Background
In 2011 a substantial new wing of a national museum was opened encompassing a new purpose-built library and archive. The development enabled more of the museum’s archive and library collections to be housed on the main site for the first time. Prior to the expansion of the museum, the archive and library collections were housed on the main site and in three off-site storage facilities within a five-mile perimeter of the museum.
A driving force behind the move away from a split-site service was the desire to improve access to the museum’s collections. A digitisation feasibility report produced in-house showed that it would be too costly to digitise the entire archive and so it was decided that access should be improved by moving the museum’s frequently used archival collections, including its public-records, on site. The development of the new wing provided the ideal opportunity to meet this objective.
Following completion of the building there has been a substantial improvement in access, with an increase in users, usage and enquiries. The archives are now stored in standards-compliant facilities and staff can respond more spontaneously to user demands. The changes have also provided the impetus to create an online ordering system. Some infrequently used archival material is still held in out stores, but reorganisation following the move has made more efficient use of the existing off-site storage.
Managing the split-site service
Once a document request had been received, qualified archives and library staff had to travel to the out stores, by public transport or museum vehicle, retrieve the items and place them in rolling cages ready for collection by the museum’s Art Object Handlers a couple of days later. Returned items were unpacked and reshelved by archives and library staff on their next visit.
To manage the risk to collections and staff of housing material off-site, the out stores were maintained by on-site store managers, and policies regarding lone working, conservation and manual handling were in place.
Benefits and challenges of managing a split-site service
Benefits
- Having sufficient storage
Challenges
- Access to the museum’s archival collections was compromised, with users having to request material some days in advance of their visit
- Although the off-site storage facilities were within a file-mile radius, the London transport network meant that staff spent a significant amount of time travelling to retrieve items
- The costs involved in having to collect items and reimburse staff travel expenses had an impact on the library’s budget
- The out stores had few staff office facilities, with intermittent wi-fi and sometimes limited access to on-site computers, thereby restricting their use