University of Cambridge Museums and Botanic Garden

December 2009

“no sooner had my son picked up the first pack then he wanted to go to a museum and find out more”

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During 2009, the eight museums of the University of Cambridge and the Cambridge University Botanic Garden collaborated on the Cambridge Collectors Cards project, an

outreach initiative which aimed to:

• Increase engagement with, and enjoyment of, the University's collections by members of the public,

university staff and students,

• Raise awareness of, and celebrate, the richness and diversity of the University’s Collections and the key role they play, in research, teaching,

and life-long learning,

• Address preconceptions of the University’s Collections as being dull

and intellectually inaccessible.

As part of the University of Cambridge’s 800th anniversary celebrations, the 2009 Fund was initiated ‘to support activities taking place to celebrate the University’s 800th birthday, promoting or celebrating the contribution of the University to society’. We in the museums felt this provided an excellent opportunity to celebrate the outstanding collections in the University in a way which could engage, enthuse and inspire new and existing visitors. It also enabled us to develop an idea which had been previously discussed amongst museum staff but which had been shelved through

lack of funds.

Since 2006, the eight museums and the Botanic Garden have collaborated on the delivery of a family summer trail during the school summer holidays, comprising questions to answer in each of the museums and small incentives for successfully

completed question sheets. Supported by the MLA’s Renaissance fund, these have been relatively modest, low-tech activities

that have nonetheless demonstrated that:

• local families welcome such free informal learning activities during the

long summer holidays,

• the activities encouraged them to visit

museums for the first time,

• the impacts on visiting extend beyond

the project itself.

The Cambridge Collectors Cards project enabled the museums, for one year only, to significantly increase the scale, quality and hence impact of our combined museums

summer offer.

Introduction

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What we did

The Cards

The Cambridge Collectors Cards are a series of 28 cards featuring objects from the University’s Collections. They follow a similar format to the well-established ‘Top Trumps’ series, where players collect and swap cards, and play a simple game by

comparing the data given on each cards.

Three objects were chosen from each of the eight museums and the Botanic Garden, with each card featuring a picture, a short description, the name of the collection, and four categories of data. The data categories - Age, Distance from Cambridge, Length and Rarity, were chosen to ensure that the very

diverse range of objects would be equally well-represented in the game. The 28th card was a ‘wild-card’, a blank template for participants to complete by choosing an object from the collections, drawing and researching it to complete the data

categories.

The project was coordinated by Imogen Gunn who worked approximately 1 day a

week on the project with funding support included as part of the 2009 Fund grant. Education/outreach staff from each of the collections contributed by identifying objects and providing draft text, data and images. The cross-museum coordination role was invaluable, not least because her objective overview of the entire set of cards ensured the cards were consistent and worked well together. Design was carried out by James Seymour and Mike Lawrence, in-house designers at Victoire Press. This was a complex project with a long lead-in of approximately seven months, and greatly benefitted from the input and enthusiasm of

Tony Elliot and colleagues at Victoire.

Cards were flow-wrapped in random sets of four, while the printers provided an additional 25 complete sets of cards for display, promotional purposes and for each museum to have two complete sets for their records. It was important to us to produce cards of a high quality to ensure that they were attractive enough to visitors and potential visitors. We also felt that a high quality card was likely to last longer - and hence continue to promote the collections beyond

2009.

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The explanatory poster was available to download from the Cambridge Collectors Cards website

Project website: www.cam.ac.uk/museums/cards

The website, designed by Ella Woolner, and developed with help from Barney Brown in the Office of Communications and External Affairs, contained similar information to the poster – images of the full card collection, how to play the game, and contact links for each of the museums and the Botanic Garden. The museums url appeared on the back so the cards (they went to print before we were able to confirm the Cambridge Collectors Cards url) but a clear link on the museum page directed traffic to the CCC website. Both the poster and the website indicated that two of the museums were

closed during the year.

During the planning of the project we discussed making it possible for people to upload their wildcard designs to the website and to leave feedback about the project, but this unfortunately proved to beyond the

capacity of the project budget and timescale.

In the development of the project, we benefitted enormously from advice given by Ruth Randall at Exeter City Council, who had led a similar project at the Royal Albert Memorial Museum and Art Gallery (RAMM) in Exeter. RAMM used the cards to promote objects within the museum; we broadened the scope to include objects across a range

of different collections.

