1 House of Lords Record Office Report for 1995 1
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HOUSE OF LORDS RECORD OFFICE REPORT FOR 1995 1 April 1995 - 31 March 1996 1. REVIEW OF THE YEAR In October the greater part of the Record Office was moved to a new suite of rooms on the second floor of the South Front. This accommodation has many advantages, including a larger Search Room and more direct access for the public (see section 3 below). Thus equipped, the office is ready for its second half century. The threat of further upheaval abated when the value-for-money enquiry board charged with considering the long-term accommodation needs of the Record Office reported, on 1 April 1996, that although it would be possible to convert some floors of the Victoria Tower into offices for peers, this would not be the most economical use of space (section 13). The demands of the enquiry for information of all kinds prompted the office to complete a space audit; this showed that, at the current rate, there should be space for up to 25 years' accessions. A further, physical, challenge to the Victoria Tower came from the air-conditioning plants. Because they are unable to refrigerate, temperatures rose alarmingly during the hot summer months and in August one plant malfunctioned, raining water on to the floor below. Over 300 parchment rolls were affected to varying degrees. Prompt action prevented the onset of mould and our conservation staff have been able to restore the cockled parchment to its original, pliable state, though in a few places the text has been lost where the ink has run (section 6). Following this disaster a feasibility study was commissioned and designs are now being considered so that, hopefully, in a few years an efficient air-conditioning system will be installed. The Santobrite Removal Project, begun in 1994, is progressing satisfactorily and soon the majority of Original Acts of Parliament will have been cleaned, repaired, relabelled and reshelved. All these additional demands upon staff time have aggravated the problem, noticed last year, of an ever-increasing volume of deposits, particularly of administrative records. In an attempt to stem this flow, a discussion paper proposing a records management policy has been circulated in both Houses and, with official encouragement, staff are about to begin a survey of record- keeping practices within Parliament (section 4). Our other more regular activities are described below. They have been incorporated into the first annual revision of our five-year strategic plan and, in the process, the aim and objectives of the Record Office have been slightly amended (Appendix I). 1 2. STAFF CLERK OF THE RECORDS: D. J. Johnson, BA, FSA, FRHist.S DEPUTY CLERK OF THE RECORDS: S. K. Ellison, BA, MSc ASSISTANT CLERK OF THE RECORDS: D. L. Prior, BA, MPhil. ARCHIVIST (Modern Collections): Ms K. V. Bligh, BA ASSISTANT ARCHIVIST (Architectural Archives) (part-time): Lady Wedgwood, BA, FSA ARCHIVES OFFICER: R. S. Harrison, BA PERSONAL SECRETARY TO THE CLERK OF THE RECORDS: Mrs. P. M. O'Neil (to 16 August); Miss A. M. Pinder (from 31 July) SECRETARY (part-time): Mrs. R. Copsey (to 29 September) ASSISTANT ARCHIVES OFFICERS: M. J. Troke, BA; P. C. Goldstein CONSERVATION STAFF SECONDED BY THE BRITISH LIBRARY BINDERY: Manager (part-time): B. Russell Working on book binding and manuscript repairs: M. Combe; C. Charles; Miss I. A. Cross; Miss E. Akers; Miss L. Heath; Working on plan repairs: B. Hopkins; R. G. Rackham REPROGRAPHIC STAFF SECONDED BY HER MAJESTY'S STATIONERY OFFICE S. Chamberlain; Mrs. C. Korth; D. J. Trowbridge REPOSITORY HOUSEMAIDS Mrs. C. Archer; Mrs. G. Neenham; Mrs. M. Cross We record with great regret the death of Mr. Roy Russell on 3 June. As Overseer and later Production Manager of the British Library Bindery he had been a regular visitor to our conservation department since 1974. His advice on all matters concerning the technical conservation and preservation of documents was greatly appreciated. All the staff changes this year have been amongst our secretaries: Mrs. Pam O'Neil retired after almost twelve years' devoted service as personal secretary to the Clerk of the Records; Mrs. Roberta Copsey, who had ably assisted her as part-time secretary, transferred to the Law Lords' Office; and Miss Annie Pinder has most efficiently taken both their places, having joined us from the Judicial Office. It is hoped that the general availability of word-processing facilities will reduce the amount of copy-typing to be done by the secretary. 2 David Prior organised a very successful conference on Modern Political Papers, on behalf of the Greater London Archives Network, at which Ms Bligh gave a paper. He is also a committee member of the Special Repositories Group of the Society of Archivists. David Johnson serves on the Society's Legislation Panel. Staff also attended conferences on various historical and archival matters, including a practical course on fire and flood salvage. David Johnson contributed `An Introduction to the Topography' of Joel Gascoyne's Map of Stepney 1702-04 published by the London Topographical Society. Stephen Ellison and David Prior served on the summary report teams of the Council of Europe and Western European Union respectively. 