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Collections Information Policy

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1. About this Policy

1.1 Scope

This policy provides a high-level explanation of the kinds of collections information we have, and of why and when we gather, create, hold and maintain this information in the ways that we do. It forms one element of our collections management framework, highlighting and reinforcing the inter-relationship between collections development, collections information and collections care. The Collections Information Policy is supported by a collections information plan to guide consistent planning and improved decision making, and cataloguing procedures for the various parts of the collections.

The policy is an acknowledgement that collections information is critical not only to good collections management but, importantly, must evolve and improve continuously to support Wellcome Collection’s vision of a world where everyone’s experience of health matters.

Wellcome Collection is part of Wellcome, an independent global charitable foundation supporting science to solve the urgent health challenges facing everyone. Wellcome Collection is a free museum and library that brings social, cultural, historical, personal and artistic perspectives to Wellcome’s work, informing the research we fund, interventions we support, and deeper understandings of health across society. We represent the importance of lived experience under both the ‘Discovery’ and ‘Solutions’ aims of the One Wellcome Strategy.

Our mission sets out how we will work to achieve our vision over the next ten years:

  • Seek out opportunities for everyone to contribute different forms of knowledge and understanding towards a healthier and more equitable future.
  • Give voice to a radical imagination of what health is and what it could be.
  • Making meaningful connections between different perspectives and stories of health past, present and future, with our collections at the heart.

Collections information is defined very broadly in this policy as any data that Wellcome Collection assembles, generates, organises, updates and maintains, which can be related to items in our collections and used to create knowledge and understanding towards a healthier and more equitable future.

Building on what makes our collection distinctive and working increasingly in collaboration and dialogue with our diverse global audience, our collections information is extensive in scope and volume and dynamic in nature. Collections information:

  • Ranges from a minimal inventory record through to systematically ordered and managed descriptive, bibliographic and collections management metadata.
  • May be individually curated for a single item or produced and processed at scale through computational and algorithmic means.
  • Encompasses information about content and context, such as provenance; information about format and physical condition; information about ownership, rights and access conditions; and information associated with our management of the item.
  • May also include broader contextual knowledge, including editorial interpretations, stories, research and recorded conversation, where such information is gathered together to help make meaningful connections between collections and items, people and concepts, or to make manifest different social, cultural, historical and personal understandings of our collections.

We collect, create, hold and maintain information about the collections, physical and digital, for which we are legally responsible, as well as providing access to that information for researchers and visitors. Collections information itself may be either analogue or digital in form. We define the collections for which we are legally responsible according to the description published in our Collections Development Policy, including both core and support collections. This definition applies regardless of whether items are currently open for use, open with advisory, restricted or closed according to the terms of our Access Policy and procedures on access to our collections.

This policy sets out the principles by which Wellcome Collection takes responsibility for collections information management and access, in line with Wellcome Collection’s vision, mission and objectives, and in proportion to resources available. This Collections Information Policy does not apply to documentation maintained by the Science Museum relating to items in Sir Henry Wellcome’s Museum Collection, which has been on long-term loan to the Science Museum since the mid-1970s. But this policy does cover archive documentation relating to those same items as part of the collections of the former Wellcome Historical Medical Museum.

1.2 Definitions of terms used in this policy

This policy adapts definitions from BS EN 17820:2023 [Conservation of Cultural Heritage – Specifications for the management of moveable cultural heritage collection] together with terms used in the withdrawn PAS197 Code of Practice for Cultural Collections Management, to describe how we process our combined museum, library and archive collections.

Accessioning: the process of recording the admission of an item or group of items into the Core Collections.

Acquisition: the process of obtaining legal title and/or responsibility for an item, or group of items. This Collections Information Policy applies to all items acquired for our collections, regardless of whether legal title has also been transferred to Wellcome.

API: Application Program Interface. A clearly defined set of rules or protocols (e.g. HTTP) and methods of communication (e.g. JSON) to enable interaction between different software components. APIs allow for the modular development of software and services by Wellcome and third-party developers.

Appraisal: the process of deciding whether an item, or group of items, has continuing, long-term value in accordance with Wellcome Collection’s vision and Collections Development Policy.

Cataloguing: the construction of a structured list of information about or relating to items, or groups of items, within the collections.

Collections Information: any data that Wellcome Collection assembles, generates, organises, updates and maintains, which can be related to items in our collections and used to create knowledge and understanding towards a healthier and more equitable future. Collections Information may derive from any stage of the collections management lifecycle, including retrospectively compiled data. The term ‘Collections Information’ is used synonymously in this policy with sector specific terms including resource description, bibliographic description, archival description, and collections management documentation.

