A Day Out of Office: CyMAL Basic Archive Skills

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The final day of a disappointingly inclement June was also the first major heat-wave of our (largely nominal) British summer. And my day off from interning at Gladstone's Library. Surely these circumstances conspired so that I might bask in a pool of glorious sunshine and return to the Gladstone’s Enquiry Desk bronzed and glowing?

Alas, no. For me, the day had a higher purpose. Rather than crisp myself medium well-done, I elected to attend a training day on archiving run by CyMAL: Museums, Archives and Libraries Wales. Conveniently held just 30 minutes down the train line from Hawarden, at Wrexham County Borough Museum, the one-day course offered an introduction to the basic skills involved in archive collection, management and preservation.

For me this was highly fortuitous timing. Not only does my internship here at Gladstone’s Library involve project work on archives donated or deposited within our collection, I shall also be striking out in to the Real World of Proper Grown-Up Employment this September when I begin as a Graduate Library Assistant at the University of Liverpool’s Sydney Jones Library, where I shall be working in the Special Collections and Archives. So, all things considered, yesterday seemed to be a sound investment of my time off.

The programme struck a balance between outlining the fundamentals of archiving principles and providing detailed explanations and examples of how these operate in practice. Most of the attendees had a significant amount of experience of working with archives, though the amounts of formal training and instruction each had received varied greatly. Many were there as the organisations they worked for were hoping to augment their current collections by developing archives of local history, heritage and business. Some were there to understand why they had been operating as they had for a great many years. The diversity of experience meant that everyone was able and eager to contribute examples from their own work, and to question how the theory might be related to issues arising for them on a day-to-day basis.

Of especial interest to me was our discussions around the discernment necessary to archivists’ decisions regarding what really does warrant selection for permanent preservation as an item of historical value. This is where archivists’ experience acts as a guide, since it may be difficult to anticipate what the intellectual utility of records will be in, say, a century’s time.

Discussions covered problems of copyright, of data protection, of practical and material management, and of accessibility. We considered scenarios in which the archive’s provenance – essentially the creator(s) responsible for putting its contents together – is unclear, and how the internet helps to meliorate such situations through the advent of practices such as crowd-sourcing, by which researchers appeal for information across online platforms accessed by vast numbers of users. Indeed, most libraries, museums and archive repositories now have at least one social media presence. (I should know; I spend a great deal of time assiduously following organisations’ Twitter feeds and ‘liking’ Facebook pages in case they notice my interest and, I don’t know, co-opt me to their Board of Trustees or something…)

What became apparent throughout the course was just how analytical the work of an archivist can be. If the original order of an archive has been lost, something of the meaning and purpose behind that archive’s creation has been lost. It may then be necessary for the archivist to establish an ‘artificial arrangement’ for the records which best reflects their original function. Since knowledge of the provenance is especially helpful in such cases, a preliminary bout of detective work may be needed before work on the order can begin.

Towards the end of the day we briefly covered the issues arising from digital archiving, the problems associated with which arguably constitute the greatest problems facing the information services at the present time. Those working in information management must be ready to embrace new methods of operating whilst simultaneously recognising that today’s practices may yet become defunct as time and technology press inexorably forward.

This day was a day well-spent not only as a sunstroke prophylactic. It was a way of exploring the reasons why we do as we do when faced with an archiving project. It was a chance to meet other people who have chosen to do this work for a living, and still enjoy job satisfaction. As someone just beginning her career, I find this both reassuring and exciting. The prospect of entering a sector devoted to preserving information and facilitating discovery – particularly at a time when the pace of technological change represents both a boon and a risk to that objective - is a gift to a neophyte such as me.

As we were told yesterday, we cannot know when we compile and maintain records the creative uses to which they will be put by future researchers, academics, historians and genealogists, not to mention interested lay persons. The intellectual potential stored in well-maintained archives is incalculable.

Yesterday laid the foundations for my work to come over the next year, and showed me how integral this type of information management is to the preservation of social and cultural history. Sometimes, it‘s well worth sacrificing a day in the sun.

Catherine Chorley