Special Delivery: Centre ValBio’s Capture Station
In May 2025 MAX’s Head of Infrastructure, Rhodri Parry, journeyed from MAX HQ at the Royal Arsenal in Woolwich, London, to deliver a digitisation capture station and training to Herbarium staff at Centre ValBio in southeastern Madagascar. Situated on the edge of the Ranomafana tropical rainforest, Centre ValBio [CVB] is an international research campus and […]
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Significant Milestones Reached at Kew
Max Communications along with transcription partners SBL have achieved a significant milestone in their large-scale digitisation project for Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. The project involved digitising, transcribing, and recording metadata from over six and a half million “specimen sheets” from Kew’s archive. Max Communications has now digitised over one million items while SBL has transcribed […]
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Harrow Borough Photos Goes Live
Great news! The latest addition to our growing portfolio of Borough Photos websites – The London Borough of Harrow – has now gone live. The collection can be found at boroughphotos.org/harrow and features a fascinating array of photographs from around the borough dating back to the 1890s. It’s been a pleasure working with the team […]
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WSUP – Homelessness Support in Our Local Community
We’re delighted to be able to communicate our involvement with local charitable initiative, The Woolwich Service User’s Project (WSUP). WSUP has been in existence since 2010 and was set up to provide practical and emotional support to people experiencing homelessness, vulnerable housing, mental health issues and alcohol and/or drug addiction. The project is run by […]
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Max Pass ISO Audit With Flying Colours
Max Communications has passed the annual ISO9001, ISO27001 and ISO14001 audit for 2022. The company passed the audit with zero fails or instances of non-conformance. ISO9001, ISO27001 and ISO14001 are accreditation standards for Quality Management Systems, Information Security Management Systems and Environmental Management Systems respectively. ISO9001 looks at the running of an organisation and what […]
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Employment Opportunities on our Kew Gardens Project
September 2022 We are now recruiting digitisation staff to work on our project at Kew Gardens. Please visit our CV Submission page to submit your CV and covering letter.
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New Website for Queen Mary University of London Published
We’re very happy to announce the completion of a new WordPress application for Queen Mary University of London and their partners at The University of Warwick, The University of the West of England and UK Research and Innovation. buyingsocialjustice.org.uk examines the use of procurement to advance employment equality in the UK construction industry and we’re […]
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Max Putting Conservation at the Heart of the Digitisation Process
Digitising and then digitally preserving your collection is vital for ensuring it is preserved for posterity but the fact a collection is digitally preserved shouldn’t cause us to lose sight of how vital it is to physically conserve and preserve archival materials. Max Communications puts conservation and preservation at the heart of our digitisation work […]
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Max Begin New High Volume Digitisation & Seismic Scans Project For Oil Industry Clients
Max are excited to have embarked on a new high volume digitisation project for two high profile multi-national clients in the oil industry. The project is being undertaken in our Edinburgh office and highlights Max’s ability to competitively tender for and carry out high volume digitisation of loose-leaf A3 and A4 documents, large format plans, […]
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Digitisation of the 1921 Census of England and Wales Completed
We’re delighted to announce the completion of the digitisation of the 1921 Census of England and Wales. Max Communications was contracted by Find My Past to carry out image capture, processing and quality assurance for this project. To give an idea of the sheer size of this undertaking we’ve included some statistics below: The census […]
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ZSL’s DRYAD Website Goes Live
We’re delighted to announce that the Zoological Society London’s new DRYAD website is now live. The site can be viewed at and features a WordPress framework with an embedded instance of AtoM for displaying ZSL’s archived materials. The site also features curated archival content, a news section and much else besides. It’s been a […]
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New Archiving Podcasts Added
We’re delighted to share two podcasts which have now published. The first is courtesy of Victoria Cranna of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine who discusses the reality of managing a 20,000 plus items collection along with the challenges of managing a colonial legacy. The second podcast features Andrew Mussell of The Honourable […]