CMS: collections management system. At the start of 2025, Wellcome’s collections management infrastructure combined three enterprise software systems: CALM, MIMSY XG (both supplied by Axiell Group AB), and Sierra (Clarivate Plc) coupled to the workflow applications Archivematica (Artefactual Systems Inc.), Goobi (intranda GmbH) and Folio ERM (EBSCO). Public access to information from these systems is provided via an open-source platform developed internally.

Inventory: the minimal viable record needed to identify and locate items, or groups of items, within the collections. This basic level of collections information is as defined in the Spectrum 5.0 collection management standard.

Item: a single article or unit in a collection. For example, a book, an object, an archive file.

Wellcome Collection Systems Transformation Programme (WCSTP): planned to run throughout 2025 and 2026, WCSTP aims to retire, replace, modernise and better integrate the systems and processes used for collections management at Wellcome.

2. Principles

We want to maximise access and use of our collections, whilst also ensuring their security and long-term preservation. We know that access and use is impossible without good quality collections information, which lets people know what we have and how it can be accessed.

The range and size of our collections makes the collection and creation of collections information a wide-reaching task. Five principles help guide our collections information work:

2.1 Open and accessible

  • We strive to provide clear, up-to-date and relevant collections information to maximise access to our collections, whilst also ensuring that we behave lawfully, ethically and responsibly (see Practices section below and our Access Policy for further details).
  • We share our collections information and resources wherever possible, working towards respectful, equitable and global access to everything we hold.
  • We aim to be transparent about the origins of our collections information – what we collect and what we create – and clear about the decisions we take on the basis of this information.
  • We take a people-centred approach towards the documentation of our collections, seeking to maximise the opportunities to make meaningful connections, catalyse conversations and to open up dialogue and debate around our collections with the widest audience.

2.2 Ethical and inclusive

  • We aim to expand the breadth of human experience, knowledge and understanding represented in the information we make available about our collections, centring the interests of those people who have been marginalised by dominant systems and narratives of health in how we manage, describe and make our collections accessible.
  • We strive to make our collections information respectful and accessible, valuing and highlighting the diverse historical, social and cultural contexts that our collections embody and express.
  • We acknowledge and seek actively to address Wellcome’s institutional power and positionality in relation to our collections and the racism and ableism embedded within them.
  • We promote collaboration and value working with others in order to provide challenge to established perspectives, and to support us to engage our audiences positively and transparently with the issues our collections present.

2.3 Consistent and coherent

  • We develop common frameworks for prioritising cataloguing and other work which results in the creation of new collections information, and make decisions based on a holistic view across our collections.
  • We strive for efficiency and to minimise duplication of effort in all our collections information activities: to link information rather than replicate, to re-purpose good quality supplier or legacy information rather than creating it anew, and progressively to enrich collections information from the foundation of a minimal viable inventory record.
  • We aim to use language which is consistent and coherent across all our collections, to improve the comprehension and usability of our collections information.

2.4 Dynamic and iterative

  • We seek continuously to extend and improve the information we hold about our collections, recognising that the uses and purposes good quality collections information supports are constantly evolving.
  • We challenge ourselves to think differently and critically about how we work and what kinds of collections information we should prioritise to promote the active use of our collections to generate change towards a healthier and more equitable future.
  • We recognise that the extraordinary diversity of collections in our care requires us to be flexible and adaptable, layering in new knowledge and understandings to the collections information we collect, create and make available.

2.5 Secure and sustainable

  • We invest in collections information tools, services and scalable infrastructures to enable us to work holistically and efficiently across all the material in our care.
  • We are mindful of the environmental, social, and economic costs of our collections information workflows, and evaluate all new sources and practices of collections information to ensure they are sustainable in support of improved access to collections over the long term.
  • We are committed to maintaining the accuracy, integrity and security of our collections information through a robust combination of policy and technological controls (see Appendix B [PDF 132.1KB]) and the regular review and audit of collections information procedures.

3. Purposes

Wellcome Collection’s mission positions our collections as an unparalleled resource for exploring the place of science and health in global histories and potential futures, alongside addressing its exclusionary, racist and ableist history. Information about the collections is key to achieving this mission, to ensure our collections contribute to a more equitable future.

We are committed to collecting, creating, revising and maintaining accurate, up-to-date and high quality collections information in order to:

3.1 Make our collection as accessible to as many people as possible

  • Enable staff, researchers and visitors to find and access items from our collections, and to understand them in their historical and institutional context.
  • Open up information about our collections as widely as possible, working towards comprehensive and global visibility of everything that we hold.
  • Remove barriers to collections’ discovery, access and use (for example, reducing the proportion of collections information which is not available online, or providing collections information in the languages and scripts of the materials being described).
  • Create opportunities for knowledge to be shared and co-developed in exhibitions, live engagements, community collaborations and other events.

