The first time I entered the Old Music Room at West Dean College, the portrait of the poet, Dame Edith Sitwell, also known as Sibyl, (1936-7), painted by Pavel Tchelitchew, struck me immediately, not least because her larger than life figure loomed ominously out of the darkness, but because she was instantly recognisable from her distinctive elegant hands and long Plantagenet nose.

In the summer term I was given a clock by Matthew Read, the tutor for the clock's programme, with the advice that "it just needed the striking to be sorted out." Having a good idea of Matthew's sense of humour, I realised that this was going to be no ordinary endeavour!

The School of Creative Arts at West Dean College is proud to present an evening of theatre and literary history. Edith, Elizabeth and I. This is a fast-paced one woman show created by Jules Craig, writer and performer, and inspired by the life and works of the British poet Edith Sitwell.

In our digital age, the very nature of the collection is changing. In light of rapid advances in technology and the rise of the internet, how we access, view and interpret a collection of objects is no longer as restricted as it once was. Yet it strikes me that there may be a price to pay for this new-found digital freedom and that its impact on the role of the conservator may be profound.