• Home
  • About
  • Services
  • Projects
  • Blog
  • Contact

The archive of Sir Malcolm Arnold

10/11/2020

0 Comments

 
​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. 
0 Comments

The great re-opening?

29/6/2020

0 Comments

 
The government has said that museums and galleries in England can open from 4 July provided that safety measures are implemented. Guidance developed by the National Museum Directors’ Council  sets out nine considerations that need to be in place before re-opening to support the safety of staff and visitors. They have also created a suggested timeline to help museums plan their re-opening. 

https://www.nationalmuseums.org.uk/coronavirus-update/nmdc-good-practice-guidelines-opening-museums/

National museums in London have said that they are phasing their opening, but should all be open over the summer. But, how many smaller museums and galleries will be able to meet the requirements of social distancing...? As I’ve already reported, many well-known smaller venues have already announced that they are struggling. The Museums Association says that substantial financial aid is still needed to help the sector, but will the government see the necessity?

The National Archives has also produced guidelines to help archives plan for re-opening that include links to a checklist and risk management template:  

https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/archives-sector/our-archives-sector-role/coronavirus-update/making-plans-for-re-opening/
​

But it is very odd that archives and libraries are still scheduled to be closed when shops, often far smaller spaces, are allowed to open and some archives already operate a booking system, so why not extend that? Most archive staff that I know have not been furloughed and there has to come a point where they simply have no more work that they can do from home. The benefits of access to libraries, museums and archives are well-documented so, for everyone’s well-being – staff, visitors and users – let’s see them re-opened sooner rather than later. 
0 Comments

“Not so dusty….”: Beatrix Potter and Churchill in the archives

26/1/2016

 
Interesting piece on BBC radio 4’s “Today” programme this morning that a “lost” story by Beatrix Potter – “The Tale of Kitty in Boots” – has been uncovered and will be published later this year. The presenter referred to the find as being in a dusty archive but the researcher, Jo Hanks, swiftly replied that the V&A [Victoria & Albert Museum] look after their archives!
​
Then, only about 30 minutes later, there was another piece referring to archives! One of the latest files to be released by The National Archives (TNA) is about an MP’s proposal to Churchill that the UK should introduce a McCarthy style search to root out communists in the BBC which, thankfully, did not happen. 

 An information black hole?

14/2/2015

 
I was interested to hear Jeff James, Chief Executive of The National Archives (TNA) on BBC radio 4’s ‘Today’ programme this morning, responding to Vint Cerf’s comments.  Cerf, President of Google, had been speaking at a conference in the USA about the dangers of ‘a hidden century’ in which he highlighted the ever-growing problem of digital preservation. He warned that old computer files could become ‘useless junk’ and even suggested that if we want to preserve our digital photographs we should print them out! The phrase ‘technical obsolescence’ has been around for years with little interest shown by the media except for occasional scare stories. Who remembers the ‘Millennium Bug’?

Now, because of who Cerf is, everyone is starting to take note, which is good. However, what most of the press coverage failed to report was the work that has been going on in this country for many years to try and address this issue, in many cases with limited resources. James was right to flag up the lead that TNA has been taking, producing tools such as PRONOM to map the compatibility of different versions of software. Sterling work is also being done at King’s College and by the Digital Preservation Coalition.

Let’s hear it for some home-grown innovation for once!

    Jeannette

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

    Archives

    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    December 2019
    June 2019
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    August 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014

    Categories

    All
    Academic Partnerships
    Accreditation
    ACE
    Advertising
    Advocacy
    Antiquities
    Archaeology
    Architecture
    Archives
    Archives At Risk
    Archives & Records Association
    Art
    Art Museum
    Arts
    Arts Council England
    Auctions
    Bank Of England
    BBC
    Beatrix Potter
    Black Lives Matter
    British Library
    British Museum
    Business Archives
    Business Archives Council
    Business History
    Charity
    Churchill
    Collections
    Conservation
    Coronavirus
    Corporate Governance
    Country Houses
    Culture
    Culture Recovery Fund
    Curate
    Curating
    Cuts
    Cyber Theft
    Data Protection
    DCMS
    Designation
    Digital Preservation
    Diversity
    Dogs
    Don't Risk It
    Dusty Archives
    Egyptology
    Exhibition
    Explore Your Archive
    Fishbourne Roman Palace
    Galleries
    Harvard Business School
    Harvard University
    Heritage
    Heritage At Risk
    Historic England
    ICA
    Information Governance
    International Council On Archives
    Jane Austen
    JHOVE
    Learning
    Lessons From History
    Libraries
    Maggi Hambling
    Magna Carta
    Manuscripts
    Mary Wollstonecraft
    Ministry Of Justice
    Mummies
    Museums
    Museums Association
    Museums Sheffield
    National Heritage Lottery Fund
    National Trust
    Oral History
    Papyrus
    Parliament
    Persia
    Portsmouth Historic Dockyard
    Preservation
    Rare Books
    Recordkeeping
    Records Management
    Redundancy
    Relative Humidity
    Research
    Roman History
    Royal College Of Physicians
    Section For Business Archives
    Sheffield Industrial Museums Trust
    Sir Malcolm Arnold
    Sniffing The Past Blog
    Society Of American Archivists
    Southbank Centre
    South Downs
    Statues
    Stonehenge
    Succession Planning
    Sussex Past
    Tate
    Teaching
    Theatres
    The Economist
    The National Archives
    UNESCO
    V&A
    Vellum
    Wellcome Trust
    World War I
    World War II
    Yemen
    Zoos

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
Photo used under Creative Commons from noor.azriena