3.
‘Points to ponder’
Archivists
act as intermediaries between users and what they want to us. They help users and
researchers to understand the nature of the archives and why they were created
and also provide guidance on sources for particular interests.
It is
worth remembering that archives were not created with the needs of future
researchers in mind! Researchers must
rely on what was recorded for whatever purpose in the hope of finding
information they need.
3.1 What
are the main issues affecting archives today?
Preservation of traditional ‘pen and
ink’ media (parchment and paper) largely depends on good storage and handling,
and these documents can be read without technology. Photographs, sound and moving images have
particular preservation needs; some also need technology, often obsolete, to
hear or see them!
Modern
media, ‘born digital’ records and ‘capturing the web’ are increasing
challenges requiring new skills. It is necessary to select what should be
preserved before it disappears, and to actively preserve the content. Preservation systems must be established, and
the technology to enable continued access.
Archivists
and users face increasing challenges:
·
Languages: Dealing with language
as used in the past is not easy and many people have difficulty understanding
complex sentence structure, how vocabulary and spelling have evolved, and
technical terms which continued in use for reasons of legal validity. English spelling was not standardised before
the 18th century, and legal documents through the ages are
unpunctuated and full of ‘common form’.
Archaic English is not the only challenge: Latin was used for formal
records until the 1730s; French is significant in the later Middle Ages;
written Welsh survives from early medieval times; Anglo-Saxon is another
hurdle, and the medieval ‘Insular’ style of writing in Ireland was used for the
Irish language into early modern times.
·
Reading historic
writing styles:
The styles are distinctive, and the letter shapes appear strange to modern
readers. The writing may also be ‘rapid’ and not carefully formed. Abbreviation systems and archaic names,
numbers, dates, measurement units and accounting are all part of the reading challenge
if the content is to be understood. ‘Hit and miss’ approaches or guess work
will not succeed: a systematic approach (and good teaching!) is essential. By today, less emphasis on teaching cursive
writing is a major concern for future ‘archive literacy’ because young people
will find it more difficult to engage with our documentary heritage.
·
Digitisation of large
archival resources creates new challenges: Researchers who use online census and other
data for information back to the mid-1800s often want to go further with
original sources, but they lack the experience they would have gained from
using more recent original sources.
Inaccuracy of transcription in preparing digital resources is an even
bigger challenge, because serious inaccuracy in personal and place names
results in major problems for researchers.
3.2 How
should I ‘cite’ archival documents?
Guidance available in ‘Style Guides’ for ‘citing’ or ‘referencing’ the
sources used for research usually focuses on print and digital formats and is
not very helpful for archives. Also,
most guidance assumes that an author’s name is known, but this not necessarily
the case for archives. The purpose of
good citation and referencing is to enable anybody to locate or ‘request’ the
same source easily, so it is wise to use a practical, logical system which is
easily understood and represents good practice.
The following elements should be noted in sequence:
·
name of the repository (e.g. National Library of Wales, or NLW)
·
name of the collection (e.g. University of Wales Miscellaneous Papers)
·
full reference code for
the individual item concerned, and
·
If the item is a
volume, you will also need to give the page or folio reference.
This method works well, even when using several items from a collection. In such cases, the first citation note should
give the repository name, the collection name and the reference code etc., and
then state that subsequent references to items from the same collection will include
the abbreviated collection name and the reference code or number. From that point onwards, you may consider
placing the references within round brackets in the text. You may also find that you can group your
references by stating, e.g., ‘all details given in this paragraph/section are
drawn from numbers 1-5 in the same collection’.
If you are using a single item that is not part of a collection, such as
a diary, you should follow the same principles by giving the name of the
repository, the name of the item and the reference code etc.
3.3 Why are
some archives and records ‘closed’ and not accessible?
·
Closure rules: For many decades,
Public Records, which include the records of central UK government and now the
devolved nations, were closed to public access for 30 years while they remained
within the creating departments. That rule has now changed to 20 years. Until
the 21st century, all census data was closed for 100 years, but this
has now been challenged, especially because of the significance of the census
data from 1921 which will reveal important detail on the effects of WW1.
·
Privacy legislation obviously affects some
kinds of archives and records, such as adoption and medical records, and very
recent documents containing personal details. The Data Protection Act of 1998
played a major role in privacy control in the UK, but this changed on 25 May
2018 when the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and new Data
Protection Act in the UK (which aligns with GDPR) came into force. Both emphasise the importance of privacy and
also the right to access your personal details and ensure that they are
accurate.
·
Freedom of Information
(FoI) restrictions:
The UK’s Freedom of Information Act 2000 has prescribed methods for requesting
information held by ‘public authorities’ and is up-dated as necessary. However, there are clearly defined exceptions
where requests can be refused. FoI
legislation in Scotland is slightly different.
3.4 A
useful website about using archives at De Montfort University Library: See: https://libguides.library.dmu.ac.uk/c.php?g=335958&p=2289975
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A folio from The
Black Book of Carmarthen, which was written in the mid-13th century
and contains mainly Welsh poetry. It is
thought to be the earliest surviving manuscript written solely in Welsh.
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