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Reading Room at the Imperial War Museum 4 by Stephen Walton, Curator of the Department of Documents at the Imperial War Museum

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Reading Room at the Imperial War Museum 4 by Stephen Walton, Curator of the Department of Documents at the Imperial War Museum BEYOND THE PRO PLACES OF DEPOSIT BULLETIN SEPTEMBER 2002 TheThe NationalNational Archives:Archives: PROPRO andand HMCHMC functionsfunctions toto comecome togethertogether BEYOND THE PRO Contents Public Record Office and Historical Manuscripts 3 Commission functions to come together Aspiring to Improved Access 4 The ‘Dome’ Reading Room at the Imperial War Museum 4 by Stephen Walton, Curator of the Department of Documents at the Imperial War Museum Connected Earth: BT’s Heritage Project 6 by David Hay, Head of BT Group Archives Freedom of Information (FOI) Publication Schemes, 7 Archives and Finding Aids by Susan Healy, Head of Information Legislation Unit, Public Record Office Social Inclusion and Access 9 by Catherine Redfern, Archive Inspection Services Unit, Public Record Office Black History Month October 2002 12 a note from Carol Dixon, Black and Asian Studies Association Guidelines for UK Government websites now available 13 HMC new website: 14 a note from Hazel Bagworth- Mann of the Historical Manuscripts Commission Research Resources in Medical History grants scheme 14 extension Return of Western Pacific Commission archives 15 to Oceania by Howard Davies, Public Record Office Contact details 16 SEPTEMBER 2002 PRO and HMC functions to come together The National Archives vision… ollowing the recommendations of the independent review on The National Archives will maintain the quality of advice and policy the Historical Manuscripts Commission undertaken during making for government owners of private archives and will provide 2000-01 by Sir Geoffrey Chipperfield, the government has consolidated national leadership for the sector. It will offer more announced that it is bringing together the functions of the efficient delivery of all services and better value for money. In particular: Public Record Office and the Historical Manuscripts • There will be a single lead body to take forward the FCommission in a single new organisation to be named the National Government Policy on Archives and the associated Action Plan, Archives. This body will report to the Lord Chancellor. working with other bodies such as Re-source: The Council for Museums, Archives and Libraries. The Historical Manuscripts Commission’s role is an advisory one. It includes inspection services and involves the maintenance of the • The full range of services that the PRO and HMC offer to all our National Register of Archives (NRA). The HMC specialises in stakeholders and users will be maintained and, where possible, inspecting and maintaining the standards of private archives. improved. We will be developing a single regime for inspecting archive repositories. Sarah Tyacke, Keeper of Public Records, has made the following • Our heritage of historic records, in both public and private announcement on the merger: ‘I am very pleased for the PRO – and hands, will be better managed, safeguarded and promoted for our new HMC colleagues – that we will be realising the vision of under single leadership. a National Archives. We will be better able to provide a more • Users will have improved access, via the internet, to information effective and efficient service as we will be combining – and further about both public and private records, consolidating the work of developing and improving – our two organisations’ expertise to both the National Register of Archives and recent PRO initiatives such public and private archives’. as our on-line catalogue, PROCAT and Access to Archives (A2A). The coming together of the two bodies is expected to be a gradual • Policy and problem-solving across the whole archives sector will process spread over at least this financial year and the next. be better co-ordinated and will be especially important in The changeover will happen formally in April 2003 but some practical critical areas such as coping with new technology and in details still remain to be worked out. It is expected that the HMC helping to implement and monitor new information legislation functions and its 25 staff will transfer to the PRO building at Kew such as the Data Protection and Freedom of Information Acts. within the next 18 months. The report by Sir Geoffrey Chipperfield can be located on the The Keeper and staff at the PRO hope that the merging of functions Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) website at will appear to be seamless to our public places of deposit and private www.culture.gov.uk. You can find out more information about the archival customers. We request your encouragement, support and HMC at www.hmc.gov.uk; including an article on the Chipperfield trust as we progress into this ambitious new venture which will Report in HMC Newsletter Issue no 5, Summer 2002. If any staff at involve major changes for our staff and for colleagues at the HMC. places of deposit for public records have any queries about the forthcoming merger please direct them to Steven Jones (Head of Archive Inspection Services Unit) - see contact details at the end of this bulletin. 