Research Areas
Priority areas of research for ICARUS include:
• information policy
• description, access and use
• impact, heritage and diversity
• understanding, interpreting and managing records
• developing the UK research infrastructure
• Information policy
In the UK, the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and the Data Protection
Act 1998 are significant parts of the government agenda to increase
openness, transparency, trust and accountability in the public sector.
Worldwide, the impact of information policy and freedom of information
legislation on public services and the effectiveness of public
authorities in meeting their obligations are significant factors in the
accountability of governments to their citizens and of concern to all.
Research projects in this area include:
Arts and Humanities Research Council-funded project, Elizabeth Shepherd (PI) and Andrew Flinn (Co-I), The impact of the Freedom of Information Act on records management in the public sector, 2008-09.
British Academy Small Grant, Elizabeth Shepherd, ‘How has the
implementation of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 affected archive
and records management services in public bodies in the UK?’, 2005.
Peter Sebina (Botswana) PhD thesis 'Records management and freedom of information: a learning curve for Botswana', 2003-2006.
Recent papers in this area:
Elizabeth Shepherd, ‘Freedom of Information and records management in the UK: what has been the impact?’, Journal of the Society of Archivists 28: 2 (2007): 125-138.
Elizabeth Shepherd and Elizabeth Ennion, 'How has the implementation of
the UK Freedom of Information Act 2000 affected archives and records
management services?', Records Management Journal 17:1 (2007): 32-51.
Shepherd, E., Stevenson, A., Flinn, A. (2009) 'The Impact of Freedom of
Information on Records Management Use in Local Government: A Literature
Review.' Journal of the Society of Archivists 30(2), 227-248.
Flinn, A., Jones, H. (2009). 'The Freedom of Information Act in
practice: the historian's perspective', Chapter 3 in Flinn, A. &
Jones, H. (eds.), Freedom of Information. Open Access, Empty Archives? London: Routledge 33-53. ISBN: 9781857434200
Flinn, A., Jones, H. (eds.) (2009), Freedom of Information. Open Access, Empty Archives? London: Routledge. ISBN: 9781857434200
• Description, access and use
A combination of technological developments and societal change has
resulted in a greater awareness of the importance of access to records
and archives, and pressure to widen and deepen such access across
society. There is a need for enhanced descriptions of archives, and
other access mechanisms which meet the needs of a diverse range of
users; at the same time there is a growing awareness that users
themselves can be empowered to make a worthwhile contribution to the
descriptive process. One impact of these changes, in both the digital
and the physical world, has been the recognition that in order to extend
access and offer responsive services, much more needs to be known about
users and non-users of records and archives. In a situation of finite
resources, effective provision of services to an expanded user base can
only be achieved through detailed and reliable knowledge of user needs
and the targeting of services to meet those needs.
Research projects in this area include:
AHRC Collaborative Doctoral Award, Elizabeth Shepherd (PI), 'Multiple
narratives, multiple views: exploring the shift from paper to digital
archival description', 2007-2010.
AHRC Collaborative Doctoral Award, Andrew Flinn (PI) & E Shepherd
(Co-I), ‘'We think, not I think' Harnessing collaborative creativity to
archival practice; implications of user participation for archival
theory and practice’ (1/2010-12/2012), with The National Archives.
AHRC Collaborative Doctoral Award, Andrew Flinn (PI), Revealing
collections, exploring discovery? Participatory archiving and creating
‘thick description’ catalogues for scientific archive collections at the
Wellcome Library (9/2011-8/2014), with The Wellcome Trust.
Recent papers in this area:
Anna Sexton, Chris Turner, Susan Hockey and Geoffrey Yeo, 'TEI, EAD and
integrated user access to archives: towards a generic toolset', in DRH 2001 and 2002: selected papers from the Digital Resources in the Humanities Conferences …, ed. J Anderson, A Dunning and M Fraser, London, Office for Humanities Communication, 2003: 243-262.
Anna Sexton, Chris Turner, Geoffrey Yeo and Susan Hockey, ‘Understanding
users: a prerequisite for developing new technologies’, Journal of the Society of Archivists 25:1 (2004): 33-49.
Anna Sexton, Geoffrey Yeo, Chris Turner and Susan Hockey, 'User feedback: testing the LEADERS demonstrator application', Journal of the Society of Archivists 25:2 (2004): 189-208.
