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20 May 2005

Meeting summaries

The thirty-third meeting of the United Kingdom Inter-Departmental Archives Committee (IDAC) took place at the Thistle Euston Hotel on 20 May 2005 with representatives from the Association of Chief Archivists in Local Government (ACALG). The following topics were considered:

Records Management in the Public Sector

A presentation on records management by Richard Blake of The National Archives was followed by a discussion on records management and Electronic Records Management Systems (ERMS) in Local Government. Issues raised include:

  • The importance of demonstrating the cost savings that can be provided by ERMS.
  • The need to focus on records management skills to ensure current records are retained.
  • The National Council on Archives' (NCA) report, which is due to be published on how to manage digital preservation and the NCA's 'how to' handbook that contains technical issues to be considered.
  • The need for greater engagement and more frequent contacts between the creating body and record office with regard to electronic records.

UK Records and Archives Development Plan: updates

The Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA)

  • MLA will be running a pilot leadership programme and conducting research into the barriers preventing Black and Minority Ethnic representation in the workforce of the MLA sector.
  • MLA is working with the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) on the way forward for film and sound archives.
  • MLA is working with the The National Council on Archives and The National Archives to promote and develop new ways of working with community archives.

National Council on Archives (NCA):

  • NCA had received a response from the Minister with regard to funding for the preservation of film in regional archives; the issue has been acknowledged and is being considered.
  • Plans for the Archives Awareness Campaign are moving forward. NCA has received Adobe sponsorship for a short story competition.

Developments in Wales:

  • CyMAL's 'Logjam' project to map cataloguing backlogs will start in Autumn 2005 and run for six months across two financial years.
  • CyMAL will be revising the section 60 guidelines of the 1994 Local Government Act drawing on The National Archives Standard and Records Management Workbook.

Developments in Scotland:

  • The Scottish Council on Archives is working on a catalogue networking project which will build on SCAN (Scottish Archive Network).
  • The Scottish Archives for Schools (SAfS) project won 2 nd prize in the Saltire Society's annual educational publications award.

Developments in Northern Ireland:

  • The project to build a new Public Record Office in Northern Ireland is going forward.

UK Records and Archives Development Plan: Next Steps

It was proposed that the updated Development Plan be put to the Minister at the Department for Constitutional Affairs (DCA) responsible for The National Archives and other relevant Ministers. This may provide a useful tool for the next spending review. DCMS, MLA and CyMAL expressed their support for this approach.

Acceptance in Lieu: update

Administration of the Acceptance in Lieu scheme has been transferred to the MLA Acquisitions, Exports and Loans Unit. They are currently writing an advert to recruit more panellists for a three-year tenure.

Advice on Security is not being provided at present and discussions are taking place on how to address the issue.

Devolved Administrations: Freedom of Information (FOI) and other issues

Scotland: The Scottish Executive had received c.1000 FOI enquiries. 70% of enquiries were from journalists. 20 enquiries are currently with the Information Commissioner's Office on appeal.

Wales: The Welsh Assembly had received 500 enquiries mostly from members of the press. They were receiving about 20 a week from members of the public.

The Society of Archivists Wales had produced a report on the impact of Freedom of Information.

The National Archives: The National Archives is organising a research project on the implementation of FOI in England. The numbers of FOI enquiries received by The National Archives are showing no signs of slowing down, although it is still too early to predict future trends.

European Union: update

Document lifecycle management (DLM) Forum: The next conference will take place in Hungary during October 2005. It will focus on the take up of electronic records management (ERM) and the benefits of it. The DLM Forum is creating the specification for MoReq2 and the European Commission has shown interest in supporting this work.

European Report: the 'Report on Archives in the Enlarged EU' has been completed. It sets out 5 recommendations:

  • Enhancement of the DLM Forum
  • Damage prevention
  • Creation of Internet Gateway for EU archives
  • Best practice on information legislation and law
  • Measures to combat theft of archival documents

The report was approved by the Commission in February 2005 and is currently being approved by the 25 member states.

Iraq: update

Dr Saad Eskander, Director-General of the Iraq National Library and Archives (INLA), met the Chief Executive of The National Archives on the 13 May 2005. It was agreed that The National Archives would:

  • Provide INLA with a microfilm of records relating to Iraq 1921-1933 from series CO 730.
  • Identify experts for a short training course in Amman for Iraqi archive professionals.
  • Provide expert advice on specific issues as new legislation is developed.
  • Under the auspices of ICA, offer support to reinforce the remit of INLA.

DCMS, MLA and the British Library noted that they were also involved in developments with Iraq and asked to be kept informed of developments.