3.2 Enhance accountability and strengthen security

  • Enable accountability for, and safeguard the security of, items for which we are legally responsible, including both Core and Support Collections.
  • Manage and monitor the development and use of the collections according to appropriate sectoral procedures and standards (see Appendix A for details).
  • [For items held on approval, and loans, both long and short term] Maintain at least inventory level collections information according to appropriate sectoral procedures (see Appendix A), in order to provide the same reasonable care and security to such items as we would our own collections.
  • Ensure the security and sustainability of our collections information and digital collections assets. Our collections management systems and network infrastructure are protected in accordance with industry good practice and regularly assessed by independent auditors. All onsite data storage (as of 2025: Calm, Mimsy) is securely backed up daily using the Commvault solution, with copies stored both locally for quicky recovery and in Microsoft Azure for secure offsite protection. Data in systems hosted on public cloud platforms (as of 2025: Sierra) are stored across multiple availability zones to mitigate in the event of local or regional disruption. Digitised surrogates (including our digitised historic collections management records) and born digital assets are hosted at Amazon’s AWS S3 and Glacier data centres and at Microsoft Azure. These automatically replicate data across multiple data centres and are designed to deliver at least 99.999999999% durability.

3.3 Manage our collections inclusively, equitably, ethically and collaboratively

  • Centre the interests of those people who have been marginalised by dominant systems and narratives of health in how we arrange, describe and make our collections accessible.
  • Ensure inclusive and equitable access to our collections.
  • Enable fair, consistent and considered decisions to be made concerning access to personal and sensitive information in our collections.

3.4 Work systematically to address the history of our collections

  • Actively address Wellcome’s institutional power, prejudices and positionality in relation to the information we collect, create and make available about our collections and the racism and ableism embedded within established collections information practice.
  • Support deep research on the history of individual items and collecting histories, and the connections between groups of material, people and concepts across our collections.
  • Develop collaborative relationships with organisations that hold parts of Henry Wellcome’s collection.

4. Practices

We view the collection and creation of collections information as an iterative process, building up from a core inventory (minimal viable) record for each item, or collection of items. Collections information responsibilities are therefore dispersed across the Wellcome Collection teams concerned with discrete phases of collections management activity, with oversight and coordination provided by data specialists in the Collections Information team (see Appendix B sections 3-5 [PDF 132.1KB]).

Wellcome Collections Systems Transformation Programme (WCSTP) is an opportunity to consolidate collections information currently split across different collections management systems, standalone databases, and split between electronic and paper filing structures, into a new, fully integrated CMS infrastructure. The use of alternative systems for recording collections information will be strongly discouraged once WCSTP systems become operational.

4.1 Collections Development

We capture at least inventory level details for all items newly entering our care, through our object entry, acquisition and accession procedures and maintain a hybrid system of order records, accession records and collections files which serve to document our Core Collections’ provenance and acquisition histories and our processes of relationship management with donors, suppliers and creators.

The point of acquisition is also an opportunity to supplement this basic level of collections information. We work closely with our donors, suppliers and creators to allow them to contribute collections information that will enrich the information we hold about our collections, and to create efficient processing workflows.

In accordance with our Collections Development Policy, we operate a rolling programme of collections review, across all of our Core and Support Collections. Amongst other purposes, we use collections review as an opportunity to ensure that collections information to at least inventory standard is recorded, accurate and up-to-date. We also update collections information when we deselect or dispose of items from our collections so that we can retain an adequate internal audit trail documenting such activity.

4.2 Inventory and Backlog Management

Details of gaps and backlogs of collections information for Core Collections which do not meet the minimal viable level of at least inventory (Museum Accreditation) or box listed (Archive Accreditation) standards are documented in our collections information plan, which sets out how we will identify, prioritise and address inventory and cataloguing backlogs, as resources permit.

We plan to migrate inventory data currently held in alternative systems into the new CMS infrastructure during WCSTP.

4.3 Cataloguing

Through cataloguing and associated research, we transform collections information into structured data which can then be made available online through our website and APIs. New catalogue records must meet appropriate sectoral standards (see Appendix A), in order to facilitate interoperability and data sharing. We recognise that these standards and our cataloguing practices will continue to evolve in line with user needs and developments in information technology. We view cataloguing as a process of continuous change, and recognise that our collections information can always be improved and enriched.

4.4 Location and Movement Control

We have recently introduced a common standard for referencing the physical spaces used for collections storage and display, however collections information relevant to items’ location and movement remains fragmented across multiple different systems and documents. It is a challenge to keep these different sources in synchronisation, and there is no automated audit trail of collections movements.