Geoffrey Yeo, 'Understanding users and use: a market segmentation approach', Journal of the Society of Archivists 26:1 (2005): 25-53.
Helen Forde, 'Access and the social contract in memory institutions', in Preservation management for libraries, archives and museums, ed. G E Gorman and S J Shep, London, Facet, 2006: 166-181.
Geoffrey Yeo, New approaches to archival description, Welsh Libraries, Museums and Archives Conference, Llandrindod Wells, Wales, May 2008 [PowerPoint presentation]
Geoffrey Yeo, ''Custodial history, provenance, and the description of personal records', Libraries and the Cultural Record 44 (2009), forthcoming.
Flinn, A. (2010). '"An attack on professionalism and scholarship"?: Democratising Archives and the Production of Knowledge.' Ariadne 62 Available here
Flinn, A. (2010). 'Independent Community Archives and Community-Generated Content. Writing and Saving our Histories.' Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies 16 (1), 39-51 DOI 10.1177/1354856509347707
• Impact, heritage and diversity
This research area is concerned with the impact that archives (and
cultural heritage more generally) make on individuals and communities.
In particular it focuses on the impact of archives, and access to
archives, in terms of individual and community identity, and on the
wider social outcomes that flow from the interaction between heritage
and identity. Particular interest centres on the archives of
grass-roots, diasporic or marginalised groups and how these archives
might best be preserved. Difficult questions of ownership, custody,
professional responsibility and accessibility are among those studied.
Some of this work has been carried out in association with the Community
Archives Heritage Group but, most notably, these issues have been
explored as part of an AHRC-funded 20 month research project on the role
and impact of community heritage / archive initiatives within Black and
Minority Ethnic communities.
There is also a need for more empirical data about the wider impact of
archives and their place in the economic and social life of local
communities, regions and nations, and for evaluation and interpretation
of those data. This is closely related to the study of diversity and
archives: not only diversity of use and users but also diversity of
collections and diversity in the workforce. Recent work includes
collaboration with the UK National Council on Archives (NCA) on
evaluating the Archives Awareness Campaign and assessing the influence
of the Heritage Lottery Fund and the ‘heritage’ agenda on the duties and
responsibilities of archivists.
Research projects in this area include:
Arts & Humanities Research Council, Andrew Flinn (PI) and Elizabeth Shepherd (Co-I), 'Community archives and identities: documenting and sustaining community heritage', 2007-2009.
National Council on Archives, Andrew Flinn, 'Evaluation of the NCA Archives Awareness Campaign', 2006.
British Academy Small Grant, Andrew Flinn and Louise Ray (NCA), 'Archival culture in the 21st century', 2007.
Recent papers in this area:
Flinn,A. (2007). 'Community Histories, Community Archives: Some Opportunities and Challenges.' Journal of the Society of Archivists 28(2), 151-176.
Flinn,A. (2008). 'Other Ways of Thinking, Other Ways of Being.
Documenting the Margins and the Transitory: What to Preserve, How to
Collect' Chapter 6 in Craven,L (ed.) What are Archives? Cultural and Theoretical Perspectives. Aldershot: Ashgate, 109-128. ISBN: 9780754673101
Flinn, A. (2008) ‘Migrations, disputed heritages and multicultured identities: archives in post-colonial societies’ Archives and Manuscripts 36 (2), 54-75
Flinn, A. (2008). 'Archives and their communities: serving the people', COMMA 2008-1, 157-168.
Flinn, A., Pick, G. (2009). ‘Diversifying and democratising archive
collections – an agenda for transformation’, in the Mayor’s Commission
on African and Asian Heritage, Embedding Shared Heritage: The Heritage Diversity Task Force Report, London: GLA
Flinn, A., Stevens, M. (2009). '“It is noh mistri, wi mekin histri” .
