Wear Museums (Fine and Decorative Arts, Natural Sciences, and Science and Technology Collections)
- Unilever Archives & Records Management (Unilever plc), Manchester (Archive of the United Africa Company)
- University of Birmingham Library (The Mingana Collection of Middle Eastern Manuscripts)
- University of Cambridge Churchill Archives Centre
- University of Nottingham (The D. H. Lawrence collection; collections related to the Portland (London), Portland of Wellbeck and Newcastle of Clumber families)
- University of Reading (Archive of British Publishing and Printing)
- University of Sussex Library (The Mass-Observation Archive)
- University of Warwick Modern Records Centre
- Waterways Trust
- Weald and Downland Open Air Museum, Chichester
- Wedgwood Museum, Barlaston, Stoke on Trent
- Wellcome Trust (All collections within the Wellcome Library)
- Westminster Libraries and Archives (The Art and Design collection)
- Whipple Museum of the History of Science, Cambridge
- Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester
- Wiltshire Heritage Museum, Devizes
- Wordsworth Trust, Dove Cottage, Lake District
- York Museums Trust
References
External links