Initial research showed that some people would need quite a lot of additional information in order to understand the cards and what the project was about, but we didn’t want to clutter up the simplicity of the cards by trying to distribute explanatory leaflets as well. As it turned out, a large proportion of young people understood immediately what the cards were about; it was adults that needed explanation, which was provided by the website www.cam.ac.uk/museums/cards

and a downloadable poster

The poster illustrated the complete set of cards, explained the project and how to play, and gave contact details for each of the museums and the Botanic Garden. We printed 100 A2 copies of the poster and used it for promoting and explaining the project at events and in each of the participating venues. The poster was also available to download, while some museums also printed

off A4 versions for visitors to take away.

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Throughout the project we were extremely careful to not refer to the cards as ‘Top Trumps’, as this is a legally protected title. The Cambridge Evening News did however refer to the cards as Top Trumps, resulting in an immediate approach by the owner of the brand. CEN was approached and removed

the reference on the web article.

We also circulated a 1-page guidelines document to staff in the participating collections ensuring that everyone understood the project and was able to

explain and promote it to visitors.

Distribution

196,000 cards were printed, in a total of 49,000 4-packs, the vast majority of which have now been distributed. They were available for visitors to pick up when they visited each of the participating collections. Remaining supplies are being distributed to individual groups where they have requested

them.

The project was launched by distributing packs to people who came to the 2009 Museums Fair on Saturday, 2 May. The highlight of the event was the cutting of a cake, featuring the Collectors Cards, by members of staff dressed in period costume as characters from the history of the

University Collections.

Museums created individual swap boxes where people could exchange their duplicates; these proved popular, with front-of-house staff reporting, for example, how a child came in with a list of ‘wants’ and used the swap box to complete his set. One of the many benefits of this project was that staff in the museums were often enthusiastic collectors, and from there became strong advocates for both the cards and the

museums themselves.

Some museums distributed packs to visiting schools and groups. Cards were distributed to pupils at the end of a trip, in the Fitzwilliam Museum lunch room, or to the teacher for distribution later, to avoid distraction during

Cambridge Collectors Cards cake for the Museums Fair

Cambridge Collectors Cards were launched at the Museums Fair in May 2009, with the cutting of a celebratory cake

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the visit! Teachers also used them to provided something for children who had missed the trip. Sample packs were sent out to all primary headteachers across the county, and as a result many promoted the cards in schools and included information about the project in newsletters to parents. In some cases individual teachers or parents collected sets of cards from the museums and distributed them to members of a class or group. We were also aware of children receiving cards as part of birthday party

goody bags.

Staff from the museums have distributed cards when visiting community venues and when providing information and activity stalls at community events. Support from staff in the University’s Office of Communications and External Affairs, has been invaluable in promoting the cards to a diverse audience. Cards were distributed at: Cambridge City Council’s Big Weekend (July), Town and Gown Country Fair (June) Arbury Carnival (June); University of Cambridge Staff Garden Party (July) , ChYPPS (Cambridge City Council’s Children and Young People's Participation Service) sessions throughout Cambridge (July, August), Ideas in the Community sessions in three community centres across Cambridge (October). Packs were sent out to 500 members of the Young Zoologists Club run by the Museum of Zoology, and in February 2010 they will be given to participants in the ‘Creative Days' project for looked-after children in the East

Anglia region.

We received editorial coverage in the Cambridge Evening News, both paper and

online editions.

Evaluation

In planning this project we put a lot of consideration into how we might best gather feedback from participants, but found no satisfactory way of comprehensively and systematically doing this without compromising the attractive simplicity of the cards. Instead staff involved in distributing the cards have recorded comments where this has been possible, and more general feedback from these staff has also been gathered. A few comments were received directly by email, but we were not well set up to do this, so the data is limited. Valuable face-to-face feedback has also been gathered when distributing cards outside the

museums.

Museum staff distributed the cards at community events such as Arbury Carnival

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The Project Outcomes

Outcomes

for target audiences

A fun and free way for people to engage with the University’s

collections

Families and young people clearly enjoyed

collecting and playing with the cards.

“...thanks for the set [of cards] Wonderful! Have had a few games already and will have a few more with

the kids tonight.” [comment by email]

At the 2009 Museums Fair, several groups of young people sat down on the grass in small groups and started playing the game, without

prompting from staff or the adults with them.

Much of the feedback indicated a refreshing reversal in more typical parent-child interactions. When distributing cards face to face, we found that the children in a family found it easy to understand exactly what the cards were; their immediate question was typically ‘where can I go to get some more?’ The adults with them were often more confused and needed further explanation of

the cards.

