ARA Conference 2011 missed

I missed the conference this year (it's hard to justify training when your employer is firing people and the general mood at the office is low). From the reports of colleagues and friends, and the predictably favourable write up it got in the ARA magazine, it was a good event. I could probably have done with attending - I admit I have a problem with advocacy. Mainly, I just can't understand why everyone doesn't instantly grasp the importance of what we do and throw resources and money at us while simultaneously shaking our hands and buying us drinks. It's mind boggling. Clearly I live in a place far from reality.

When I look at the current frustrations in my job (or, from a different perspective, the frustrations in my current job), advocacy could help. How to convince other departments in the organisation that they should support the archival endeavour? Particularly when: a) the budget is tight and we do not tick any boxes in the company strategy (and I work in a library!); and b) I am low down the hierarchy of power and my voice is correspondingly heard only as a slight murmur on the breeze.

I like to moan as much as anyone. Perhaps more. I'm developing a pessimistic streak. Unfortunately, experience has taught me that this produces zero positive outcomes (unless I do the moaning over several pints of beer and count inebriation as an outcome). Perhaps the conference would have provided a space for me to moan, drink and be encouraged by fellow archivists and conservators. I am sorry I missed it.

Experiencing history on-line

Over a month ago the Guardian published this piece by Tristram Hunt on using on-line sources for historical research. The author seems to conflate access and interpretation, and to be in thrall to a concept of history as a truth that can be comprehended only through physical contact with the documentary evidence. What tosh. At the time I rolled my eyes and got on with life.

But Hunt’s article highlights assumptions about, and attitudes to, on-line resources that impact my everyday working life. Digital collections, catalogues and other on-line resources (such as transcriptions and translations) often suffer unfavourable comparison with their original counterparts. This is unfair. Worse, it is proof that those of us involved in creating and providing access to digital resources are failing to communicate with our users. Worse still, it shows that misconceptions regarding research and resources persist, in defiance of common sense and the positive attitude that should develop from actual use of these resources.

Here are some of them:

1. That digital resources offer a short-cut, and that this is a bad thing

Digital resources do offer short-cuts. On-line catalogues, digital collections, transcriptions/translations, OCR, etc all help reduce the time needed to identify and access useful material. I cannot really conceive of the argument that says this is a bad thing. Perhaps I am misinterpreting the issue. Hunt writes: “…historians are very keen on short cuts for interpreting the past” (my italics). This brings me to a second misconception….

2. That in the past historians did proper research but today’s generation don’t put in the effort

Accessing historical sources is not the same as interpreting them. This holds true for hard copy originals and their surrogate digital versions. Lazy or inadequate research is not caused, or encouraged, by new technologies. It is caused by lazy and inadequate researchers.

3. That digitisation eliminates impenetrable prose

Digitisation does not alter the content of a record. Granted that transcripts help with deciphering difficult hand writing, but if the meaning of the text being studied is hard to penetrate, this characteristic of the author’s style does not disappear by being rendered into digital form.

4. That those responsible for creating digital surrogates of original material do not understand about the integrity of the record

There is a belief that digital surrogates can never really stand in for the originals because something inherent in the physical object and essential for it’s proper understanding will be lost. This attitude is disturbing; see points five and six below. I think it is fuelled by an assumption that those creating digital copies do not understand records and will somehow ‘get it wrong’ – that we will not copy the covers or miss out the detail in the binding or not display the pages the right way up. This is crazy and insulting.

5. That history is a magical place and that this can be lost

Hunt writes that “when everything is downloadable, the mystery of history can be lost”. This is a lunatic statement. History can be unknown, open to interpretation, debated and discussed. It can be thrilling, exciting, sad, confusing and amusing. Above all, it can be discovered. But I think what Hunt is actually advocating here is a concept of history as something hard to attain. If anyone can just download copies of original documents, what happens to the excitement and adventure of discovery? It is no longer a quest. When history, and the raw ingredients of it, are experienced without the dust, is it really worthwhile? This question is irrational. Although the “wow” factor of holding original items exists, the excitement of discovery is not less when it happens online.