3 BEYOND THE PRO Aspiring to ‘Dome’ Reading improved access Room at the Imperial War Museum any of the Archivists news from the PoD community and staff in Places of where access services have been n the evening of the 26 June this year the Imperial War M Deposit (PoDs) for developed with best practice Museum’s Departments of Documents and Printed Books public records will be aware of principles in mind. If your O hosted a relatively modest but well-attended party in the the existence of the Draft Archive has recently undergone IWM’s Lambeth Road ‘headquarters’, the occasion being the Standard for Access to Archives – improvements to its facilities and refurbishment of the two departments’ shared public reference A Working Document published services we would like to hear facilities there. Countless professional historians, students, family in February 2000 that identifies from you. Please contact Rod historians, journalists and many other kinds of researcher know the best practice principles for the Ward-Horner – see contact reading room simply as ‘the Dome’, for that is essentially what it is: provision of access facilities and details at the end of this Bulletin the dome which sits atop the former Bethlem Royal Hospital building services to 2005 and beyond. - so that we can arrange to on Lambeth Road and which housed the chapel of ‘Bedlam’ before This working document provided publicise your achievements. that institution moved out and the current occupier moved in. some important first steps Don’t keep it to yourselves, Inevitably, the transition from lunatic asylum to war museum towards identifying principal trumpet it out loud and clear so (between 1930 and 1936) provides an endless fund of ironic areas that contribute towards that we can all share ideas and observation along the lines of ‘well, not much change there then!’, high quality and inclusive aspire to provide the best for our but museum staff take this in their stride and (mostly) maintain a archival access services. The research communities and users. diplomatic silence on the matter. Once in the reading room, visitors issues addressed in this have access to the Museum’s vast collections of books, journals, document were: aims and In this context, this month’s printed ephemera, personal diaries, letters and other documents objectives for access; equity in Bulletin features a distinct relating to most, if not all, aspects of 20th-century conflict, for which the provision of services; Access theme: articles by the IWM is internationally renowned. communication and openness; Stephen Walton (Curator of the responsiveness; effectiveness Department of Documents, and efficiency; service Imperial War Museum) on the management; staff participation new improved ‘Dome’ Reading and responsibilities; user Room; David Hay (Archivist, BT responsibilities; service Group Archives) on BT’s information; access to services; ‘Connected Earth’ virtual access to content; services for museum, a piece by Susan Healy new researchers; on-site delivery on FOI Publication Schemes, service and remote delivery Archives and Finding Aids and service. The Public Service our own Catherine Redfern who Quality Group have now reports on the London proposed that this Draft paper Museums, Archives and Libraries should be developed towards event on Social Inclusion and full British standard status. If the Access to mention a few. If you standard is finally accepted as a would like a copy of the Draft The ‘Dome’ has been in fairly constant use as a reading room since full British standard it is likely to Standard on Access to Archives the mid-1960s, an occupancy interrupted in its infancy by an arson be adopted by the Archive please contact Rod Ward-Horner attack in 1968 which necessitated a total refurbishment, completed Inspection Services Unit (or its - see contact details at the end in 1975. The former chapel (which still boasts a very impressive successor body) as the basis for of the Bulletin. plaque listing the Ten Commandments) was then left in peace until its inspection criteria of access late last year, when it was decided that it really did need a new coat facilities in PoDs for public of paint and an improvement in the reading facilities. A generous records. Consequently, AISU is grant from the Friends of the Imperial War Museum enabled the very pleased to hear of any The installation of new computer terminals and lap-top outlets, amongst other improvements, and there is also enhanced provision for disabled readers. Visitors to the reading room can now consult the 4 SEPTEMBER 2002 electronic catalogues of the Departments of Documents and Printed Books as well as those of the IWM’s other collecting departments (many of which are not located in the main building but in the nearby All Saints Annexe – another former hospital), as well as the database of the National Inventory of War Memorials, recently transferred to the care of the Department of Printed Books.
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