“the cards were popular with the younger age group…what was nice about that was that younger people were explaining them to their parents/grandparents” [Fitzwilliam Museum

staff]

When distributing the cards off-site some adults were initially suspicious of the potential cost of collecting a set and many people were pleasantly surprised when they

heard that they were free.

The cards also proved very popular in schools: one teacher sent in a photo of her class ‘after a swap session’. Other schools

may have found them to be too popular:

“One of our volunteers told us they had been banned by her son's school, and were only to be swapped during lunch breaks and only by the school librarian.

“[Sarah-Jane Harknett, Education

Officer at MAA]

Pupils at Kings College School with their collections

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collect them too?’ At other times, staff were aware of parents who claimed to be collecting for their offspring but almost

certainly were collecting for themselves!

“at the [Town Gown and Country] Show we were inundated with students asking for them” [Staff from Office of

Community Affairs]

Enabling visitors to learn more about individual objects in the

collections

As we had hoped, there is also evidence that the cards encouraged people to engage more closely with some of the objects in the collections, by going to see the objects featured on the cards and finding out more

about them.

Increased awareness of, and visits to, the University

Museums and Collections

The cards have clearly provided good incentives for families to visit the museums, especially during the summer holidays. Many of these were people who visited one or more collections for the first time, or perhaps had never previously visited any of

the collections.

“Just to say many many thanks for such a brilliant card scheme over the summer. It really got us fired up to visit more places than usual and hit the spot

with the children.” [comment via email]

“[The cards] have been a fantastic bonus to the kids this summer - they have been all over on their mission to get the whole pack!” [email from

parent]

“gallery staff have noticed parents and children visiting specifically to collect

cards on Saturdays.” [MAA staff]

“[a visitor told me she] had never been to the Zoology Museum before, but went because of the collectors'

cards.” [MAA staff]

“a lot of visitors came specifically for

the cards.” [Whipple staff]

“many seeing the value of them in getting children interested in *all* the different museums, some of which might otherwise not have appeared so

attractive.” [MAA staff]

In a similar way, some children had clearly persuaded their parents to take them to the

museum in order to collect more cards.

“..many parents were “dragged” in to collect cards… most stayed and visited the museum.” [Fitzwilliam museum

staff]

“[my son] demanded a visit to the Sedgwick which duly obliged and

provided the missing cards.” [parent]

Collecting was not restricted to young people. When distributing cards we were often approached by adults, asking ‘can we

‘Swap boxes’ in the museums were popular

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“We were looking in a fossil book the other day and saw a trilobite and [my son] immediately ran to get the appropriate card from his

pack.” [parent]

“no sooner had my son picked up the first pack then he wanted to go to a

museum and find out more.” [parent]

Museum staff reported that they were asked where particular featured objects were, or were asked questions about it. The cards provided the basis for families and children to devise their own activities and approaches to

visiting and collecting:

“one family who had brought just the cards for this Museum and were trying to find all three [objects]. They had collected the whole set and were then going back to the museums to find the objects (only bringing 3 cards at a time

to save losing the lot).” [MAA staff]

“[my son] also set up his own swap box that we had to put out on our street and leaflet all the other families on the street to say it was there. …[it shows] the level to which these caught the

imagination.” [parent]

Some people reported being confused about the purpose of the blank ‘wild card’, perhaps because it required an understanding of ‘Top Trumps’ in order to choose an object which would be better than others. For others, the

wildcards clearly acted as an incentive:

“One young lad came to get more wildcards as “these were the best ones as they were anything you wanted them to be”…he most definitely had more than one in his set!” [Fitzwilliam

staff]

A lasting impact on visitors

beyond 2009

The cards have successfully raised awareness of the University Collections amongst visitors and potential visitors, and

will continue to do so beyond 2009.

“as the summer progressed and we went along to more and more events, children would come up and ask us about them.” [staff, Office of

Communications and External Affairs]

“Some Beavers had already been to the museums and started collecting. Word was getting around about collecting these from all the

museums.” [Group leader]

If anything, we may have difficulties managing visitors expectations once the

project is completed.

“the only negative was that they didn't like the fact they were

finishing.” [Beaver group leader]

A frequent response when distributing cards to young people was ‘where can I get some more?’

Completing the blank wild card with a favourite object from the collections was an incentive for some to explore the collections

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Because this project formed part of the University’s 800th Anniversary celebrations, and was funded through its 2009 Fund, the local museums and collections, with which we often collaborate, were excluded. We are not aware of any negative impacts that this project may have had on these venues, but trust that its success has not jeopardized our

future working relationships.

Consolidating and developing the collective outreach

programme.

