ABSTRACT It is well accepted that the museum sector has a longstanding problem with data collection and management. This article begins by exploring problems with gaining access to data, poor archiving and coverage, and the absence of data. We then explain how the Mapping Museums research team set out to remedy the lack of longitudinal data on the UK museum sector in the period between 1960 and 2020. Initially we collated and supplemented existing information on UK museums but it was impossible to fill some gaps or resolve some inconsistencies in the data. Here we discuss how we designed a database that was sensitive to the patchiness of the material, and that could model uncertain and absent data in computational terms. To close, we briefly comment on how our data enables research on museum history and on how the problems with data collection in the sector might be remedied in the longer term.

中文翻译：

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了解和管理英国博物馆部门的零散数据

摘要 众所周知，博物馆部门在数据收集和管理方面存在长期问题。本文首先探讨了获取数据的访问权限、糟糕的归档和覆盖范围以及缺少数据的问题。然后，我们解释了 Mapping Museums 研究团队如何着手弥补 1960 年至 2020 年期间英国博物馆部门纵向数据的缺乏。最初我们整理和补充了有关英国博物馆的现有信息，但无法填补某些空白或解决数据中的一些不一致问题。在这里，我们将讨论我们如何设计一个对材料的不均匀性敏感的数据库，并且可以在计算方面对不确定和缺失的数据进行建模。要关闭，