This repository contains data concerning the flows of objects from closed museums, and source code for the tools developed for analysis of the data.
The source code in sheet_to_graph provides a tool that validates object flow data in spreadsheet format and translates it into a Neo4j database.
The source code in shiny/mappingmuseums provides an interactive web app for exploring the data.
The dataset is contained within data. It describes the dispersal of collections away from approximately 500 UK museums that have closed between 2000 and 2025.
The dataset details the different types of event that collections and objects are involved in and the different types of actor and location that collections flow between.
- Follow the setup instructions inside
sheet_to_graph/readme.mdandshiny/mappingmuseums/readme.mdto setup the database and web app hosting. - From this directory you can run the following commands:
make reset-db- Clears the contents of your Neo4j database.make upload-db- Reads data from the spreadsheet, validates it, and uploads it to the Neo4j database.make dump-db- Creates 3 csv files containing all data from the Neo4j database (dispersal_events.csv,event_types.csv,actor_types.csv).make deploy-app-local- Deploys the Shiny app and opens it in your default web browser.make deploy-app- Deploys the Shiny app to a remote server.
The collection of data and development of tools in this repository was undertaken as part of the project "Museum Closure in the UK 2000–2025", funded by UKRI-AHRC Grant No. AH/X012816/1, October 2023–September 2025.
The data in this repository was collected and curated by Mark Liebenrood and Fiona Candlin. The tools were designed and implemented by George A. Wright, Andrea Ballatore, Alexandra Poulovassilis, and Peter T. Wood.
The creation of the tools in this repository is described in the paper: Wright, G.A. and Ballatore, A. and Poulovassilis, A. and Wood, P.T. Modelling and visualizing flows of cultural objects (submitted for review).