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Conservation Section Updated
As well as our digitisation work, Max Communications provides a comprehensive conservation service both pre-digitisation and for stand alone collections. We provide general and pre-digitisation collection and storage assessments and additionally carry out a broad range of conservation and remediation services for photographs, books, loose paper and other archival materials. Please take a look at […]
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AtoM Installations for Explore York Archives and Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC)
We’re extremely pleased to announce the completion of two new, bespoke DRYAD / AtoM installations. The first installation, carried out for Explore York Archives and Libraries (EYLA), utilised Max’s ‘Crosswalker’ tool to migrate nearly 160,000 entries from EYLA’s existing CALM installation to AtoM and confirmed Crosswalker’s efficacy as a tried and tested CALM to AtoM […]
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Video Demonstrations of Calm to AtoM Migration and Creation of AIPs and DIPs in AtoM
We are delighted to offer two new video tutorials exploring using Max’s Crosswalker tool to migrate from Calm to AtoM and the process of creating Archival Information Packages (AIPs) and Dissemination Information Packages (DIPs) in Archivematica and AtoM. The first is a demonstration of the process of migrating a Calm database to AtoM using Max’s […]
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Max Communications Podcasts Series
Max’s collection of podcasts continues to grow. Our core Max 2020 and Max 2021 podcasts series have been joined by a series of Digital Preservation podcasts. Our first two contributors are Abby Barletta, Assistant Archivist with the Royal Society of Arts and Rachel Howse Binnington, Deputy Archivist with Fortnum & Mason. To listen to the […]
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CALM to AtoM Migration in Practice
We are delighted to share details of two SOTERIA / DRYAD installations. The first, a bespoke AtoM and Archivematica installation for the Royal Society of Arts, showcases AtoM and Archivematica as a flexible, branded archive management and digital preservation system. The second, an AtoM / WordPress hybrid site created for London South Bank University, showcases […]
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Andrew Mussell – The Honourable Society of Gray’s Inn
Andrew Mussell, Archivist and Records Manager at The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn discusses the content of the organisation's historic archive as well as discussion some of the history of this important institution.
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Victoria Cranna – London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine's Archivist and Record Manager, Victoria Cranna, talks to Faith Williams about the challenges of managing the organisation's 20,000 plus item collection. Subjects discussed include the 1987 Ebola outbreak and also the importance of modernisation and inclusivity and the challenges of managing a colonial legacy.
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Tamara Thornhill – Transport for London
Tamara Thornhill, Corporate Archivist with Transport for London provides a compelling and humorous insight into the TfL Corporate Archives and TfL’s relationship with the city and its people. Tamara talks about the pressures of working with and maintaining a large collection and shares numerous anecdotes about the fascinating materials found within the archive.
Links
TFL Collections
TFL Corporate Archives Catalogue
World War II Showcase Virtual Exhibition
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Andrea Tanner – Fortnum & Mason
Andrea Tanner, Fortnum & Mason's Company Archivist, speaks passionately about her multi-faceted role and the role of new technology in overcoming the difficulties surrounding rebuilding a war-damaged archive.
Andrea provides an engrossing account of Fortnum & Mason’s history, the unusual nature of the collection and tells us about some of her favourite pieces from the collection.
Links
Main Site: www.fortnumandmason.com
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Stuart Bligh – Royal Museums Greenwich
Bringing his decades of experience, Stuart Bligh, Head of Research and Information at Royal Museums Greenwich, focuses on what it is like to work with a huge collection of objects and documents and the challenges faced by archivists in the Coronavirus era. Stuart also looks at the importance of archives in understanding how we as a nation came to be who we are today.
Links
Main Site: www.rmg.co.uk
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Edward Weech – Royal Asiatic Society
Formed in 1823, the Royal Asiatic Society concerns itself with furthering the understanding of cultures from across Asia, from the Former Ottoman Empire and the Caucases to India, Persia, Japan, China and those parts of Africa most affected by Asian culture.
