Subject Specialist Networks

Society for Museum Archaeology 

UK wide

For more information visit the Society of Museum Archaeology website.

Medieval Pottery Research Group 

UK wide

For more information visit the Medieval Pottery website  

Scottish Archaeological Research Framework (ScARF) 

Scotland specific

For more information visit the ScARF website

Art UK 

UK wide

For more information visit the Art UK website.

or contact info@artuk.org 

Association of Performing Arts Collections 

UK wide

For more information visit the Association of Performing Arts Collections website.

or contact info@performingartscollections.org.uk 

British Art Network 

UK wide 

For more information visit: British Art Network  

or contact britishartnetwork@tate.org.uk 

Contemporary Art Society 

UK wide 

For more information visit Contemporary Art Society website.

Or contact: info@contemporaryartsociety.org 

European Paintings Pre-1900 

UK wide 

For more information visit European Paintings Pre-1900 website.

Or contact: ssn@ng-london.org.uk 

Scottish Contemporary Art Network (SCAN) 

Scotland specific

For more information visit the SCAN website.

SCAN has published a toolkit for museums looking to work with artists as part of the wider Curatorial Leadership in Collections (CLiC) project. It also includes other useful resources as well as case studies.

Scottish Society for Art History 

Scotland specific

For more information visit the Scottish Society for Art History website.

Understanding British Portraits 

UK wide

Visit the British Portraits website.

The Costume Society of Scotland 

Scotland specific

For more information visit the Costume Society website.

Dress and Textile Specialists (DATS) 

UK wide

For more information visit the Dress and Textile Specialists website.

or contact Rebecca Quinton: Rebecca.Quinton@glasgowlife.org.uk 

GEM Scotland 

Scotland specific

For more information visit the GEM website.

MGS Strategic Learning Forum (SLF) 

View the SLF Information sheet

Contact: Loretta Mordi  

Fire Heritage Network

UK wide

For more information visit the Fire Heritage Network website.

or contact Bob Bonner: secretary@fireheritage.org

The British Aviation Preservation Council (BAPC)

UK wide

For more information visit the BAPC website.

or contact Brian Dixon secretarybapc@blueyonder.co.uk 

Scottish Transport and Industry Collections Knowledge Network (STICK) 

Scotland specific

For more information visit the STICK website.

or contact: stickssn@gmail.com 

Maritime Curators’ Group 

UK wide

For more information visit the Maritime Curators Group website.

or contact Joanna Thomas: joannat@ssgreatbritain.org 

Industrial Museums Scotland 

Scotland specific

A dynamic group of industrial museums in Scotland. The network’s aim is to ensure that Scotland’s amazing industrial heritage continues to play an important role in our rich culture, and serves to inspire the future whilst safeguarding the past. 

For more information visit the Go Industrial website.                                                                                                           

or contact Emma Halford-Forbes, Coordinator: discover@goindustrial.co.uk 

UK Medical Collections Group 

UK wide

For more information visit the Thackray Museum of Medicine website.

or contact katie.dabin@sciencemuseum.ac.uk and mark.johnson@sciencemuseum.ac.k 

Scotland & Medicine 

Scotland

For more information contact m.h.jarron@dundee.ac.uk or L.Wilkie@rcsed.ac.uk 

Army Museums Ogilby Trust (AMOT) 

UK wide

For more information visit the Army Museums website.

or contact Andrew Lloyd diramot@armymuseums.co.uk 

Association of Scottish Military Museums (ASSM) 

Scotland specific

For more information contact INFHQ-SCOTS-HeritageSO2@mod.uk 

Money and Medals Network 

UK wide 

For more information visit the Money and Medals Network website.

Or contact newsletter@moneyandmedals.org.uk or Gabriela Hallas GHallas@britishmuseum.org 

Money and Medals Network Scotland 

Scotland

For more information visit the Money and Medals Network website.

Or contact Jesper Ericsson: jesper.ericsson@glasgow.ac.uk 

Musical Instruments Resource Network (MIRN) 

UK wide

For more information visit the MIRN website.

or contact enquiries@mirn.org.uk 

Rural Museums Network

UK wide

For more information visit the Rural Museums Network website.

or contact Robin Hanley Robin.hanley@norfolk.gov.uk 

Social History Curators’ Group (SHCG)

UK wide 

For more information visit SHCG’s website

or contact Catherine Newley: catherine.newley@stalbans.gov.uk 

Sports Heritage Scotland 

Scotland specific

For more information visit Sports Heritage Scotland website.

Sporting Heritage/Sport in Museums Network 

UK wide

For more information visit the Sporting Heritage website.

Or contact: justine@sportingheritage.org.uk 

Association for Curators for Collections from Egypt and Sudan

UK wide

For more information visit the ACCES website.

or contact Alice Stevenson alice.stevenson@ucl.ac.uk 

Scottish Egyptology Collections Network 

Scotland specific

For more information contact: Egyptology@nms.ac.uk or m.maitland@nms.ac.uk 

China Art Research Network 

UK wide

For more information visit University of Glasgow’s website. 

East Asia Collections in Scotland Network 

Scotland specific

For more information contact: partnerships@nms.ac.uk 

Islamic Art and Material Culture SSN 

UK wide

For more information visit Islamic Art and Material Culture SSN website.

or contact Rebecca Bridgman rebecca.bridgman@birminghammuseums.org.uk 

Museum Ethnographers Group  

UK Wide

For more information visit the Museum Ethnographers Group’s website.

Or contact Claire Warrior at secretary@museumethnographersgroup.org.uk 

Folklore Museums Network 

Britain and Ireland

The Folklore Museums Network works collaboratively with its members to identify, display and disseminate knowledge about the material folklore collections held in museums across Britain and Ireland.

Twitter: @FolkloreMuseums  

For more information contact Peter Hewitt at: peter-hewitt@folkloremuseumsnetwork.org.uk.

Plastics 

UK wide

The Plastics SSN offers peer support for those working with the material group of plastics across all subject areas/themes. 

For more information contact modip@aub.ac.uk 

Queer Heritage and Collections Network  

UK wide

The Queer Heritage and Collections Network provides training, networking and peer-support to people working with LGBTQ+ collections and histories.

For more information contact Dan Vo at: d.vo@vam.ac.uk 

Videogame Heritage Society  

UK wide

The VHS is an SSN created to bring together organisations and individuals working in videogame collection, exhibition and interpretation in the UK. 

Contact: vhs@thenvm.org  

War and Conflict 

UK wide

The War and Conflict Subject Specialist Network is run by IWM to build capacity, connections, and confidence in the cultural heritage sector. The SSN is free to join and open to non-profit organisations who look at stories linked to conflict from the First World War to the present day. 

For more information contact Charlotte Pearce at partnerships@iwm.org.uk 

The SSN Consortium draws together information about all of the Subject Specialist Networks in the UK.