6. That the mystery of history is found only in objects and not text/meaning

Hunt writes: “it is only with MS in hand that the real meaning of the text becomes apparent”. There is something special about holding original documents but the meaning of the words is no different whether you read the original or a copy. This assumption implies a miraculous transference of meaning from the object to the holder not available outside of the sanctum of the holding repository.

7. That serendipity does not exist in the digital world

Proponents of this argument say that, in the physical world fortunate discoveries are found either through a reference in a catalogue (usually a card index) or hidden in a bundle of papers. Neither of these opportunities for discovery disappears simply because the catalogue is in a database and the bundle has been turned into a pdf document.

UK Archives Discovery Forum 2011

Last week I attended the UK Archives Discovery Forum 2011, held at The National Archives. What can I say? The presentations were interesting and relevant, if not strictly to my current position then to how I'm thinking about archival work in general; and the atmosphere was friendly and welcoming. I caught up with friends and former colleagues, which is always a bonus at these events, even though it's kind of to be expected. My compliments to the organisers.

Learning for the heck of it

Holly Fairhall posted a link to a youtube video of Stewart Lee eloquently explaining why university places and the arts should be government funded and the narrow minded thinking that motivates the decision makers. I haven't re-posted the link. You can access it on Holly's blog.

Lee's main point revolves around the belief that knowledge, learning and creativity are valuable for their own sake. He fears that the prospect of massive student debt will create a generation of people who appreciate education only for its money-making potential. Whether this is being done deliberately to rid most of Britain (all except Scotland) of independent thought or not, this is a chilling prospect. Personally, I love learning. Professionally, I need people who love to learn adn who appreciate the value of archives and of archivists. What will we do if people aren't encouraged to be interested in the world they live in?

Access and Accessibility

As a digital archivist I'm responsible for a lot of digital stuff. Records that I need to make available to the public. Preferably, this will happen in an on-line situation where multiple users can view the material from anywhere in the world. But “access”, it seems, is an ambiguous term. What do we aim to achieve when we set out to provide access? Are providing access and making our material accessible the same thing? I don't think so.

It's clear that access can be narrowly defined as "getting the stuff", whereas accessibility incorporates so much more. In order to make our collections accessible, we need to provide archival descriptions. That is, we must supply the means by which the records can be understood and appreciated in ways that allow users to make meaningful use of them. This is kind of a “well, duh” statement, and I was pleased to note that ISAD(G) clearly states that: “The purpose of archival description is to identify and explain the context and content of archival material in order to promote its accessibility.” Making records easily available (physically or electronically) is not the same as making them accessible.

RAD unpacks this a little by stating that archival description serves three specific aims: to provide access via retrievable descriptions; to promote understanding by documenting the content, context and structure of records; and to provide information relevant to establishing the authenticity of the records. I like these very much. Further on, RAD states that: “to ensure effective access to archival material, decisions related to description and the choice of access points should reflect the archivist’s obligation to all users.” This is great. An “all-user” focus demands that we think of different users – in-house, academic, genies, etc – and how we can meet all of their information needs.

DACS has a slightly different approach. For DACS the main purpose of archival description is “the creation of access tools that assist users in discovering desired records.” The foremost access tools DACS refers to are catalogues and inventories. So for DACS, archival descriptions lead to the creation of finding aids. This explanation of A&D emphasises discoverability and does not mention making the records understandable or meaningful to users. The rest of this section discusses different access points and how to incorporate them into your descriptions.

And what does all of this mean? It explains why providing access to the digital material is not enough. It also emphasises the importance of archival descriptions to the concept of access. Without context there is no understanding, and without understanding there is no meanngful use.

Busy doing this

This afternoon was Friday afternoon. As a treat to myself I put aside the pressures of work and challenges of being an archivist and went to Holly Fairhall's blog. After appearing so suddenly, and attracting so much interest, My Archiving Hell deserves to be read, followed and admired. It's also nice that the discussion regarding the current job market is taking place not only on the listserv, but also on the Society of New Archivists facebook page and people's personal blogs.

I also found, through the 'comments', other blogs that I can explore. We need more Friday afternoons!

Commenting on the Conference

Doh, the link provided in my last post to the Conference blog doesn't work. Thanks Carrie Schmidt for pointing this out. Here's another attempt: Conference blog.

Thanks also to John Chambers for noting that the conference pages on the SoA site are no longer restricted. They're here. It did seem un-like the Society/Association to shut off these pages.

Archives and Records Association Conference 2010

I am somewhat ambivalent in my response to the Conference this year. Some of the talks were worthy of note, namely Terry Cook’s Keynote Address and Sarah Wickham’s paper. Most of the other presentations I found, in general, to be interesting. It was good to hear the “this is what I do and how I do it” sort of paper. But I was not particularly challenged or inspired or encouraged, nor did I learn anything.

My notes are few. For what it’s worth, here are five thoughts:

• In his opening address “Missing Piece or First Responsibility: Archival Appraisal Past, Present and Future” Terry Cook noted that appraisal is the first and most important archival task from which all others flow. We can debate this, but in the end I think it’s a pretty valid truth.


• Chris Pickford, in his presentation on “Appraisal Issues: Local Authority deposited building plans” noted that appraisal is one area of our work where we truly are a profession because it involves a professional opinion.


• Karl Magee’s presentation on “Embracing the archival muse: finding art in the archives” was really great. Very interesting.


• Louise Ray tried to challenge us with finding a definition, or definitions, of a ‘Living Archive’. Her presentation “The ‘Living Archive’: myth, reality or aspiration?” was the only truly thought-provoking part of the conference and did gain some thoughtful points from the audience (although I suspect not as many as Ms Ray had hoped for).


• Martin Astell from the Essex Record Office played some audio material as part of his presentation “’Not Just Oral History, in Fact Not Just History’: The Acquisition of Sound Archives in Specialist and Non-Specialist Repositories”. It is always a pleasure to hear Mr Astell talk about his work and the sound collections in Essex.

On a final note, I was disheartened to see that the Conference Pages on the Society/ARA webpages are restricted to members only. I understand why presenter’s papers and PowerPoint slides may be restricted, for a short period, but surely some of this information can be opened to the public. The Programme? How do we encourage debate and inspire/attract others if we’re precious with our information?

The Conference blog is, as it was last year, a disappointment. Only four posts! And these didn’t make it past the Keynote Address. Sometimes it appears that, as a profession, we’re not engaging with this new social media technology at all.

Archives conference 2010

Next week I’m going to the Archives conference in Manchester. The theme- we are what we keep - is somewhat provocative. The schedule has some interesting topics and I’m pleased to see there’s a heavy dose of digitally-themed talks. As with last year, it should be a welcome chance to stay in nice accommodation.

Launch of the Archives and Records Association UK and Ireland

Although I'm almost a week late, I'd like to join others in celebrating the launch of the newly formed Archives and Records Association UK and Ireland, which came into existence on 1 July 2010. With a remit to promote archives and records, archive and record users and record keeping professionals, I hope they are spectacularly successful.

Wikipedia dosses at the British Museum

This guy, Liam Wyatt, from Australia is camping out at the British Museum as a Wikipedian in Residence. As a volunteer. What an amazingly good idea this is. Apparenlty lots of good wikipedia articles have already sprung into being as a result.

A toast to archives

It's International Archives Day 2010. Again we in the profession have an opportunity to promote the use and appreciation of archives within our own countries. The ICA hopes that local celebrations will foster international solidarity among those responsible for the care of archives and their users. I also hope this happens. Archives are one area where the similarities between people of all nations anywhere, and anytime, can be highlighted. At a time when economic troubles are causing us to look internally it's important to remember the wider world stage upon which we live and work and to which our profession contributes.

If the Archives and Records Association (UK and Ireland) is planning anything I've missed it.

The time shortage continues

It is so frustrating not having the time to blog. This brief post is just to note that I’m as upset as everyone else that Kings College has axed the palaeography chair, and with it the talented, irreplaceable, David Ganz. What were they thinking? Crazy thoughts. I’m also interested in the recent passing of the Digital Economy Bill. The fact that it was rushed through Parliament, with minimal debate in the Commons, makes me suspicious of just what it contains. I should read it of course. There’s that lack of time thing again.

