Current & recent projects
Funding the Archive Sector
2011-12 Co-Investigators: Elizabeth Shepherd, Louise Ray Research Fellow: Marie Laperdrix
The ‘Funding the Archives Sector’ research project was a collaboration between The National Archives and the International Centre for Archives and Records Management Research and User Studies (ICARUS) of University College London. The research was carried out over the period September 2011 to September 2012. The final report outlines the results of the project and addresses three key research questions:
• How are archives in the UK funded?
• What funding resources are under developed within the sector?
• What appropriate advice and training support can be delivered by The National Archives to improve access to additional funding resources?
The critical drivers for this report were the financial pressures on archive services foregrounded by the impact of the recession; the UK government’s ‘Big Society’ agenda and related initiatives, and the general awareness of the need for further development in this area within the archives sector and how this might be achieved within The National Archives’ strengthened leadership role.
User participation
2010-2013.
AHRC Collaborative Doctoral Award, UCL:DIS in collaboration with The National Archives, 'We think, not I think: harnessing collaborative creativity to archival practice; implications of user participation for archival theory and practice'.
For the original bid see http://www.ucl.ac.uk/dis/icarus/projects/CDA-Oct_2009-furtherdetails-final-headed.pdf
For further details of the project click here
Freedom of Information and records management
2008-2009. Principal Investigator: Elizabeth Shepherd
Funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, this project investigated the impact of the UK Freedom of Information (FOI) Act 2000 on records management services in public authorities. More specifically, the project examined how well records management services prepared for and coped with the first three years of FOI implementation; what contribution records management services make to the ability of public authorities to comply with the FOI Act; how the user experience of FOI is affected by the management of records; and the implications of FOI for good practice in records management.
Website: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/infostudies/research/icarus/foi-impact/
Community archives and identities
2007-2009. Principal Investigator: Andrew Flinn
This project investigated the importance of community archives, and in particular the role of these archives in the production of community identity via academic and popular public histories, exhibitions and other interactions. Community archives are collections of materials (and the custodial institutions or organisations which hold them) that are created and held within communities and outside the formal heritage sector. Although many of these initiatives have a relatively long history, the importance of these collections has only recently been widely recognised amongst cultural policy-makers and professional organisations. However these collections provide many challenges to traditional professional practices.
Website: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/infostudies/research/icarus/community-archives/
Archival description and presentation
2007-2010.
AHRC Collaborative Doctoral Award, UCL:DIS in collaboration with The National Archives, 'Multiple narratives, multiple views: exploring the shift from paper to digital archival description'. Doctoral student Jennifer Bunn is carrying out this research.
Students’ expectations of the job market in archives and records management in the United Kingdom
2007-2008. Principal investigator: Geoffrey Yeo
This project, funded by Unilever plc, sought to investigate the expectations and preferences of postgraduate students entering the job market in archives and records management. The objectives of the research were to find explanations for the varying levels of response to advertised vacancies and offer insights into the factors and influences that might determine whether new entrants to the profession decide to apply for a particular job vacancy.
Digital lives
2007-2009.
This Arts and Humanities Research Council-funded project focused on personal digital collections and their relationship with research repositories. It brought together expert curators and practitioners in digital preservation, digital manuscripts, literary collections, web-archiving, history of science and oral history from the British Library, University College London and the University of Bristol.
Website: http://www.bl.uk/digital-lives/
Research infrastructure
ICARUS has been instrumental in establishing a research infrastructure for the emerging academic discipline of archives and records management in the UK. Two projects, notably the AHRC-funded Network project, ARMReN, have resulted in, for the first time, a baseline map of research activity, a research network and the beginning of a UK research agenda.
ARMReN
2006-2007. Principal Investigator: Elizabeth Shepherd
Funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council Networks scheme, ARMReN, the Archives and Records Management Research Network, sought to help develop research in the discipline of archives and records management. It linked academics, researchers and professionals through research workshops and archives and history seminars. It aimed to collect and disseminate information about research projects in the theory and practice of the management, preservation and accessibility of records, foster the development of young academic researchers in the discipline, act as a central point for the exchange of ideas and encourage new collaborative partnerships.
