I am currently working on a project for Historic England looking at ways of safeguarding the heritage records held by local authorities and Historic England itself.

The “national security copy” project is one of a series of interlinked projects under the Heritage Information Access Strategy (HIAS), which are designed to simplify and improve public access to heritage data held or generated by Historic England, by Local Authority Historic Environment Records and by other bodies.

The Historic Environment Records (HERs) maintained by local authorities in England hold a wealth of information about the archaeology, buildings, sites and the history of an area.  They are a primary source of information for planning, development-control work and land management.  The information is usually held in a database linked to a Geographic Information System and references.

The aim of the National Security Copy project is to make sure that there is a secure copy of the complete heritage record for England, including all the data held by local HERs and  by Historic England.  This will be a dispersed resource, with each host organisation being responsible for the security of their part of the data and for safeguarding it in the event that funding is withdrawn for a service.  This means that more than eighty different organisations each have a role to play.

The aim of this project is to agree best practices for safeguarding heritage data.  Most local authorities have good data backup, security and disaster recovery arrangements in place.  But there are differences in practice and one aspect of the project is agreeing best practices and making sure that there is a shared understanding and commitment to a code of practice for the National Security Copy.  A key principle in all this is making sure that this important heritage data will continue to be accessible should disaster strike.  This might happen in the form of a technical failure, or as a consequence of local authority funding cuts.

Part of my role is to consult HERs on their current policies and practice with regard to the storage and security of their digital and paper-based records, and the principles for the National Security Copy. The result of the project will include recommendations on best practices for data security that  can be readily implemented and monitored by HERs and HE, and a draft Code of Practice or protocol for access to the National Security Copy.

Archaeology is in a special position when it comes to archiving because the objects and data are often the only things that survive of a site. As new housing and development takes place, archaeologists are busy excavating to record archaeological evidence before it is destroyed. Securing the resulting archives for future uses involves care, attention and facing up to some challenges.

The aim of the “Seeing the Light of Day” project is to develop a sustainable solution to the management, accessibility and long-term preservation of archaeological archives in the South West of England. Across the region there are differences in practice and in local situations and both publicly funded and independent museums collecting these archives. Many of the issues that museums and archaeology units are facing are well known (see http://archives.archaeologyuk.org/ for a summary of initiatives since 2002).  The fundamental issue comes down to funding – for storage, specialist staff and access initiatives.

The “Seeing the Light of Day” project, is funded through the Arts Council England’s Museum Resilience Fund.  It is led by the Wiltshire Museum in a partnership with the South West Museum Development Partnership, South West Museums Federation, Historic Environment Teams and Association of Local Government Archaeological Officers in the South West, Historic England, the Chartered Institute for Archaeology Archives Group, the Society of Museum Archaeologists and the 5 largest archaeological contractors active in the South West.

The project is managed by David Dawson, Director of the Wiltshire Museum, which has appointed myself (Kate Fernie) and Paddy McNulty to work on the project.  My brief focuses on the museum issues. Together we are consulting with planning archaeologists, contractors and museums. Our aim is to develop business models and guidance on how to deliver funding for archaeological archives from developer contributions, models for sustainable, shared storage where these important archives can be properly looked after and the public access promised under the National Planning Policy Framework can be delivered.

Looking beyond storage and deposit of archaeological archiving we aim to identify approaches to unlock the community and academic research potential of archaeological archives both physical and digital.

Wessex Archaeology Archives processing and storage, January 2017

“Archaeological archives consist of the records and finds made during an archaeological project. The documentary archive includes written records, drawings, photographs and digital data. The material archive includes artefacts such as pottery and metalwork, or environmental remains such as animal bone” Historic England

The 9th June is International Archives Day with events going on in Archives across the world, the Municipal Archive of the city of Girona decided to celebrate the day by publishing a guide to preserving personal archives, based on the experiences of the archive’s technicians.

The guide covers both paper and digital archives.  It offers a useful starting point for thinking about which documents are important to you and how to organise them to keep them safely.  But it is particularly useful when it comes to digital archives.  More and more personal information being created and stored digitally – from emails to family photos and video as well as important personal documents.  Given the rapid developments in technology, and occasional accidents, which affect whether you can access your information on a personal computer, DVDs, flash memory stick or on a social media site, this guide is a useful starting point to thinking about how to store your personal memories for the future.

The guide is available in English on http://www.girona.cat/sgdap/docs/dia2013_def-eng.pdf.

For more about International Archives Day 2014 see: http://www.internationalarchivesday.org/wordpress/