Watt Institution

Organisation

Named after the famous James Watt, The Watt Institution is a local treasure! It brings together the McLean Museum and Art Gallery, the Watt Library, Inverclyde Archives and the Watt Hall in a wonderful, Grade A listed building, designed by Sir Edward Blore, who also designed Buckingham Palace, in the west end of Greenock.

Location

Watt Institution, Kelly Street, Greenock 

Project

The relationship between data poverty and museum engagement in Inverclyde. 

One of the biggest impacts on service delivery for museums and galleries has been the move to digital. For large parts of the population engagement with digital services and events was a seamless extension of their existing digital lifestyle, however for others, particularly those from disadvantaged communities, this has not been the case. 

Historically people from areas with high levels of deprivation engage less with museum services and are less likely to see their value, and there are a number of reasons for this. What this proposal seeks to explore further is the relationship between data poverty and engagement with digital service delivery and where this sits with what we already know about low engagement with communities from areas of deprivation, particularly focussing on engagement with museum objects and visual and applied art. 

There are many facets to data deprivation as an equalities issue and as such a wide range of angles to look at the issue from. Do people with restricted connections have a “data budget”? Will a person with a capped data limit use this data for essential life administration first before recreational or educational use such as accessing museum services? Do people value score how they use scarce data? What informs these decisions?    

Thankfully there has been an increase in research into the barriers people face when acquiring a data connection and using data allowances but gaps still remain. Undertaking research into this with a local focus will provide us with valuable information as we continue to progress our digital offer and open access to The Watt Institution to any and all that would benefit from it. 

Outputs

Help support and shape the development and implementation of the ‘OURWatt’ project in building engagement with the Watt collections and assessing the barriers to this by placing them in a local context based on the experiences, challenges and requirements of the local community.  

Assist with embedding a collaborative approach to working with communities into everyday service practice.  

Undertake an analysis of the social and cultural barriers to digital engagement to ensure informed future policy and decision making.

Timescale

Flexible

Benefits to the Host

To gain a better understanding of localised data poverty issues and by doing so adapt our digital engagement strategy to reflect these issues. Local communities will be central to this research and working with existing service providers in the local community to utilise their specialist knowledge of their service users will give real value to the research undertaken.  

Through a programme of ongoing honest and open dialogue with our communities we can steer a clear appropriate course in our response to this important issue, in doing so presenting our approach as a model of best practice for others to follow. 

Our initiatives (OUR Watt & the wider council audit) are not being undertaken in isolation. They will also link to how other communities and organisations are dealing with issues of data poverty and draw on existing and developing best practice to ensure our organisation is at the forefront of digital inclusion. 

Benefits to the Researcher

The project will provide an opportunity to explore the issues, problems and solutions around a challenging contemporary social and cultural issue. Data poverty is only beginning to be understood and measured and undertaking a study within a defined local authority has, to our knowledge, yet to be undertaken. 

In engaging with organisations across the local authority to assess how differing organisations are dealing with these issues, the problems they are coming up against and the solutions they are putting forward the researcher will have to consider the social and cultural importance, impact and influence of the ethics, philosophy, psychology and politics of digital inclusion. 

Key Relationships

At a local level key relationships will be with a range of senior local authority officers, community leaders and developing and providing guidance on a proactive coordinated approach to working with local community groups and the general public.  

Additionally, it is envisaged that to complete the project the successful applicant will need to form productive relationships and liaise with a range of bodies at a regional and national level who are working to address the issues raised and assess and report on successes, failures and national trends. 

Subject Areas

Panel A 

Panel C 

 

Select all 

 

Select all 

X 

History 

X 

Art History 

X 

Law & Legal Studies 

 

Library & Information Studies 

X 

Philosophy 

X 

Cultural & Museum Studies 

 

Theology 

 

Archaeology 

 

Divinity & Religions 

 

Classics 

Panel B 

Panel D 

 

Select all 

 

Select all 

 

Design 

 

English Language 

X 

Visual Arts 

 

Linguistics 

X 

Architecture 

 

British Sign Language 

 

Creative Writing 

 

English Literature 

 

Film 

 

Scottish Literature 

 

Drama & Theatre Studies 

X 

Cultural & Popular Studies 

X 

Cultural Policy, Arts Management Creative Industries 

 

Asiatic & Oriental Studies 

 

Music 

 

French Studies 

 

Television Studies 

 

Scandinavian Studies 

 

 

 

Hispanic 

 

 

 

Portuguese & Latin Studies 

 

 

 

Italian Studies 

 

 

 

Middle Eastern & African Studies 

       

 

       

Russian 

 

 

 

Slavonic & Eastern European Studies 

 

 

 

German Studies (including Dutch & Yiddish) 

 

 

 

Interpreting & Translation 

 

 

X 

Journalism & Publishing 

 

 

X 

Media & Communication Studies 

 

Person Specification 

E 

D 

Essential/Desirable 

E 

D 

Essential/Desirable 

A1 – Knowledge Base 

C1 – Professional Conduct 

 

X 

Subject Knowledge 

 

X 

Healthy and Safety 

X 

 

Research methods – theoretical knowledge 

X 

 

Ethnics, principles and sustainability 

X 

 

Research methods – Practical application 

 

X 

Legal requirements 

X 

 

Information Seeking 

 

X 

IPR and copyright 

X 

 

Information literacy and management 

X 

 

Respect and confidentiality 

 

X 

Languages  

 

X 

Attribution and co-authorship 

X 

 

Academic literacy and numeracy 

 

X 

Appropriate practice 

A2 – Cognitive abilities 

C2 – Research management 

X 

 

Analysing  

X 

 

Research Strategy 

X 

 

Synthesising  

X 

 

Project planning and delivery 

X 

 

Critical thinking 

 

X 

Risk management 

X 

 

Evaluating 

 

 

 

X 

 

Problem Solving 

 

 

 

A3 – Creativity 

C3 – Finance, funding & resources 

X 

 

Inquiring minds 

 

X 

Income and funding generation 

X 

 

Intellectual insight 

 

X 

Financial management 

X 

 

Innovation 

 

X 

Infrastructure and resources 

X 

 

Argument construction 

 

 

 

X 

 

Intellectual risk 

 

 

 

B1 – Personal qualities 

D1 – Working with others 

X 

 

Enthusiasm  

 

X 

Collegiality 

X 

 

Perseverance 

X 

 

Team working 

X 

 

Integrity 

X 

 

People management 

X 

 

Self-confidence 

 

X 

Supervision 

X 

 

Self-reflection 

 

X 

Mentoring 

 

X 

Responsibility 

X 

 

Influence and leadership 

 

 

 

X 

 

Collaboration 

 

 

 

X 

 

Equality and diversity  

B2 – Self management 

D2 – Communication & dissemination 

X 

 

Preparation and prioritisation 

X 

 

Communication methods 

X 

 

Commitment to research 

X 

 

Communication media 

X 

 

Time management 

 

X 

Publication  

X 

 

Responsiveness to change 

 

 

 

X 

 

Work-life balance 

 

 

 

B3 – Professional & career development 

D3 – Engagement and impact 

        

X      

Career management 

        

X      

Teaching 

 

X 

Continuing professional development 

X 

 

Public Engagement 

X 

 

Responsiveness to opportunities  

 

X 

Enterprise 

X 

 

Networking 

X 

 

Policy 

X 

 

Reputation and esteem 

X 

 

Society and culture 

 

 

 

X 

 

Global citizenship 

 

 


First published: 20 September 2021