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Social Inclusion
What is Social Inclusion?
"Social exclusion happens when people or places suffer from a series of problems such as unemployment, discrimination, poor skills, low incomes, poor housing, high crime, ill health and family breakdown. When such problems combine they can create a vicious cycle." (Social Exclusion Unit website)
According to the National Council of Archives report, 'Archives in the Regions: An Overview of the English Regional Archive Strategies', there are some common themes on how archive services can begin to tackle social exclusion:
- Articulate the contribution of archives to specific communities and potential partners.
- Research into impact on users. Develop collections to ensure they represent the full richness of diverse communities.
- Conduct non-user research to assess needs and develop links with local communities.
Advice and Guidance
- The Community Access to Archives Project (CAAP) produced a framework for development of relationships and activities between community groups and more formal archive services
- The Social Exclusion Unit aims to support the creation of inclusive and sustainable communities
- IDeA Knowledge provides news briefs of examples of good practice from councils across England and Wales
- The Network supports information sharing on social inclusion activities in libraries, museums and archives
Case Studies
- The Northamptonshire Black History Project is a community led project to record and promote black history in Northamptonshire
- Connecting Histories is a project running until July 2007 to increase access to culturally diverse archive collections, promote learning and community engagement
- NowThen Dewsbury is a project to make archive and museum resources more readily available to new audiences - including schools and community groups
Resources
- Recordkeeping (PDF, 3285.91kb)
- The National Council on Archives: Taking Part, An audit of social inclusion work in archives
- Access Standard for further information on broadening access to archival services.
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