Collections management and in particular the extent of uncatalogued material and ways to tackle this are common issues across museums, libraries and archives.

At the end of 2005 MLA West Midlands commissioned Information Unlimited to explore these collections issues within the region. The focus of the commission was to assess the extent of bakclogs and the resources needed to tackle them. Rather than try and review the situation across the entire region the project took the approach of concentrated assessment of one sub-region, using Worcestershire to provide a case study of museums, libraries and archives within a specific geographic area.

The final report is published here and will be used to provide a benchmark against which the situation in the other counties and districts that comprise the West Midlands' region can be compared.

In addition the findings from the report will be used to inform activities within the delivery of MLA West Midlands business plan and MLA Partnership corporate plan. A document outlining the key messages form the report and how MLA West Midlands can take the findings forward can be found in the accompanying pdf.

For further information on the project please contact Philip Kiberd philip.kiberd@mlawestmidlands.org.uk or Paula Brikci paula.brikci@mlawestmidlands.org.uk.