Research and practice in heritage

The British Library is an example of an independent  research organisation and the types of research that is undertaken in GLAM institutions is outlined. Research within GLAM institutions will feed into things like exhibitions, access, assessment and interpretation of the collections. Activities can include providing the metadata for collection items, preservation, conservation, development of our infrastructure in our organisations and also looking into our audiences and what they need. This research is not necessarily formally externally funded. What is practice research? It is not necessarily formal written research, but could be the production of exhibitions for instance or the actual work that goes into preservation and conservation both physical and analogue. How do we do that and how do we share that with other institutions who want to know what research has been undertaken and use that within their own academic pursuits?   The work of the SPARKLE and PR Voices research projects is discussed.