3. VICTORIA TOWER REPOSITORY AND ACCOMMODATION As part of a reallocation of rooms throughout the Parliament Office, most of the staff of the Record Office were moved from the first to the second floor in October. (These moves will be completed in 1996-97 when the Plan Repair Room is reinstated in a first floor room hitherto used as an office.) In the same suite of rooms on the second floor is a new, larger Search Room with more table space (with sockets for lap-top computers inset), more shelving for finding aids and reference works, and a computer terminal and microfilm reader for the use of searchers; security has been improved by the provision of a wardrobe for searchers' coats and bags, a buzzer to contact other staff, and a closed-circuit television camera linked to an outside monitor. Off the adjacent corridor, embellished with a display case for recent acquisitions, are toilets (with provision for disabled persons), a photocopying room, a tea point, and a small store room suitable for bindery supplies, recent accessions and overnight storage. The new accommodation has involved a great deal of planning and considerable upheaval but is proving very convenient, not least because access from the new public entrance in Black Rod's Garden is direct. The disaster which affected 330 parchment rolls at the end of August was the worst of several mishaps due to the ageing air-conditioning plants in the Victoria Tower. The hot summer also uncomfortably emphasised their inability to refrigerate. The Parliamentary Works Directorate therefore commissioned a feasibility study to investigate how best to air-condition the repository in accordance with British Standard 5454 while ensuring the safety of the records, ease of maintenance and energy conservation. The study produced several options which are now being considered prior to detailed planning in 1996-7. As the value-for-money report noted, this should eventually result in a highly satisfactory repository. (For a note on this report, see section 13 below.) 4. ACCESSIONS The Record Office's attempt to persuade other departments of the benefits of good records management took a step forward when a discussion paper, drafted by David Prior, was circulated within both Houses and received official approval. Following this, it was agreed that the Record Office, augmented by a temporary member of staff, should conduct a survey of record keeping which would encompass both the official archives of Parliament and the increasing quantities of administrative records. In the process it is hoped that all departments will be able to identify those series which they need to keep for a limited period and those which 3 should be permanently preserved. The latter will be regular accessions to the Victoria Tower; the former will remain in the originating department or be deposited in a record management centre, yet to be established. As a prelude to this files from both the Clerk of the Parliaments' Office and Black Rod's Office have been scrutinised and review dates established for certain files. A quantity of material from the Clerk of the Parliaments' office has been destroyed. Advice on this subject has also been given to the Speaker's Office in the House of Commons and the Record Office has continued to work closely with the Parliamentary Works Directorate. In addition, the Commons Committee Office conducted a review of the effectiveness of the existing guidelines for deposit of committee records which will serve as a useful basis for the Record Office's survey. There were 179 separate accessions during the year. This represents an increase on 1994-5, which can partly be attributed to an increase in awareness of the office's records management activities. Some of the accessions were large in size: 187 files from Black Rod's Office, 272 bundles of Main Papers from the Lords' Journal and Information Office and 168 boxes of Unprinted Papers from the Commons' Library. Included in a large quantity of material from the Lords' Private Bill Office were the Channel Tunnel rail link plans and papers. The office has continued to break new ground in respect of deposits; in particular files subject to review dates have been deposited by the House of Lords Establishment Office. The development of a space audit database has meant that it is now possible to calculate the total annual volume of accessions - 11.6 cubic metres - and to plan the efficient use of space in the Victoria Tower. The amount of available space has been increased by the move of recent House of Lords deposited plans to a nearby outstore.