Funding archive services in England and Wales: institutional realities and professional perceptions

Abstract

Archives, and the National Council on Archives between 2007 and 2012, which together investigated how archives in England and Wales are funded and the perceptions of funders and fundraising amongst archivists. Both pieces of research aimed to establish the institutional realities of funding and the funding mix for archive services, identifying which funding sources and fundraising techniques are well embedded and which are underdeveloped within the sector. The research projects also considered professional perceptions about fundraising and funding, in particular about funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund. Although not linked originally, the findings of these two projects throw light on an under-researched area of funding of archive services, and so the results of both projects are presented in a single article. The article also outlines some further research and professional development needs; suggests a target for a more robust funding mix and also that fundraising skills should properly form a part of the professional competencies framework.

Improving Organization Performance Accountability Through Integrated Participatory Commitment

“…Archivists' competence has a positive and significant effect on accountability. Outstanding archivist competence can be observed from several aspects, namely proficient archival knowledge, a good understanding of archival science, very agile practical skills in archiving, values at work (discipline and diligence) in qualified works, responsive attitude towards all works, and ability to give impacts on archive performance accountability (Ray et al, 2013). Several impacts on the archiving performance accountability are 1) proposing right, measurable, and accurate decisions in archiving work, 2) completing archival information in a very detailed, clear, feasible, and consistent manner, and 3) monitoring work results according to archival performance targets.…”

“…Funding is significant in managing institutions (Ray et al, 2013). It even becomes a source of income to increase accountability for archival performance.…”

Vacuum freeze-drying of sediment cores: an optimised method for preserving archaeostratigraphic archives

“…micromorphological structural damage and collapsed pollen) that can occur during post-excavation storage (Blake et al 2000). The archived organic resource as a valuable future research potential contradicts the reduction in financial investment in museum and archive repositories that is leading to dwindling resources, facilities and in-house skills (Ray et al 2013). It is therefore crucial that these storage challenges are met by technical solutions—both to secure present sediment cores and to enable an increase in contextual environmental research.…”