Call for Advice from Members!

National archives in Kew, London.

Members of the Historical Association may be aware of current discussion of changes to the services of both The National Archives (TNA based at Kew) and regional archive offices.  The Museums Archives and Libraries Council recently conducted a consultation on the future of regional archives, which is yet to be reported.  The key thrust of ideas on which comments were sought entailed the concentration of archives in larger and fewer offices around the country, presumably envisaging the eventual demise of some county record offices. Now the TNA has issued notice of possible cuts to its services, including the loss of one opening day, cuts to staffing, and charges for car parking at Kew.

The Historical Association would appreciate advice from its members on archive services locally and nationally in order to inform our thinking and role in national debate on these matters.  The recently formed Committee for Public History would provide a natural forum to discuss such responses and formulate our policies.  Indeed, these items formed a considerable part of the agenda of that committee's first meeting held at the IHR in May, before news broke of the TNA proposals.

The Royal Historical Society, in combination with the Institute of Historical Research, has convened a meeting to be held at the IHR on 8 September, aimed chiefly at collecting the opinions of historians working in higher education on the proposed changes at the TNA.  The TNA is holding its own consultation meeting on 24 September, and details of such meetings may be found on appropriate websites. Members are encouraged to send their comments and queries to the TNA as its website suggests. The websites of other bodies who have expressed concern should also be consulted, such as that for the British Association for Local History, Action 4 Archives.

The Historical Association urges its members to be vigilant regarding possible cuts to local and national archive services, for these are surely essential for the enjoyment of all who study history.  Please respond to local and national consultations and inform HA headquarters of matters on which you think we should/could act.  Current concerns on which we require more data include:

• To what extent have services been cut already over the past ten years, particularly in regional archive offices?
• How has the cataloguing of valuable manuscript collections been affected by cuts, or will be affected by the cuts now proposed?
• How do people feel about the general emphasis now being placed on access to records ‘on-line', partly at the expense of site visits, particularly if a relatively small percentage of archives is available ‘on-line'?
• To what extent have the allied services of regional record offices - education, talks, exhibitions and consultancy - been affected by cuts?
• How far will the changes being proposed lead to a reduction in the opportunities for the general public and historians to see original archives?
• To what extent should we be concerned that the loss of long-established businesses in the current recession has been accompanied by the loss of valuable historical records, and an important part of our heritage, partly owing to the fact that there are too few archivists to keep track of events - and possibly not the legislation yet designed to give such records the same protection as other ‘national archives'?

These are just some of our current concerns.  It would surely be foolish to prioritise on-line services in the name of ‘access' when some argue that less than half of all our records are even properly catalogued.  And as the impact of the ‘digital revolution' bites, we surely need more and better trained archivists rather than fewer?

Please send comments on this important debate to HA headquarters simon.brown@history.org.uk and watch our website and newsletters as this saga unfolds.

Andrew Foster, Chair of HA Committee for Public History, and Anne Curry President of the Historical Association.