How do ethics influence the development of policies for accessing public collections which are essentially restricted by law? A case study of the Royal Armouries

Museums today are expected to proactively share their collections with external audiences, but what if this access is constrained by stringent physical restrictions enshrined in law? This thesis draws on the example of the Royal Armouries, the national museum of arms and armour, to work through the challenges of facilitating access to its restricted weapons collections. As the personnel primarily responsible for overseeing this process, museum registrars are central to this investigation.
By responding to museological debates around the major themes of regulation, ethics, and access, this research navigates the intersecting practical and theoretical contexts in which registrars operate. Carefully selected case studies provide departure points to explore the complex role of the Royal Armouries’ registrar staff in coordinating the management and use of its weapons collections. The two overarching principles guiding this research – critical museology and assemblage theory – play an important role in drawing together the various dimensions of their operational activity. Interviews with the Royal Armouries’ registrar team ground this analysis in the daily realities of collections stewardship and enrich the case studies with their expertise.
Harnessing the procedural focus of assemblage theory, this study clarifies the interconnected processes supporting access to restricted museum objects. Without the strenuous efforts of its registrar staff to reconcile the seemingly incompatible demands of regulation and external engagement, the Royal Armouries would struggle to discharge its responsibilities as a public museum. Following the principles of critical collections management, this thesis concludes by anticipating future developments in weapons management and the registrar profession as a whole. This critical investigation of the Royal Armouries’ routine operations thus represents an important original contribution to museum studies. Registrars are a key pillar of contemporary museum programming – this thesis therefore seeks to draw greater attention to their work.