Mapping the research landscape
2006. Principal Investigator: Elizabeth Shepherd
Funded by a British Academy Small Research Grant, this project aimed to improve the quality and quantity of academic research in the discipline of archives and records management by creating a map of the research landscape for the discipline in the UK. The research sought to establish the state of academic and professional research during the period 1995-2006, evaluate the output of research in the UK, establish how academics and practitioners have used research findings, identify areas of weakness and strength for research in the UK, identify research opportunities and make proposals for future priorities for a research agenda.
LEADERS (Linking EAD to Electronically Retrievable Sources)
2001-2004. Principal Investigator: Susan Hockey; Senior Research Fellows: Chris Turner, Geoffrey Yeo; Research Fellow: Anna Sexton
The LEADERS project developed a generic computer-based toolset to enable the creation of an online environment which integrated EAD encoded finding aids and EAC authority records with TEI encoded transcripts and digitised images of archival material, in a way that was flexible enough to handle a wide variety of archives. The aim was to contribute significantly to the enhanced provision of remote user access to archives. The project was funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Board.
Website: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/leaders-project/
e-TERM (European programme for Training in Electronic Records Management)
2000-2001. Co-investigators: Margaret Crockett, Elizabeth Danbury, Elizabeth Shepherd, Geoffrey Yeo
UCL was a joint partner in a transnational project led by Archiefschool, Amsterdam. The aim of the project was to design a trans-national vocational training course in the management of electronic records to meet the needs of administrators, information professionals, archivists and records managers. e-TERM was initially targeted at educators and training managers. It was funded by the European Commission Leonardo da Vinci programme.
Website: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/e-term/
Recently completed doctoral theses
Nancy McGovern (2009)
Technology responsiveness for digital preservation: a model
David Biggs (2007)
The records of the New Towns as a study in records management
Peter Sebina (2006)
Freedom of information and records management: a learning curve for Botswana
Segomotso Keakopa (2006)
The management of electronic records in Botswana, Namibia and South Africa: opportunities and challenges
Paola Casini (2004)
ISAD(G): synthesis or innovation in archival description traditions?
Elizabeth Shepherd (2004)
Towards professionalism? Archives and archivists in England in the 20th century
Victoria Lemieux (2002)
Competitive viability, accountability and record keeping: a theoretical and empirical exploration using a case study of Jamaican commercial bank failures
Emmanuel Adjei (2000)
The management of medical records in government hospitals in Ghana
Laura Millar (1996)
The end of ‘total archives’?: an analysis of changing acquisition practices in Canadian archival repositories
Recent MA thesis topics
Access and the sale of private family archives
Access to archives in France
Archival involvement in cross domain collaboration
Archival trends and their correlation with the key objectives of external funding bodies in the UK
Archives as text of remembrance
Archives of Iraq: ownership, truth, memory and identity
Are special collections in British universities still marginalised?
Developing a marketing programme for Waltham Forest Archives
E-mail management: issues, solutions, challenges and risks
Episcopal registration and the Diocese of London, c.1244-1338
Freedom of Information: illuminating the corridors of power?
Freedom of Information and records management in NHS Trusts
Funding priorities and their effect on new user groups
History groups and local heritage: independent community initiatives and professional bodies
How do archives satisfy the needs of users in an online environment?
How has the Freedom of Information Act 2000 affected archives and records management in UK public bodies?
Impact of Freedom of Information on archive services in museums and galleries
Impact of the Internet on service provision in British archives
International solidarity networks and their archives
Local history groups, archives and heritage services
London on film: the future of the capital’s moving image archives
Loss of archives through war
Making decisions on the release of sensitive information
Manorial accounts: form, content and use
Measuring the success of Black History Month events
Meeting the government agenda on lifelong learning: adult education programmes in local authority archives
Oral history and the quest for digital acceptance at the Cayman Islands National Archive
Reaching young users: archival outreach to primary school children
Records management and accountability in UK charities
Relationship between the profile of archive users and the profile and culture of the archive workforce
Role of ethics in archives
Standardisation of archival description: the case of ISAD(G) and ESARBICA
Use of archives by the ‘creative industries’
Web-based oral history in the UK
What is the value of archives?
Page last modified on 04 dec 12 14:49