Telling Our Own Story: Independent and Community Archives in the United
Kingdom, Challenging and Subverting the Mainstream.' Bastian, J. &
Alexander, B. (eds.) Community Archives. The shaping of memory. London: Facet Publishing. ISBN 978-1-85604-639-8
Flinn, A., Stevens, M., Shepherd, E. (2009). 'Whose memories, whose
archives? Independent community archives, autonomy and the mainstream.' Archival Science 9(1-2), 71-86 DOI 10.1007/s10502-009-9105-2
Stevens, M., Flinn, A., Shepherd, E. (2010) 'New frameworks for
community engagement in the archive sector: from handing over to handing
on.' International Journal of Heritage Studies Volume 16 Issues 1 & 2, 59-76 DOI: 10.1080/13527250903441770
Flinn, A.(2010) ‘The impact of independent and community archives on professional archival thinking and practice.’ Hill,J. (ed) The Future of Archives and Recordkeeping, London: Facet Publishing
Flinn, A.(2011), ‘Archival activism. Independent and community-led
archives, radical public history and the heritage professions’. InterActions: UCLA Journal of Education and Information Studies Volume 7, Issue 2. Available here
• Understanding, interpreting and managing records
Records and archives are variously seen as evidence, as artefacts, as
documents, as sources of information, and as representations of past
events. They are created as a result of the functions and activities of
organisations and individuals, and their relationship to those functions
and activities is a major determinant of the ways in which they are
managed, the nature of the access which is granted to them, and their
interpretation and exploitation by users. Although this has long been
recognised, the nature of that relationship is still not fully
understood. A deeper understanding of the meaning of records, and of the
nexus between records and organisational systems, supports more
effective ways of managing records and archives and of presenting them
to users. Work in this area also includes study of the archival
profession and its historical development.
Recent papers in this area:
Elizabeth Shepherd, 'Tradition and position in England', Managing and archiving records in the digital era, ed. N Butikofer, H Hofman and S Ross, Bern, Hier+Jetzt, 2006: 51-58.
Elizabeth Shepherd, 'Archives', British librarianship and information work 1991-2000, ed. J Bowman, Chippenham, Ashgate, 2006: 262-281.
Elizabeth Shepherd, 'Archives', British librarianship and information work 2001-2005, ed. J Bowman, Chippenham, Ashgate, 2007: 248-265.
Geoffrey Yeo, 'Concepts of record (1): evidence, information and persistent representations', American Archivist 70:2 (2007): 315-343.
Geoffrey Yeo, 'Concepts of record (2): prototypes and boundary objects', American Archivist 71:1 (2008): 118-143.
Geoffrey Yeo and Erica Ander, 'Student expectations of the UK job market
in archives and records management', King’s College London, February
2008.
Elizabeth Shepherd, 'Culture and evidence: conflict or continuum?', Philosophy of the Archive conference, Edinburgh, April 2008.
Geoffrey Yeo, 'Records and representations', Philosophy of the Archive conference, Edinburgh, April 2008 [Full text] [Full text also available here].
Geoffrey Yeo, 'The role of the archivist in document management and records management', Congreso de Archivos Municipales Españoles, Lugo, Spain, November 2008.
Elizabeth Shepherd, Archives and archivists in 20th century England, Ashgate Gower, 2009, forthcoming.
• Developing the UK research infrastructure
ICARUS has been instrumental in establishing a research infrastructure
for the emerging academic discipline of archives and records management
in the UK. From 2006 to 2007 Elizabeth Shepherd led the AHRC-funded
Network project, ARMReN,
which resulted in, for the first time, a baseline map of research
activity, a research network and the beginning of a UK research agenda.
In addition, Geoffrey Yeo has established and edits the discipline's
first UK series of monographs (Principles and Practice in Records Management and Archives, Facet).
Research projects in this area include:
Arts & Humanities Research Council, Elizabeth Shepherd (PI), Archives and Records Management Research Network, ARMReN.
Recent papers in this area:
Elizabeth Shepherd, 'Developing a new academic discipline: UCL's
contribution to the research and teaching of archives and records
management', Aslib Proceedings 58:1/2 (2006): 10-19.
Elizabeth Shepherd, ‘Is archives and records management an academic discipline or a profession for practitioners?’ VIIth European Conference on Archives, Warsaw, 2006.
Elizabeth Shepherd, ‘An archives and records management research network (ARMReN) for the UK: plans, activities and prospects’, UK Society of Archivists annual conference, Lancaster, September 2006.
Elizabeth Shepherd, ‘Sixty years of archival education in England 1947-2006: looking back and looking forward’, Second Asia-Pacific Conference for Archival Educators and Trainers, Tokyo, October 2006.
Elizabeth Shepherd, 'Archives and records management research', University of Amsterdam research seminar, November 2007.
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