This page highlights various organisations which offer advice, help and training either in the techniques of ‘collections care’ or in the understanding of ‘religious’ objects and their background. Don’t forget, too, that local museums and universities may be very happy to help.
Museum development
There is a pattern of regional Museum Development programmes across the UK; though mainly aimed at Accredited Museums, their Museum Development Officers can help all sorts of collections with all sorts of issues.
Association of Independent Museums
Archives & libraries
Association of British Theological and Philosophical Libraries
Religions: Libraries and Dialogue (RELINDIAL)
Conservation and documentation
Institute of Conservation (ICON)
‘Subject Specialist Networks’
‘Subject Specialist Networks’ comprise a variety of groups, mainly but not only museum-based, covering most museum subjects, many of which are relevant to religious collections, including art, archaeology, anthropology, Human Remains, Egyptology, Islamic Art, social history, Chinese Collections, etc.
SSN Consortium Subject Specialist Networks
Education
GEM (Group for Education in Museums)
LGBTQIA
Archives:
LGBTQ Archive Project (Google Sheets)
LGBTQ Religious Archives Network. Also their collection catalogue page
Graduate Theological Union LGBTQ Collections
Centre for LGBTQ and Gender Studies in Religion
St Andrews LGBT History Month 2019 reading list
The Oxford Centre for Methodism and Church History LGBT Methodists
Museums:
Pitt Rivers Trail: Out in Oxford
British Museum: Desire, Love and Identity LGBTQ histories trail
University of Exeter: Queering the Collections
The Museum of Croydon Queer+ Croydon
Faith-based: Christian
Cathedral Archives, Libraries and Collections Association
Material and Cultural Heritages of Religion in Ireland: Research Network
The Methodist Modern Art Collection
The Oxford Centre for Methodism and Church History (OCMCH)
Quakers in Britain: Records Custodians & Librarians
Faith-based: Sikh
Faith-based: Muslim
Everyday Muslim (Khizra Foundation)
Faith-based: Judaism
European Association for the Preservation and Promotion of Jewish Culture and Heritage (AEPJ)
Rothschild Foundation Hanadiv Europe
Association of European Jewish Museums (AEJM)
Faith-based: Freemasonry
Association of Masonic Museums Libraries Archives of Europe
Religion in the ancient world
Baron Thyssen Centre for the Study of Ancient Material Religion (Open University)
Religious buildings
HERILIGION: The Heritagization of Religion and Sacralization of Heritage in Contemporary Europe
Historic Religious Buildings Alliance
Future for Religious Heritage: the European Network for Historic Places of Worship
Academic
British Association for the Study of Religion
BASR is a member association of the International Association for the History of Religions (IAHR) and of the European Association for the Study of Religions (EASR).
UK Network for the Anthropology of Christianity (UKNAC)
Theology, Religion and Popular Culture Network
Have we missed something? If your resource or organisation is not listed here then please contact us at religionandcollections@gmail.com
Religion & Collections 