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Cumbria Archive Service Annual Report 2009-10

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Cumbria Archive Service Annual Report 2009-10 Annual Report 2009-2010 Cumbria Archive Service Contents 3 Introduction 3 Building pride in Cumbria 4 Cumbria’s Challenge 6 Making a Difference to Local People 8 Supporting Stronger Communities 10 Improving the life chances and well being of young people 11 Better Council services 12 Conclusion Appendices 13 A: Acknowledgements 15 B: Key accessions 2009-2010 17 C: Performance 2 Annual Report 2009-2010 Introduction Cumbria Archive Service is renowned for its unique collection of over 10 miles of historic documents showcasing all aspects of the historical, social, political and economic evolution of our county. Our strongrooms are full of priceless treasures, many of which illuminate regional, national and international history too. From Gospatrick’s charter of 1070 to the records of today’s local authorities and businesses, the Archive Service preserves paper and parchment, maps and drawings, films and photographs, and electronic records – all for the benefit of people now and in the future. More than that, through our Records Management Service, we ensure that the County Council has access to one of its most vital assets – information – to support its own decision-making and all aspects of its service delivery. The provision of an authentic and comprehensive public record is one of the key benefits that the Archive Service delivers to the citizens of Cumbria. This report illustrates how the Archive Service has supported Cumbria County Council’s aims and objectives throughout 2009-2010, and how it is responding to the 2009 government policy on archives – Archives for the 21 st Century – to modernise its services to keep pace with evolving changes and challenges. Our collections date back nearly 1000 years, but the means of preserving them and making them accessible depend increasingly on modern technology and scientific research developments. The ease with which we can create digital information today obscures the difficulty of ensuring that it survives and is readable tomorrow – and delivering the long term solution to this conundrum is the key national challenge for archive services in the 21 st century. Building Pride in Cumbria The Archive Service has a huge range of historic documents for every village and town in Cumbria over the centuries. It is natural to want to understand more about the place where you live, and many people use the archives for this reason. In doing so, they gain more understanding about their community and what makes it distinctive and special. Often, people undertake this kind of research as a group activity. This strengthens the sense of community and helps people from diverse backgrounds work together, as feedback from a group in Frizington described – “they focused on one thing so they overcame any prejudices they may have had about whether somebody was cleverer than them, or were in-comers or off-comers - in the end the group forged ahead and produced a wonderful book about their village”. The key development project for Cumbria Archive Service this year has been the construction of the new archives centre at Petteril Bank in Carlisle in a ward which is one of the 10% most deprived in the country. This project has restored the 19 th century mansion house, Lady Gillford’s House as part of a modern extension. It was a real pleasure for us in October to show some local people round the development, hear their memories about the place, and see how thrilled they were that a prized building was being made accessible again for their community to use. 3 Cumbria Archive Service 2009 2010 2009 2010 Archives are significant in building pride in local communities and in the county of Cumbria. Cumbria’s challenge The size of the county (the second largest in England) and its rural nature, combined with a small population of just under 500,000 provides particular challenges to delivering public services and enabling access. In the context of government objectives to reduce the repayment costs of public borrowing, and a Cumbrian economy that has lagged behind the rest of the UK, value for money of service delivery is critical. The Archive Service is responsive to these characteristics. It operates from four public record offices to make sure that local people have access to local archives. This makes Cumbria the 6 th most successful English county in attracting visitors to use archives and leads to very high levels of local use (72% of visitors in 2009-2010 lived in Cumbria). The connection and affinity local people feel with their local record office has encouraged archive owners to deposit their collections, resulting in a particularly rich variety of archives covering all parts of the county. We helped to respond to the effects of the flooding in November 2009. Our Conservation Team and their volunteers undertook the repair of many damaged photographs and records, helping businesses to maintain continuity, and preserving some valuable personal possessions for people whose homes had been flooded. 4 Annual Report 2009-2010 The Archive Service is a relatively low-cost, front-line service, accounting for only 0.12% of Cumbria County Council’s budget. It covered 12% of its operating costs in 2009-2010 through income generation, principally through records management. The Service achieves a lot with a small budget. It strengthens community identities, provides stimulating educational benefits for young people and adults, and contributes to economic regeneration. The value the public places on the Archive Service is demonstrated by the 98% public satisfaction rating in the national, independently run, Survey of Visitors to British Archives 2009 . Where possible, we fund our activities and service development through grants, external funding and self-financing services. During 2009-2010, we secured a grant of £262,000 from BNFL Legacy Trust to create an oral history archive relating to the impact of Sellafield on West Cumbria. The Museums, Libraries and Archives Council provided £3,200 to fund an educational programme, Their Past Your Future . The Lowther Estate continued to fund an archivist to catalogue the archive of the Earl of Lonsdale. Important manorial records relating to Ravenstonedale and Winton (1556-1839) were purchased (£7,300) for Cumbria Record Office (Kendal) thanks to considerable assistance from the Friends of the National Libraries and a number of local bodies. We also sell our expertise to other organisations. The Conservators provided several days training to the British Geological Survey in Edinburgh, ensuring the preservation of thousands of volumes of early twentieth century magnetograms needed for contemporary research into earthquake warning systems. Service users increasingly expect electronic service delivery, so we have introduced a service for the digitisation of documents this year – but on a self-financing basis. We have many years experience of running self-financing services, principally the Historical Research Service which enables members of the public to employ one of our specially trained researchers. Self financing services allow us to respond to changing user demands and expectations by providing new services without increasing the costs of core service provision. The Archive Service contributes to the local economy and economic regeneration. The construction of the new archives centre in Carlisle is largely funded by a £4.8m grant from Heritage Lottery Fund, and this project has employed many local sub-contractors throughout the year during a time of recession. The Survey of Visitors to British Archives (2009) revealed that 70% of our visitors came to the archives as the main purpose of their visit, but 36% also visited other places of interest in the area, 75% used local shops and services, 46% ate out locally, and 26% paid for overnight accommodation. 5 Cumbria Archive Service Making a Difference to Local People Archives are inspiring. The thrill of touching and reading original documents that speak across the years is intense, and many people visit archives personally to enjoy and learn from that experience. Archives are used by wide audiences for different reasons, achieving varied benefits for localities and individual people. There are rich learning outcomes for all users through increased knowledge and understanding, new skills and confidence, changed attitudes and values, and above all, a sense of self achievement. Visitors have told us:- • “I needed something to get my brain going” • “I didn’t know I could do that” • “It’s my question and I found the answer to it”. • “You can actually make a eureka moment”. Whatever ethnic, social or cultural background people originate from, they want to understand their own personal identity. In 2009-10, 53% of our visitors investigated their own family history. This can have a very personal and significant impact on people, as Furness U3A told us: "It has been a real revelation to see the extent of material you hold in the Archives...Thank you so very much for all that you have done, not least for firing up so many of us to return and engage on our personal journeys of exploration and discovery through the material you hold." We support stimulating life-long learning through the advice and support we provide to visiting researchers, as well as answering queries via telephone, email and our website. We provide in- depth specialist research through the Historical Research Service to people all over the world. During 2009-10 we answered or supported people to research a total of 73,109 enquiries, using approximately 203,000
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