How user-curated collections can help visitors be creative

Do you collect anything? Do you have a shelf of treasured children’s books or an album of stamps? Or even a collection of mugs that are just the right size?

Collecting is a fascinating human habit, and one that the museum sector is uniquely versed in.

So how can you harness this activity to help your visitors engage with your collections?

Let visitors make their own connections

Having a collection is an incredibly important thing.  “About a third of people in the UK collect something.” The Guardian reports, “Their reasons and manner vary hugely.” They suggest motivations might range from the comfort of accumulating belongings, or the sense of connection that objects can offer – such as collecting items once owned by a celebrity.

Collecting can involve comparison, display and storytelling as well as ownership. Those are useful starting points for museum participation.

“Learning how to collect the right kinds of things, to be selective, to order the material accumulated, to compare its qualities, to think about what remains to be found and to make sense of the importance and meaning of a collection are all useful skills.” Robert and Michele Root-Bernstein explain in Psychology Today, “The fact is collecting exercises a number of important mental tools necessary for creative thinking. The collector learns to observe acutely, to make fine distinctions and comparisons, to recognize patterns within her collection. These patterns include not only the elements that make up the collection, but the gaps in it as well.” They conclude, “In short, making a collection-a collection of just about anything-can provide the intellectual and sensual stimulation necessary to inspire your personal creativity.“

How can museums encourage collecting?

Saving items from an online catalogue can give visitors an opportunity to compare works, choose themes and explain their choices.

And browsing these user-curated collections is fascinating – revealing a wide range of intriguing motivations, themes and stories.

Here are 3 online resources to take a look at…

Rijksstudio and Collection Online

Rijksstudio offered a way to gather Rijksmuseum works into personal groups of images, with themes ranging from textile history and Meissen to ‘Weird Stuff’ and ‘Things I Like’. In November 2024, the museum launched Collection Online, retaining opportunities to explore works and create personal collections. The Rijksstudio examples below describe the earlier service.

The earlier Rijksstudio offered a Master Matcher quiz, curated ‘Stories’ and ‘Themed Tours’. Its themed approach was described with the invitation ‘How do you approach the collection? Chronologically? By artist, style or material? In this series we do it thematically. Decide for yourself what you want to see more of. Flowers, landscapes, women, or militia group portraits? You will find it here!’

The earlier service also connected selections with museum trails and creative reuse. Saving an image does not itself grant reuse rights: check the rights information attached to the work, including any open-access terms that allow reuse.

The Rijksstudio Awards highlighted creative uses of the collection. This historical example does not establish a current annual award schedule.

Explore the current platform: Rijksmuseum Collection Online.

For an in-gallery comparison, see visual discovery in Eye’s Film Catcher.

A personal trail at the Museum of Making

At Derby’s Museum of Making, the Assemblage display arranged objects as if in a museum store, grouped by their main material. The Trail Maker example described here connected a visitor’s selection with a route through that physical display.

In the version described in this article, gallery workstations let visitors select objects and print a receipt-style trail with their locations. Pre-prepared trails and an online list-building option offered further starting points. The distinctive feature was the link between a personal selection and finding the objects in the gallery.

Take a look here> Trail Maker.

Telling a story with Art UK Curations

Art UK Curations bring together images from collections around the UK. The model lets people share discoveries, tell a story or explain an idea through their selection. Art UK describes Curations here.

The formats described in this article included image ‘Albums’, text-supported ‘Showcases’ and a ‘Storyline’ arrangement. Published examples from the public and guest contributors covered subjects such as The Art of Drag Race, Famous Hands and Tea. The scope for annotation distinguishes this model from simply saving favourites.

Have a go here> Art UK | Discover Curations

Give a saved collection somewhere to go

A saved collection becomes more interesting when visitors can do something with it. Derby’s Trail Maker turns a selection into a route through the gallery; Art UK’s Curations let people add a story or explanation. A museum developing a similar tool can start with that next step: will visitors compare objects, tell someone why they chose them, or use the selection on a visit?

The example of schoolchildren curating an exhibition shows how selection and interpretation can extend into a physical display.

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