Research interests
My research interests are in the role of records management in effective information policy compliance and in the development of the English archival profession, which is the subject of my PhD and a monograph (Archives and Archivists in Twentieth Century England, Ashgate, 2009).

I am interested in supervising research into all areas of archives and records management, in particular, the development and history of the profession, archival education, the management of digital records, records management issues in particular countries or sectors, appraisal, management skills for records professionals and the development and application of policies, standards and frameworks for the archives and records management discipline.

I was instrumental in establishing the International Centre for Archives and Records Management Research and User Studies, ICARUS, in 2005 in recognition of the need to develop a significant body of research which seeks to identify, understand and meet the rapid technological and intellectual changes sweeping through the archives and records management discipline. To this end ICARUS seeks to develop knowledge and enhance understanding of the creation, management and use of records and their role in society; and map, monitor and evaluate significant changes in the archives and records domain using robust evidence-based methods.


Research grants and projects
Management of electronic records: educational videos (1/6/1994-31/3/1995)
£48,304 British Library Research & Development Department Co-applicant (with Dr Anne Thurston)
Distance education and continuing professional development in archives and records management (8/1995-8/1997)
£36,000 HEFCE - Continuing Vocational Education Fund
The adaptability of the Management of Public Sector Records Project (MPSR) training modules to a formal educational context (7/1997-1/1998)
£18,250 International Records Management Trust
The application of ISAD(G) to the description of datasets (6/1999-9/1999)
£4925 AHRB Small Research Grant
Mapping descriptive standards across domains: a comparison of ISAD(G) and SPECTRUM (6/2000-9/2000)
£4021 British Academy Research Grant in the Humanities
E-term (European Training in Electronic Records Management for administrators and archivists) (1/2000-12/2001)
Euro 33,637 (c £20,000) European Commission Leonardo da Vinci programme Joint partner in transnational project led by Archiefschool, Amsterdam
Investigating the metadata requirements of ISO BS 15489-1 and mapping them to ISAD(G) (6/2002-9/2002)
£4903 British Academy Research Grant in the Humanities
FARMER Research Prize Fund (2003-2006)
£3000 Society of Archivists Research Fund
How has the implementation of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 affected archive and records management services in public bodies in the UK? (5/2005-10/2005)
£7097 British Academy Small Research Grant
Archives and records management research network (ARMReN) (1/2006-12/2007)
£20,550 Arts and Humanities Research Council
Mapping the research landscape in archives and records management (7/2006-11/2006)
£7028 British Academy Small Research Grant
Multiple narratives, multiple views: exploring the shift from paper to digital archival description (9/2007-9/2010)
£48,000, Arts and Humanities Research Council Collaborative Doctoral Award, with The National Archives
Community archives and identities: documenting and sustaining community heritage (2/08-10/09) Co-investigator, with PI Dr A Flinn,
£166,000, Arts and Humanities Research Council
The impact of the UK Freedom of Information Act on records management in the public sector (4/2008-5/2009)
£92,958, Arts and Humanities Research Council


Research appointments and editorial boards
Appointed by the Lord Chancellor to the Advisory Council on National Records and Archives (2000-2006) Sub-committee on selection of records of GCHQ for permanent preservation (2003)
British Standards Institution, member, BSI/DISC IDT/2/17 subcommittee for records management (1997-)
QAA Benchmarking Group for Library and Information Management member (1999- 2000)
Chairman, Forum for Archives and Records Management Education and Research (FARMER) (2000-2002)
Arts and Humanities Research Council, Peer Review College member (2004-)
AHRC Information Science Sector Interaction Study Steering Group (2005-2006)
Research Assessment Exercise 2008, Sub-panel 37 member (2005-)
Research Information Network, Consultative Group for Librarianship and Information Science (2006-)

Editorial boards:
• Taylor & Francis, Joint Editor, Journal of the Society of Archivists (2008-)
• Emerald: member, Records Management Journal Editorial Advisory Board (1994-)
• Kluwer Academic Publishers: member, Archival Science Editorial Board (2000-)

Research supervisions and examinations
PhD students, principal or second supervisor:
Laura Millar (1993-1996) PhD awarded March 1996
The End of ‘Total Archives’?: an analysis of changing acquisition practices in Canadian Archival Repositories
Victoria Lemieux (1999-2002) PhD awarded April 2002
Competitive Viability, Accountability and Record Keeping: a theoretical and empirical exploration using a case study of Jamaican commercial bank failures
Paola Casini (1997-2004) PhD awarded August 2004
ISAD(G): Synthesis or Innovation in Archival Description Traditions?
Nancy McGovern (1998-) successful transfer MPhil to PhD 1999, moved to CRS 2002
Object-oriented Technology and its Implications for Recordkeeping: a case study on approaching new technologies
David Biggs (1994-2006) PhD awarded 2007
The Records of the New Towns as a Study in Records Management
Peter Sebina (2003-2007) PhD awarded 2007
Freedom of information and records management: a learning curve for Botswana
David Luyombya (2005-2009) PhD awarded 2009
Towards effective public records management in Uganda
Jennifer Bunn (2007-2011)
Multiple narratives, multiple views: the shift from paper to digital archival description
Elaine Penn (2008-)
Archives and evidence
Alexandra Eveleigh (2010-)
I think, not we think: crowdsourcing and archival description

University of Surrey, Wimbledon School of Art, Moderator, PhD:
Lucy Lyons (2004-2006) Pathology drawing

University of London, Internal Examiner, PhD:
Nathan Mnjama (1994) Railway records: their management and exploitation in Kenya
Justus Wamukoya (1996) Records management and administrative reform programmes in Kenya
Pino Akotia (1997) Records Management and the National Archives of Ghana
Ebony Hewson (2010) Performing Arts Archives in Britain

University of Wales, Aberystwyth, visiting examiner, PhD:
Sarah Horton (2005) The evolution of the role, form and function of local authority archive services in England and Wales

University of Botswana, external examiner, MA Library and Information Studies, 2006-
University of Liverpool, MA Archives Records Management, 2010-