This project has enabled the University Museums and the Botanic Garden to continue to build on the Renaissance-funded collaborative outreach programme which has developed over the past four years. In particular, it has enabled organisations of very different sizes and resource levels to contribute to and benefit from what has been a very successful project, and has contributed to the ongoing move towards collaboration and sharing in all aspects of the

Museums’ work.

The project has enabled the museums and collections to continue their collective response to the agreed undertaking to ‘enable wide access to and engagement with the collections by members of the public, recognizing in particular the contribution the University Museums and Collections make to the provision of cultural and life-long learning resources within the City and region’. (University Museums and

Collections Policy Statement, 2009)

In previous years, we have successfully used a points system in the joint summer trails to give an incentive for visitors to visit the less-visited museums. These have included the Museum of Classical Archaeology, the Scott Polar Research Institute Museum and, most recently, the Museum of Technology, which has very limited opening hours. The CCC project enabled us to promote the eight University museums and the Botanic Garden equally, irrespective of their size and current

visitor numbers.

Outcomes for the University Museums and the Botanic

Garden

Raising the profile of the

Museums and collections

As has been detailed above, the Cambridge Collectors Cards have raised public awareness of the museums and their collections, including their tremendous richness and diversity. Each card contained data for a particular object, and this data, in particular the Distance from Cambridge

category, has enabled us to continue to draw attention to the very diverse origins and

content of the of the University’s Collections.

The cards have shown themselves to be effective advocacy tools in particular when distributed away from the museums themselves: they are attractive, compact,

and easily understood by young people:

“…we found the …collector cards …a much more satisfactory way of engaging people in the short amount of time that you have on a stall than making things like we've done in the past.” [museum staff running an

information stall at Arbury Carnival]

We found that the children in a family found it easy to understand exactly what the cards were for.

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One particular challenge we faced this year was the temporary closure over the summer of the Scott Polar Research Institute Museum (for redevelopment) and the Museum of Classical Archaeology (for building work), during the high season of the Collectors Cards. By including cards featuring objects from these collections and distributing them along with cards from the other venues, we have been able to raise awareness of and interest in these collections which we hope will be sustained

until they re-open.

Changing perceptions of the

University’s Museums

People we spoke to when distributing the cards off-site often expressed surprise that this was a University initiative and indeed, a Museum initiative – enabling us to challenge negative pre-conceptions that many have about the words ’University’ and ’Museum’. This proved a useful opportunity to remind people (or tell them for the first time) that the museums all offer free admission and family

events and activities. Some of these same people indicated that as a result of the cards they might now visit one or more of the museums, and were pleased that the University Museums were visibly making

efforts to engage people.

“.. really pleased to see that some of the University's 800th money was

going on a project that was engaging.”

Successful collaboration with the University’s Office of Communications and External

Affairs

Although this project was conceived and developed within the museums, colleagues in the Office of Communications and External Affairs have been extremely supportive at all stages in the project, from the writing of the funding bid, the development of the cards and the website, and their distribution and promotion to community groups. Much mutual benefit has been derived from this working relationship, and we hope that this

will continue to develop.

Generating wider interest in the

project

The project has generated interest within the museums and heritage sector both regionally and nationally. A short article has appeared in the Winter 2009 edition of the

Renaissance East of England newsletter.

Comments about the cards have appeared on several blogs and we have received enquiries from collectors of Top Trumps from across the country (and world), in some cases offering to buy sets. Where appropriate we sent examples of the cards, but mostly declined, emphasising that the project intention was to encourage visits to the University Museums. We note that to date four cards have been put up for sale on

ebay, but so far remain unsold!

The Cards have enabled us to highlight objects from the University’s rich and diverse collections

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Project Coordination Imogen Gunn Design James Seymour and Mike Lawrence Printing Victoire Press, Bar Hill Web Design Ella Woolner Cake Alex Golding, Alex’s Cakes 2 Party 4 Photography Ella Woolner

Funding University of Cambridge 2009 Fund Renaissance East of England Budget (excluding staff costs) £7939 With thanks to all the staff at:

Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology Sedgwick Museum University Museum of Zoology Kettle’s Yard Whipple Museum of the History of Science Cambridge University Botanic Garden Scott Polar Research Institute Museum Museum of Classical Archaeology Fitzwilliam Museum Contact Liz Hide Museums Development Officer University of Cambridge c/o The Fitzwilliam Museum Trumpington Street Cambridge CB2 1RB eah12@cam.ac.uk 01223 336684 Print and high quality pdf copies of this report are available from Liz Hide

Acknowledgements