Nick Kingsley4 November 2010

Archives for the 21st century:an update for the Cambridge Archivists Group

Archives in University and collegiate institutions

• TNA sees every archive, public and private, as part of a landscape of provision that collectively cherishes an archival patrimony in which there is a public interest, even if there is no public access

• The mission of my department at TNA is to “improve the archival health of the nation” through leadership, support, advice and guidance, so we work with all types of archive to encourage the best possible standards of provision in a contextually sensitive way

• Our primary focus has to be on collecting institutions - archives which actively collect from individuals and organisations beyond their parent body - because of the scale of their holdings and because the public interest in them is stronger. Archives for the 21st century is primarily addressed to this audience.

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Archives in University and collegiate institutions

• We recognise the public value of private provision, respect the different drivers that motivate it, and understand that public access is a privilege not a right where provision is privately funded

• There are not clear-cut boundaries between public and private bodies, or between collecting and non-collecting institutions, but a spectrum along which individual institutions are positioned (and may move over time).

• Where does your institution fit on this spectrum?

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Archives for the 21st century

Government Policy (CM 7744) laid before Parliament on 24 Nov 2009: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/policy/aft21c/

Policy was ‘future-proofed’ as far as possible with a view to ensuring it remained valid following General Election

Five key recommendations of Archives for the 21st century:• Developing bigger, better, more sustainable archives through working in

partnership• Strengthened leadership and a responsive, skilled workforce• A co-ordinated response to the growing challenge of managing digital

information• Comprehensive online access for archive discovery through catalogues and to

digitised archive content• Active participation in cultural and learning partnerships promoting a sense of

identity and place within the community

Archives for the 21st century

• TNA/MLA Action Plan for England published in March 2010: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documents/aft21c-action-plan-march-2010.pdf

• Executive Document aimed at Chief Executives, Vice-Chancellors and Directors published simultaneously: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documents/aft21c/archives-for-the-21st-century-in-action.pdf

• Covering letter from Roy Clare and Oliver Morley urging CEOs and Vice-Chancellors to meet with their archivists to discuss how the Policy would impact on their service

• CyMAL annual action plans for Wales planned from 2011 onwards

Work since the spring

• Roadshows in York, London and Birmingham to engage archive service managers with the implementation of the policy

• Development of workstreams responding to the key initiatives outlined in the policy

• Coming up:o a language refresh?o “one year on” reviewo focus on higher education

sectoro transition from MLA

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Roadshows in June and July

• Developed in light of financial context and risk that cultural services (especially in local government) will be hit hard.

• Podcasts of presentations on our website: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/information-management/policies/aft21c-in-your-region.htm

• Key messages were the importance of:o demonstrating your value to the organisationo leading and advocating for your serviceo being seen to drive efficiency and improvemento working more in partnership for greater efficiency and reacho reviewing governance/business models to maximise

sustainability

The workstreams

Actions for Government arising from Archives for the 21st century have been grouped into a series of workstreams. The key delivery partners meet periodically to review progress and agree actions.

The five workstreams are:•Accreditation, governance and standards•Digital preservation•Workforce development•Online access and collection development•Stakeholder engagement

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Accreditation, Governance and Standards Workstream

• MLA have researched the value of different business and governance models for cultural services: http://www.mla.gov.uk/what/support/toolkits/~/media/Files/pdf/2010/programmes/The_opportunity_of_devolution_for_museums_libraries_and_archives.ashx

• TNA is promoting stronger information management practices through the closer integration of archives and information management functions

• TNA will continue to provide guidance, advice and best practice to archive services to support service improvement and efficiency, strengthen partnership working, and support learning, research, and broader audiences

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Accreditation, Governance and Standards Workstream

• TNA and MLA are exploring the development of an accreditation scheme for archives in the UK

• Consultancy report in August 2010 recommended that the scheme should be a standards scheme that drives improvement by externally validating and accrediting achievement, as distinct from a continuous improvement tool based on self evaluation, and that the scheme should be purpose built to meet the needs of archives and not seek to adopt models designed for other disciplines

• Second stage (Nov-Mar) will define scope and methodology of the scheme

• Third and four stages will be development of an accreditation standard and piloting.

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Accreditation, Governance and Standards Workstream

Individual institutions are encouraged to:• consider the strength of their existing business model and

whether it offers stability in the current environment, and if appropriate, to explore alternative governance and business models

• explore the scope for greater partnership in delivery of services, through integrated management and co-location of services

There may be benefits in your looking at the possibilities and making proposals for change before someone else does!

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Digital Preservation

• TNA will continue to raise the profile of digital preservation in the sector, and encourage the capability of the sector to deliver it.

• We have developed basic digital preservation FAQ s during the summer of 2010 and will add to these as issues surface

• We are now developing guidance on writing a digital preservation policy

• In 2011, TNA will cascade model digital continuity contractual clauses for outsourced or externally hosted services and produce generic guidelines for commissioning DP services and assessing suppliers and establish assessment criteria

• TNA is also exploring the development of an assessment framework for places of deposit for digital records

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Digital preservation

Individual institutions can:• advocate the importance of the digital continuity and digital

preservation agendas within your organisation• take the simple and free/low-cost steps recommended in our

FAQs to safeguard the digital materials already in your possession

• consider how the transition to digital record-keeping will affect their collection development processes in the future

• explore the opportunities for collaborative action to access the facilities needed for digital preservation and the online delivery of digital archives

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Workforce Development

• MLA will promote the importance of leadership training to the archives sector and identify and remove barriers to accessing it

• The sector will be encouraged to develop a co-ordinated and integrated training model to enable the workforce to develop required skills and to progress their careers

• MLA has published examples of best practice of working with volunteers on its website to encourage wider and more innovative use of this resource

• TNA is leading an HLF Skills for the Future programme to train 24 people in specialist skills needed by the archives sector, in partnership with local archives and Borthwick Institute. The programme will also contribute to increasing workforce diversity.

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Workforce Development

Individual institutions can:• create a culture of staff development that is strongly aligned to

the vision for the service• support the creation of a more diverse workforce with the skills

required for the future through positive action schemes and training

• develop their volunteering programme so that it offers a wide range of opportunities that benefit the organisation and develop your volunteers

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Online access and collection development

• TNA will support the UK Archival Description network in its work to deliver more comprehensive online access to catalogues, and will explore opportunities for extending the benefits of its own research and infrastructure developments to the rest of the sector

• TNA has published guidance on collection development• TNA will co-ordinate a large-scale consortium for commercial

digitisation projects• TNA will continue to support and act as administrator for the

National Cataloguing Grants Scheme• TNA and MLA will create The People’s Record for the 2012

Olympics and continue to support collaborative collection development.

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Online access and collection development

Individual institutions are encouraged to:• give a proportionate priority to archival cataloguing, and

delivering catalogues online, so that more and more multi-level catalogue information is discoverable online

• set clear goals for digitisation, participate in digitisation projects, raise awareness with users as resources become available, and evaluate how digital material is used

• ensure that staff and volunteers have the skills they need to provide online access to your resources

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That’s it folks!

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