What am I doing with time?

Well it’s a good thing my new years resolutions didn’t include more blogging. What a huge amount of time has passed since January! And why haven’t I posted anything? Because I’ve been busy at work, mainly.

I’ve got a new staff member and it looks like something may actually happen with our digital store. We’ve been counting in terabytes for some time now, so this is good news. It’ll be a relief to move everything off hand held media and onto a backed up system. This will also help with our cataloguing, I hope, as we’ll have to get a handle on everything before it can be uploaded.

Even though I haven’t been posting, I really should check my own site more often. Two people left comments! And here I thought nobody read this site. Yay!

The Kindle comes to the UK

Amazon is going to release the Kindle into the UK. I want one, but they’re a bit pricey. According to the article in printweek.com, the UK version is aimed at “students and newspaper readers [and]…magazine readers” (or are the magazine readers the same people as the students?). Anyway, this is odd.

Surely: (a) students will be reading textbooks not available on their Kindle; (b) students won't have the c. £400 to spend on something they can’t eat or wear; (c) people defined by their magazine and newspaper reading proclivities might feel they wouldn’t get enough use out of such a device, particularly as it won’t include any images, a large and integral part of magazines and newspapers.

More interestingly, there’s an assumption here that the British read periodicals while the Americans are a nation of book lovers. Is this really true?

Did I mention that I want one?

New Year Resolutions 2010

I'm back in London and tomorrow I'm back at work. I spent the past week with friends. We went to north Yorkshire, which was shut due to the bad weather. S0, not a lot of sightseeing done, although we did look at Whitby Abbey over it's high stone wall and walk past the Newcastle Library.

The purpose of this post is to record my NY resolutions. Usually, I have a few of these because I believe in finding ways to improve my experience of life. But this year I haven't found anything that's achievable or realistic. Instead I have these:

1. Do more cataloguing

2. Teach world to sing

3. Become femme fatale

4. Read >50 books (for the LibraryThing Challenge)

5. Campaign for more vegetarian beer and cider in the pubs I visit

6. Try to remember to occasionally use the Twitter account set up many months ago

Cataloguing for Xmas

It’s been so long since my last post. This is partly because I have nothing interesting to say, archival or otherwise, and partly because I’ve been busy. Xmas is almost here and my plans for this week have gone awry. I wanted to be cataloguing and instead I’m checking digital files.

Why is there never time to catalogue?

For me, Xmas itself should be quiet and full of food, wine and TV. New Years will be louder. I’m travelling up north where I hope to visit ruined medieval monasteries, read many books and drink much. It's gonna be really cold.

NY resolution #1: do more cataloguing

Ain't technology amazing?

I have taken a toddling step closer towards the 21st Century. I have used bluetooth technology to move images from my phone into the computer. So, here they are. Images from around London taken over the past year:

Eric Ketelaar giving the 2nd Jenkinsonian Lecture

"authentic Japanese tapas" sign

the amazing Park Chan-wook talking at the London Korean Film Festival

Planned regional closures at the National Archives of Australia

When TNA announced budget problems earlier this year their coping strategy included limiting opening hours and having dirtier windows (as well as firing people – I don’t want to suggest bad things aren’t happening). The Australians, being on a much larger geographical scale, are responding to budget difficulties by planning to close 3 of their regional offices: Darwin, Adelaide and Hobart. The NAA’s Director-General, Ross Gibbs, put up a statement today on their webpages. In it, he notes that: “The decision to close the Adelaide, Darwin and Hobart offices was based on the knowledge that they could not endure any more budget cuts while still maintaining the high level of service that they are known for.”

This is kind of outrageous. How is no service at all better than one that includes, for example, fewer opening hours and more grime on the glass. It doesn't seem right, in a democratic society, to hinder people's access to government records.

Stories straight to your mobile

From an article in the Times on the possible demise of storytelling (put up by the American listserv – thanks guys) I discovered Keitai Shosetsu, novels written for, and sent to, the mobile phones of Japanese mobile phone owners, and the Centre for Future Storytelling.

These need further investigation.