Energy In Store (offical project name 'Integrating Forms of Care - Building Communities of Practice around Reserve Collections’)

The Energy in Store project (July 2017 - July 2018) was a one year collaborative project between King's College London and the Science Museum Group. It explored the constraints and opportunities regarding access, consultation and communication between the Science Museum Group and the volunteer heritage sector. The project aimed to ensure that the collections are as well-understood, and well-used as possible. The Science Museum Group’s collections include around 425,000 objects, and in total seven million items including books, archival records, photographs and other media. Although some of these are on permanent display in the museums, and others will feature in special exhibitions and loans to other venues, most of them will remain in the stores for the foreseeable future. However, these ‘stored’ objects represent a vital resource for historical researchers of all kinds, now and in future generations. The project bought together curators from the Science Museum Group and lay experts for a series of structured discussions about the Group’s stored collections. This small working-group of curators and experts were united by an interest in the history of energy. Together they explored the roles that the stored collections play in the research of different communities with an interest in energy heritage. What skills and opportunities do these communities bring to the collections? Enthusiast historians of technology often include former professional engineers, model builders, or even inventors, who have detailed knowledge and practical skills that are vital to shedding new light on the collections, and also to bringing them to life. They are often the stalwarts of, and advocates for, volunteer museums and demonstration sites across the UK. [NB the official project name is 'Integrating Forms of Care: Building Communities of Practice around Reserve Collections']