Hey all. Though I have little aptitude for engaging cultural institutions in productive discussion myself, it has occurred to me that it would be useful to keep a register of "previous contact" with collections, museums, etc. I can only guess at the amount of personal correspondance contributors entertain, and it must be a good thing to keep track of these things, surely?

As I see it, the only drawback is time (maybe five minutes every now and again?). In return, the rewards are many: a collaborative feeling; time saved in knowing whom to contact within each organisation, and which are not worth talking to; the ability to cite the examples of other similar businesses when engaging with one more easily; the ability to extrapolate from a small donation (testing the water, as it were), the ability to note the problems experienced so they can be worked on in the future... the list goes on.

However, I admit that this is not an area of my own personal expertise, so am more than willing to see what everyone thinks and (if necessary) reconsider the whole idea. In the meantime I have created a placeholder page at http://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/Outreach .

See what you think,

Jarry1250