London Open House Weekend - Neil Handley, curator of the British Optical Association Museum invites you in

I met Neil Handley a few months back whilst at a meeting at the College.  I had a look around the museum.  Whilst I dare say I have actually used many of the pieces of equipment in the collection (and some of it not actually that long ago, I hasten to add), I was totally captivated.  To me, understanding our past and how we have developed as a profession over the years is so central in acknowledging where we want to go next. 

Neil is the curator of the museum, and here he shares some of his thoughts on how the museum makes a difference:  

“The College of Optometrists took responsibility for the BOA Museum on its formation and continues to maintain and develop it. On Sunday 16 September, as part of London Open House weekend, there is a public open day between 1pm and 5pm. 
 

1. Museums engage the public. Videos, magazines and websites can only achieve so much. There is nothing quite as captivating as ‘the real thing’.
 
2. Through objects you can tell stories. These may be imaginative tales to inspire children or serious public health messages aimed at adult audiences. Either way the story-telling technique is recognised to be one of the most effective educational methods for all age groups.
 
3. The most commonly asked question by visitors is ‘What is an Optometrist?’. Whether catering for personal visitors to its premises or remote visitors to its website, the Museum takes that as its starting point.
 
4. The museum is a three-dimensional record of a subject the public often finds difficult to understand. We do our best to interpret our collections in ways the public will find useful. We preserve things for display, research, publication or other educational, charitable or even commercial uses. Our exhibits are visually arresting. You are encouraged to touch some of the items. The College does not treat its museum in a solely antiquarian way but uses it as a back-drop for meetings, as source material for reports and publications and as an attention-grabber in its careers information work etc. We lend objects to exhibitions across the country and sometimes abroad, spreading the College name and communicating the importance of optometry.
 
5. It’s only ‘about the past’ in the sense that history began at midnight yesterday. The collections help tell the profession where it’s been and might even suggest where it could go in future. Patterns of development, the vagaries of fashion, the shifting patient-practitioner relationship, short and long-term trends…all these reveal themselves through a study of our professional heritage. To cultivate a knowledge of history is to be forewarned. To know some history is to avoid surprises.
 
6. The Museum exhibitions are one of the ways the College can honour those who have achieved in the eyecare sector and remember the value of their hard work.
 
7.The Museum answers hundreds of enquiries each year whether it be for journalists seeking to add flesh to a story, family historians researching their ancestors, scholars studying technological and scientific developments or practitioners seeking actual examples of the instruments they’ve read about in the text books. It is a direct form of service to the public, an opportunity to ‘go that little bit further’ and these initial contacts often lead in fruitful and surprising directions.
 
8. The Museum communicates the work (and thereby helps promote) the ophthalmic professions and their related trades and industries in an accessible manner. The museum is an authoritative source of reliable information, much of it generated through the museum’s own original research activities. It’s a team effort between College staff and a team of volunteers from within and without the optical world, drawing upon the experience and skills of many contributors.
 
9. The BOA Museum hosts a collection that is internationally recognised, helping to articulate a sense of professional identity.
 
10. If you are a member of the College the museum is yours to enjoy.”

Neil Handley, MA, AMA
Curator, British Optical Association Museum
The College of Optometrists

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