Statement of Public Task

National Museums Scotland’s mission is to preserve, interpret and make accessible for all, the past and present of Scotland, other nations and cultures, and the natural world.

Our ‘Public Task’ comprises all the statutory functions, duties and responsibilities set out in our governing legislation – the National Heritage (Scotland) Act 1985, Section 2(1).

To:

• Add to and care for our collections
• Ensure that they are accessible to the public, through exhibitions, learning resources and by other means
• Ensure that research on the collections is undertaken and communicated, and to create and share knowledge about them

National Museums Scotland’s Public Task is also reflected in the museums' strategic plan, and includes a significant range of activities. These are practices for which we are responsible but for which there may be no specific statutory or regulatory provision:

• Creating inspiring visitor experiences at our museums and elsewhere
• Developing, preserving and increasing access to the National Collections
• Strengthening and sharing collections knowledge and research
• Reaching out to people across Scotland and the world
• Transforming our digital engagement
• Valuing, supporting and developing our people and empowering them to work together in new ways
• Growing and diversifying our income

You can read more about our general activities in carrying out our Public Task in the Our work and Our services sections of our website.

National Museums Scotland holds and uses information for the above purposes and permits the commercial or non-commercial re-use of certain information created for its Public Task.

If you would like to use Public Sector Information held by National Museums Scotland, please contact Dawn Lindsay, Information & Knowledge Manager at the following address for further information: psi@nms.ac.uk

or in writing to:

Dawn Lindsay
Information & Knowledge Manager
National Museums Scotland
Chambers Street
Edinburgh EH1 1JF

We will respond to your request within 20 days.

There may be costs involved to use content, which will depend on how the content will be used. We can advise further about this on request.

Due to the variety of information that we hold, the cost to provide it for re-use will vary.

It is expected that a pricing structure will be produced and a copy included on this page, which is under development.

In the interim, the price for any application to re-use our information will be considered carefully on a case by case basis to ensure that our costs are recovered.

If the information has already been re-used for the same purpose then the cost will be the same as that charged to the earlier re-user.

National Museums Scotland reserve the right to refuse requests for re-use under the Directive. Should this apply the reason for refusal will be clearly explained.

Questions about the National Museums Scotland Public task statement or complaints about the decisions made under the regulations should be emailed to Keith Pentland, Director of Finance and Planning, at the following address: psi@nms.ac.uk.