Let me take you back to a baking hot day earlier this year - yes, we had a summer and it was on June 8th. I made the epic trip down to Kew for Collecting in Tough Times, a National Archives event which aimed "to explore how archive services can address the challenges of collecting … Continue reading Beware of the Swans, or, Collecting in Tough Times
Tag: Archives
Beep! Beep! Why barcode your archive?
Librarians have known for years that giving items individual unique identifiers makes it much easier to manage them. Accessions stamps have been used for centuries, automatically rolling on to give each item a number of its very own. Making those identifiers machine-readable took things to a new level. We're talking barcodes! Barcodes allowed libraries to … Continue reading Beep! Beep! Why barcode your archive?
The ILLiad, and other stories
Making Archival and Special Collections More Accessible is a new publication whose name says it all. The good folk at OCLC Research have pulled together seven years of research and summarised it in this handy document. Some of the content will already be familiar to readers of this blog and the Handbook - but it … Continue reading The ILLiad, and other stories
Bye Bye Basement!
Fingers crossed and all that, my service, Special Collections at the University of Bradford, should get our long-awaited new premises in 2016. Hooray! Our project is part of a wider programme which will transform the lower floors of our 1970s Library to meet the needs of modern students. Before: rambling, dark mazes full of odd … Continue reading Bye Bye Basement!
Save our Sounds!
Sound recordings offer us extraordinary insights into the past. To take just one example from my own experience. I had read the text many times, but I never fully understood the popularity or impact of J.B. Priestley's Second World War radio broadcasts until I heard him speak. His homely, warm Yorkshire tones contrasted with the … Continue reading Save our Sounds!
The Pukka Pad and the Big Cake: #DCDC14 Conference Part 1
Discovering Collections, Discovering Communities, a joint effort by RLUK and The National Archives, is fast becoming a must-attend conference for archives and special collections folk. The idea? We face tough times and huge challenges: let's collaborate and find new ways to survive and thrive. The second in the series was held last week in the … Continue reading The Pukka Pad and the Big Cake: #DCDC14 Conference Part 1
Accredited!
Thrilled to announce that Special Collections at the University of Bradford has achieved Archive Accreditation! We are the first English university to reach this new standard. I'll blog about the experience for professional colleagues soon: why we applied, what we made of the process, and how we think it will help improve our service. And … Continue reading Accredited!
Special Collections in CILIP Update
Very pleased that the latest issue of CILIP Update features a section all about the latest in Special Collections. Special Collections is an incredibly dynamic and exciting area of library work, and it is good to see this feature in a title aimed at all librarians. There's a piece by Karen Attar about the new … Continue reading Special Collections in CILIP Update
BLPAC to close
Bad news: the British Library's Preservation Advisory Centre is to close at the end of March. See the statement on their website. If you've read the Handbook, you'll know how much I value BLPAC's work, especially the really useful free booklets and training courses. They've also been an important cross-sector advocate for thinking strategically about … Continue reading BLPAC to close
Bingo for Buttons: the archive accreditation workshop
Back in September (20th to be exact) I went along to a workshop on archives accreditation. Though I've been following the growth of the new standard pretty closely, I still found the event really helpful. If you're thinking of applying, do try to get to one of these sessions! What did I like about this … Continue reading Bingo for Buttons: the archive accreditation workshop
The Special Collections Handbook 