A locations management system that spans all collections ensures accurate tracking of physical items, streamlines logistics, and supports emergency planning. It allows staff to locate items quickly, manage space efficiently, and respond to threats such as fire or flood with coordinated salvage strategies (see Conservation and Collections Care Policy 'Conservation Documentation and Management Systems' Section). Through WCSTP, we aim to consolidate currently disparate sources of locations information and to reconfigure collections movement workflows in order to enable automated tracking of items and the recording of item movement histories.

Each quarter, the Collections Information team audits and reconciles a sample of items from the Core Collections, shelf-to-system and system-to-shelf. Items which are found to be missing or incorrectly documented are passed to the Library Experience and Engagement team for further investigation and remedial action.

4.5 Conservation and Collections Care

Collections information relevant to conservation and collections care includes records of condition checks and conservation treatment, environmental controls, handling requirements, detailed descriptions of items’ materiality and hazards information. Through WCSTP, we seek to consolidate this information in the new CMS with a goal of minimising duplication of data and creating efficient workflows see Conservation and Collections Care Policy 'Conservation Documentation and Management Systems' Section).

4.6 Exhibition and Loans Management

We record substantial amounts of item-specific collections information relevant to the display or loan of items for which we are legally responsible. Through WCSTP, we seek to consolidate this information in the new CMS with a goal of minimising the duplication of data, creating efficient workflows and facilitating data reporting and sharing.

4.7 Legacy collections information

Legacy collections information is held across a wide range of hard copy and electronic formats, including details marked directly onto collections items.

As a security measure and to facilitate access to provenance information about our collections, we have digitised many historic collections management records, including accessions and registration records for our Core Collections. These records are available online as part of the archives of the Wellcome Historical Medical Museum and Library.

4.8 Metadata Management

As collections information standards and in-house styles have changed, and will continue to develop over time, we need to undertake regular collections information maintenance, rationalisation and enhancement to improve metadata consistency and interoperability. Extensive data identification, mapping and cleansing activities are already underway in preparation for the migration of our collections information into the new WCSTP CMS infrastructure.

4.9 Access Management

We strive to provide clear, up-to-date and inclusive catalogue entries (collections information) to assist discovery and use of our collections. Wherever possible, we apply permissive Creative Commons licences to the collections information we create and make it available online. Any restrictions on access are applied for defined periods and this information is clearly stated in catalogue records.

For full details of our collections access framework see the Access Policy 'Loans from our collections' Section.

Appendix A

Wellcome Collection’s Collections Information Policy is informed by legislation, ethical codes and appropriate national and international sectoral standards, including:

Legislation

  • Charities Act, 2006 and predecessors
  • Companies Act, 2006 and predecessors
  • Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, as amended
  • Coroners and Justice Act 2009
  • Criminal Justice Act 1988
  • Data Protection Act, 2018
  • Data (Use and Access) Act, 2025
  • Human Rights Act, 1998
  • Obscene Publications Act 1959
  • Protection of Children Act 1978
  • Public Records Act, 1958, as amended, s.3(6)

Ethical codes

  • Code of Professional Ethics, Archives and Records Association, 2016
  • Code of Ethics for Museums, ICOM, 2004
  • Code of Ethics for Museums, Museums Association, 2008
  • Ethical Principles and Ethical Framework, CILIP, 2018
  • Cataloguing Code of Ethics, CILIP endorsed, 2022
  • Zine Librarians Code of Ethics, 2015
  • ICA Code of Ethics, 1996

Sectoral standards

Appendix B

Collections Information Controls

Policy history and review

  • Version 1.0 (9 October 2025) Approved by Strategy & Impact Committee – For approval.
  • Draft version 0.3 (1 October 2025) Approved by Archive Service Accreditation working group – Final draft.
  • Draft version 0.2 (5 August 2025) Approved by Strategy & Impact Committee – Working draft for information.
  • Draft version 0.1 (18 July 2025) Approved by Circulated to C&D and D&T stakeholders for comment – Complete revision of 2018 policy, incorporating Collections Information controls policy (deletions) v1.0.1 as Appendix B.

Written By: Head, Collections Information

Functional Lead: Associate Director, Collections & Digital

Policy sponsor: Director, Wellcome Collection

Distribution: Workday internal policies and wellcomecollection.org policy documents page

Requirement: Museum Accreditation, Archive Service Accreditation, Internal Audit

Responsibility for preparation: Head, Collections Information

Responsibility for review: Strategy & Impact Committee

Review schedule: 3 years

Next review date: No later than October 2028