Editing British Museum (section)

==Governance==

=== Director ===
The British Museum is a [[non-departmental public body]] sponsored by the [[Department for Culture, Media and Sport]] through a three-year funding agreement. Its head is the [[Director of the British Museum]]. The British Museum was run from its inception by a 'principal librarian' (when the book collections were still part of the museum), a role that was renamed 'director and principal librarian' in 1898, and 'director' in 1973 (on the separation of the British Library).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/the_museum/about_us/management_and_governance/directors.aspx |title=Directors |publisher=British Museum |date=14 June 2010 |access-date=4 July 2010 |archive-date=1 July 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070701201603/http://www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/the_museum/about_us/management_and_governance/directors.aspx |url-status=dead }}</ref>

=== Trustees ===
A board of [[List of trustees of the British Museum|25 trustees]] (with the director as their [[Chief accounting officer|accounting officer]] for the purposes of reporting to Government) is responsible for the general management and control of the museum, in accordance with the [[British Museum Act]] 1963 and the [[Museums and Galleries Act 1992]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/the_museum/about_us/management_and_governance/museum_governance.aspx |title=Museum governance |publisher=British Museum |date=14 June 2010 |access-date=4 July 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070823153928/http://www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/the_museum/about_us/management_and_governance/museum_governance.aspx |archive-date=23 August 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Prior to the 1963 Act, it was chaired by the [[Archbishop of Canterbury]], the [[Lord Chancellor]] and the [[Speaker of the House of Commons (United Kingdom)|Speaker of the House of Commons]]. The board was formed on the museum's inception to [[trust law|hold its collections in trust]] for the nation without actually owning them themselves, and now fulfil a mainly advisory role. [[Trustee]] appointments are governed by the regulatory framework set out in the code of practice on public appointments issued by the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/about_us/management/trustees/becoming_a_trustee.aspx |title=Becoming a Trustee |publisher=British Museum |access-date=1 March 2014 |archive-date=4 January 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140104021037/http://www.britishmuseum.org/about_us/management/trustees/becoming_a_trustee.aspx |url-status=live }}</ref>