This article charts the evolution of the UK government's ambitious vision for the archive sector, Archives Unlocked. It traces the evolution of that vision from the roots of the audience-focused strategy of the UK National Archives, Archives Inspire. The authors place a particular emphasis on the process of co-creation and the emergence of the key strategic themes of trust, enrichment and openness. These global themes are brought to life by inspiring case studies and think-pieces while also being supported by a concrete action plan focused on clear deliverables and outcomes that will have the greatest impact. The authors argue that the archive sector is going through a paradigm shift from paper to digital, while observing that digital technology presents as many opportunities as it does challenges. The article reflects on what it means to be a disruptive digital archive and how this challenges some of the established norms of archival practice while also making the case for greater collaboration; arguing that the challenges and opportunities facing the sector can only be met by enhanced partnership working at the local, regional, national and international level. The authors believe that the approach adopted will not only allow archival content, in whatever format, to continue to enrich people's lives but also change the way that people think about archives. Archives matter
The Physiological Society was founded in 1876 in response to the report of a Royal Commission on the use of animals in research, which was expected to lead to legislation. John Bourdon Sanderson invited nineteen physiologists to his house "for the purpose of considering whether any, or what steps ought to be taken with reference to the Recommendations of Lord Cardwell's Commission".' At the meeting Michael Foster proposed "that an association be formed under the name of 'The Physiological Society' for promoting the advancement of physiology and the intercourse of physiologists".2 Early meetings were informal affairs, taking place over dinner, but in December 1880 the modern pattern of events was established by holding a separate afternoon session for the demonstration of experiments and the discussion of scientific work, followed by dinner in the evening. Nowadays the scientific meetings are the focus of the Society's activities, normally taking place over two or three days. For over seventy-five years the papers of the Physiological Society had no permanent home, but were passed from each officer to his successor, accumulating as they did so. It was not until March 1954 that Professor William Paton suggested that an "archival depot" should be established at University College London. He had noticed during his term of office that he had not consulted a great number of the files that were passed on to him by his predecessor, David Whitteridge, and believed that these non-current files should form the kernel of the depot. Paton felt that they would need some weeding because there were "interesting letters buried in the dross" and was far-sighted enough to realize that the archive "may involve later expenditure on keeping our records respectable".3 Initial expenditure amounted to £13-for a metal filing cabinet at UCL. The core papers remained at UCL, and working papers continued to pass between officers and their successors in a fairly haphazard fashion with no system for depositing material at UCL, until 1972, when R. H. Adrian suggested to the Committee that the archive ; Isobel Hunter, BSc(Econ), Dip. Arch.
The papers of Cicely Williams were given to the Contemporary Medical Archives Centre in 1993, and subsequently catalogued. They cover most aspects of her work in the field of maternal and child health, as practitioner, teacher and consultant, 1929-1989, especially in the developing world. The collection includes correspondence, reports, lectures, publications, photographs and sound recordings, and is of relevance to a wide range of issues related to maternal and child health and the development of appropriate local health care systems. In particular, it is of interest in relation to Williams' pioneering work on the identification of the childhood malnutrition disease kwashiorkor. The Cicely Williams papers complement many other collections held by the Contemporary Medical Archives Centre. This article focuses on two pre-war reports of her work in the Gold Coast and Singapore, which show the early development of ideas which are echoed throughout the rest of her papers.
One of my favourite images of Walter Pagel (1898Pagel ( -1983) is a photograph taken of him in 1978: an old man in his study surrounded by his books, heaps of papers, old envelopes, a pot of glue and trailing electric wires (see Plate la).' It vividly expresses Pagel's character as I came to know it while cataloguing his papers-a character which showed very strongly compared to those of some other people whose papers I have worked with, where no real sense of the individual could be felt. In the photograph of Pagel in his study, I particularly liked the chaos in the room-similar to the chaos of his papers when I came to catalogue them! The books are arranged on shelves in some order, but are untidy through use, many standing at a slant, with pages flagged with slips of paper, and sheaves of notes heaped on top. Like the books, with their semblance of order, the seven large boxes of Pagel's papers did have some underlying structure, but they were working papers, in the same way that his bookshelves can be seen to be a live and constantly consulted resource.As an archivist, it is interesting to note the different state of collections of papers when they are deposited and to feel what this says about people concerned and their relationship to their work. Some archives have already been reorganized a fair amount by the individual, with files labelled or put into order, as if the person has finished working and is tying up the loose ends of his or her life. Sometimes, these people come across as rather tedious or full of a sense of their own importance, as if they are sure that their work will be of interest for generations to come. By contrast, those whose papers are disordered, appear to be still working and developing ideas right up to the end of their lives or careers. Although the fundamental principle of archival arrangement is to respect the original order of the papers and not to impose some new, artificial arrangement, in practice a fair amount of reorganization has to take place once the underlying structure of the archive has been felt. This involves such tasks as reuniting pages of letters scattered throughout the boxes, recreating series of correspondence and research files that have become disordered or dispersed, thus, hopefully, revealing the original order more clearly. Another task involves ensuring the preservation of the material by placing it in acid free files, removing steel paper clips, placing photographs in secol sleeves. Although these processes lead to a
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.