Melinda Haunton

Autumn 2013

Archive Service AccreditationIntroductory Workshops

Introduction to Archive Service Accreditation

Melinda Haunton/Jane Shillaker

About the scheme• A UK-wide partnership to develop and deliver accreditation

• Supported by coalition of partners (ACE, ARA, ARCW, NRS, PRONI, SCA, TNA, Welsh Government)

• Live scheme is maintained by a governing Committee

• Replaces The National Archives Standard

• Supports ongoing relationships with statutory schemes like Places of Deposit, Acceptance in Lieu

• Developed through co-creation with the sector and tested through a pilot with 20 highly varied archive services

• Planning, Performance, Profile, Patronage, Partnerships, People and Professionalism: what museum accreditation has supported, according to its applicants

Accreditation mission statement

“To improve the viability and the visibility of UK archives”

•Archive services are sustainable, effectively managed, collections are safe •Archive services are well recognised, and meet their communities’ needs •To do this… archive services plan effectively for future challenges and developments

Understanding the standard• Three modules:

- 1. Organisational Health- 2. Collections- 3. Stakeholders and their experience

• Requirements under each module:- 1. Mission, governance, planning and resources (premises, finance and workforce)- 2. Collections management approach, policies, plans and procedures for collections (development, information and care)- 3. Access and engagement with the service’s identified community

• Requirements are phrased with outcomes: explaining the why as well as the what

Understanding the process• Eligibility

• Scalability

• Application system (online)

• Guidance and case studies

• Submit responses with supporting documentation

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• Assessment by home nations assessor bodies

• Validation visits in some cases – role of peer review

• Panels make awards

• Feedback and ongoing development

Understanding eligibility

Setting the scope: to be eligible for accreditation, a service must:- Hold archives- Of a reasonably significant size- Give some form of external access to those archives- Hold some archives which are analogue*- Have identified workforce to manage archives (including professional staffing in public sector)- Have dedicated, secure storage for collections

*To review!

Understanding scalability• Gives the scheme its flexibility

• Recognises statutory and institutional drivers/provisions differ

• Sets broad expectations – not an exact science, your service may cross divisions

• Top level divisions reflect governance/legal position:Local authorityOther public sector(National)Private and third sector

• Scaled divisions: 1-2(-3) – mission, scale and scope varies, particularly in terms of audiences reached

Understanding how to apply• Questions

An application form which asks about how the archive service meets the standard. Largely narrative, following pilot feedback. Also asks for background information (not assessed).

• EvidenceDocuments uploaded to support application and in some cases shown at validation visits

• FlexibilityFormat-blind in most cases. If it fulfils the function effectively for your service, the name/format is irrelevant.

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Understanding guidance and support

• Guidance underpins the standard and application form

• Specific guidance for Accreditation, understanding the Standard and ways you can respond, referencing related standards

• Scaled guidance, reflecting expectations for different types

• Tools and resources: www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/accreditation

• Support available from assessor national bodies – TNA in England

• Wider guidance for service development, from key bodies (TNA, ARA, DPC, BL)

• Ongoing development: specialist templates and support

• Case studies: building evidence and examples

Understanding assessment, validation and award

• Assessment by home nations assessor body (SCA/NRS, PRONI, CyMAL, TNA) with arrangements for national bodies

• Assessment is at (sub-)requirement, not question, level

• Assessment is scaled: at a level appropriate to service’s mission

• A proportion of applications are validated by site visit (minimum 25%, aim higher in practice) which may involve peer review

• Site visits allow verification of sensitive documents and additional discussion incl with peers

• Assessments → recommendation to Panel, with feedback

• Scheme is managed by the Committee, who form the Panels

• Panels award accredited or provisionally accredited status (for set period), or make no award

Archive Service Accreditation…the standard

Meet the Modules

Module 1: Organisational Health

Module 1: Requirement 1.1 Mission statement• The words ‘purpose’, ‘vision’ and ‘mission’ are applied variously and

often... Collectively, these terms should describe why a service or body exists; what/where it aspires to long term; and how it plans to get there.

• Archives Service Accreditation has chosen to use the word ‘Mission’ to encapsulate these terms

• For the objectives of Archive Service Accreditation, ‘Mission’ is defined as: ‘A strategic statement (or series of connected statements) which defines the purpose and direction of the Archive Service, in relation to the governing body it serves.’

• Archive Service Accreditation recognises that, in most cases, the archive service is some way removed from the main business of the organisation it serves. In these cases, the mission statement may be defined in different layers and in more than one type of document.

• All stakeholders should be aware of the mission of the archive service and the mission should direct decision making and activity.

Community• “The concept of a community which the archive service is

constituted to serve. In this specific sense the word ‘community’ does not necessarily refer simply to the population of a political unit or physical area (e.g. a local authority or town).

• “For many archive services the community will extend beyond the formal boundaries of its responsible body (government, educational institution, private or voluntary organisation).

• “The archive will probably serve multiple communities: local, national and international; different communities of researchers and of other types of direct and indirect users and of non-users.

• “Different elements of the community may attract different priorities, types and levels of service. The ‘community’ to be served is defined through the stated purpose of the archive

service.”

Organisational Health for business archives

Module 2: Collections

Policies plans and procedures

Stakeholders and their experiences

Takeaway points

Melinda Haunton

Autumn 2013

Archive Service AccreditationIntroductory Workshops

Scenario: developing a small archive policy

Accrediting Nectan-DivesYou are the new archivist at a college within the university, founded 1880 as St Nectan’s Hall and now known as Nectan-Dives College. Originally founded for the training of Anglo-Catholic priests, the college underwent a number of changes between the wars and was refounded as a postgraduate college in 1952.

The College offers one undergraduate degree (in divinity), and a wider range of postgraduate courses. Thanks to developments in the past three decades it has internationally recognised research centres.

And they want to be Accredited!

The challengeYou are the first professional in post and there are no policies in place

We’re going to draft one which covers:

1.1 Mission Statement

1.2 Governance

[1.4 Storage?]

[1.6 Workforce?]

[2.1 Collections Management?]

2.2 Collections Development policy

2.3 Collections Information policy

2.4 Collections Care and Conservation policy

3.1 Access policy

Don’t panic• You won’t be able to decide everything

alone.

• Work out when you need to discuss and consult to progress

• Think about the planning and procedures that fall out of the policy-writing – note them for later

Next stepsWhat would you do next after this exercise, judging by the setup in your own organisation?

Who needs to be consulted before you come up with a final draft?

Which role or body (or more than one) needs to sign it off to give it suitable weight and help you to implement it?

So (when) will you apply?

accreditation@

nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk