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Changes to the working day are nothing new!

30/11/2020

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Fascinated to read today that the Unilever business in New Zealand is to give its staff the opportunity to work a four-day week with no loss of pay. The Covid pandemic, which has led many staff to work from home, was the catalyst for this trial. Mental and physical well-being of employees plays a part in the decision, which aims to measure performance on output, not time. The scheme will run throughout 2021 and be monitored by researchers in the Business School at the University of Technology, Sydney.
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Interestingly, William Lever (1851-1925), one of the founders of Unilever, foreshadowed today’s ideas of maintaining a work-life balance. He advocated a six-hour working day, referring to the deadening effect of general factory life and its monotonous round of toil, both in a book he published on the topic and in his role as an MP. He believed in the welfare of his employees, female as well as male, because a healthy worker was an industrious worker, and a six-hour working day gave time to study, leading to an overall improvement in education, and to pursue wholesome pastimes such as gardening. 
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The Stonehenge tunnel...

13/11/2020

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​After 40 years a decision has finally been taken to construct a tunnel to carry the A303 under Stonehenge. I am in two minds. Yes, it will ease congestion and improve the views. But, the work to create the tunnel will do permanent, irreversible, harm to the surrounding landscape. One archaeologist estimates that around half a million artefacts could be lost as a result. UNESCO may also take a dim view of the proposal and withdraw World Heritage Status from the site. 
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Mary Wollstonecraft

11/11/2020

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​It has taken 200 years for one of the pioneers of feminism, Mary Wollstonecraft, to be honoured with a statue. Unfortunately, what renowned sculptor, Maggi Hambling, has created is a clichéd image. Would a celebrated male writer ever be portrayed nude? Yet here is Wollstonecraft depicted as a stereotype of female iconography in art. Statues of men outnumber women by 10 to 1 in London and, following months of debate about which historical figures deserve to be honoured, it is disappointing that such an important figure as Wollstonecraft has been commemorated in this way. 
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The archive of Sir Malcolm Arnold

10/11/2020

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​Troubling news comes from the Ministry of Justice, which is threatening to destroy papers relating to the composer, Sir Malcolm Arnold, who was a ward of the Court of Protection from 1979 to 1986 due to mental health problems. The Ministry claims that it cannot retain the papers because of the personal information contained in them and has “exhausted all possible options” for preserving the files. This is nonsense, because data protection does not apply to someone who has died and there are several repositories that would be only too happy to accept the archive. An appeal for the preservation of the archive has been signed by many eminent writers and artists. The Ministry is believed to be in discussions with The National Archives, so watch this space for further developments. 
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    Jeannette

    My thoughts, views and musings about what's happening in the world of archives and records management, information and governance, heritage and culture 

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