August 26, 2015 at 12-14
in a meeting room on the 6th floor of the National Museum of Iceland
Present: Ólafur Kvaran, chairman, Anna Sigríður Kristjánsdóttir, Haraldur Þór Egilsson, Guðbrandur Benediktsson, Sigríður Björk Jónsdóttir, Hilmar J. Malmquist, Halldór Björn Runólfsson and Ágústa Kristófersdóttir, executive director. Absent: Margrét Hallgrímsdóttir.
Approval and signing of the minutes of the 143rd meeting of the Museum Council
Presentation case
1. Summary of activities since the last meeting.
2. Resignation of the Director of the Museums Council announced, Ágústa Kristófersdóttir resigned from her position on August 7th with a letter to the Chairman of the Museums Council and the contact person at the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science. She will end her duties on September 30th, 2015.
3. The Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports is overseeing the recruitment of a new Director-General and an advertisement for the position has been published on the job portal and in the media. The Chairman of the Museums Council is responsible for communicating with the Ministry regarding the recruitment. It was approved that the Chairman of the Museums Council be authorized to hire a temporary employee in the Council's office if there is a delay in hiring a new Director-General.
4. The location of the Museum Council office was discussed and it was agreed to authorize the Chairman of the Museum Council to investigate the possibility of relocating the office of the council.
5. The Museum Council's strategy was presented and agreed to be sent to the main museums for review. Comments will be submitted by September 15th and a new draft will be sent to the council members for review and comments, which will be submitted no later than September 22nd.
6. Status of research on the interaction between museums and tourism presented. It is expected that the research will be completed on November 1st.
7. Applications for museum recognition in 2015 were presented, the application deadline is August 31st and applications will be considered at the next meeting of the council on September 29th, 2015.
8. A new format for annual returns of operational information from museums was introduced. Museums now submit through the QuestionPro interface system, which will simplify both data entry and processing.
Matter for decision
1. Proposal: It is proposed that the three main museums complete a report on their operations in the same manner as recognized museums and submit it to the Museums Council so that the information collected covers all museums operating under the Museums Act. The proposal was approved and a request will be sent to the main museums.
2. Text of the advertisement for applications to the museum fund in 2016 approved. Approved that special emphasis will be placed on project grants in 2016 at the expense of operating grants.
3. Proposal to conduct an inspection of recognized museums approved. Eight museums will be visited in November and December 2015 and will be notified of the planned visit at least two months in advance. A form to be used for the inspection will be published on the Museums Council's website no later than October 1.
Other matters: The Executive Director informed the Council that on August 25, comments were received from the Ministry of Culture on the draft of new allocation rules for the Museum Fund. The matter was postponed until the next meeting.
The next meeting of the Museum Council will be on September 29th. No further discussion and the meeting adjourned at 2:00 PM/AK.