Edward Weech, Librarian with the Royal Asiatic Society, shines a bright light on the particular considerations for managing a linguistically diverse, multi-format archive and how the Royal Asiatic Society is rising to meet these needs. He shares fascinating insights into not only the history of the Society but also European attitudes in the 18th and 19th century towards Asian culture.
Links
Main site: royalasiaticsociety.org
Digital library: www.royalasiaticcollections.org
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Andrew Nichol – Historic Environment Scotland
Andrew Nichol, Deputy Head of Archives with Historic Environment Scotland, provides an invaluable window into the scale of work required to manage 50TB of data and catalogue a 30TB backlog. He shares his great enthusiasm for the shift to digitisation and the use of online resources to enhance our experience of archived collections.
Links
Main site: historicenvironment.scot
Britain From Above: britainfromabove.org.uk
Canmore: canmore.org.uk
Pastmap: pastmap.org.uk
Scran: scran.ac.uk
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Geoff Browell – King’s College London
With his customary authority, Geoff Browell discusses the ins and outs of managing a large, eclectic archive. Divided into two, the Military Archive and Kings College’s own records, it contains many notable artefacts including ‘Photo 51’, the photograph used to discern the double helical structure of DNA and the original ‘Green Line map’.
Links
Main site: www.kcl.ac.uk/library
Archives: www.kcl.ac.uk/library/collections/archives
Exhibitions: kingscollections.org/exhibitions/home
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Steve Riedlinger – Roehampton Club
Steve Riedlinger, the Club Archivist at the Roehampton Club talks to Max about his work. Steve has been commissioned in the lead up to the Roehampton Club's 120th anniversary to investigate the wealth of historical material held by the club with the goal of bringing the club's heritage to the attention of members and potentially, in future, the wider public.
In this podcast he shares his unique insight into his approach to what was essentially setting up an archive from scratch. He tells us about some of the interesting and often unsung members from the club’s history. He also reveals how the club’s decision to ‘go digital’ with the commemorative materials makes them more readily available.
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Eve Watson – Royal Society of Arts
Founded in 1754 by William Shipley, The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, more commonly known as the Royal Society of Arts (RSA) is a society committed to finding practical solutions to social challenges. Notable past fellows include Charles Dickens, Benjamin Franklin, Stephen Hawking, Karl Marx, Adam Smith, Nelson Mandela, David Attenborough, William Hogarth, John Diefenbaker, and Tim Berners-Lee.
Eve Watson is Head of Archive at RSA and talks with us about the challenges that come with managing a hosted archive. She talks about her hopes for the archive's future and the importance of digitisation in future proofing the collection. She also talks about some of the gems from the collection including letters from a forgetful Karl Marx and a country postmistress with a heartfelt fondness for silkworms.
Links
website: www.thersa.org/about-us/archive-and-history
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Ruth MacLeod – London South Bank University
London South Bank University, based in Elephant and Castle, was founded in 1892 as The Borough Polytechnic and became a university in 1992. With over 17,000 students the university teaches across seven schools at its Southwark Campus.
Ruth MacLeod is Data Curator and Archivist working with research teams and academics, as well as looking after the University’s historic collections. Ruth discusses relationships with the local community, the
opportunities for raising the archive’s profile that a new location will provide and documenting current student voices for the future.
Links
Website:
www.lsbu.ac.uk
Archive Website: Lsbu Archives Centre
Online Catalogue: Lsbu Archives Online Catalogue
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Anne Locker – The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET)
The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) is a multidisciplinary professional engineering institution and has been in existence since 2006 when The Institution of Electrical Engineers (founded 1871) and The Institution of Incorporated Engineers (founded 1884) amalgamated to form the current body. It has a global membership which exceeds 168,000.
Anne Locker covers a wide range of subjects including the challenges faced in globalising an unusually varied archive. She describes the role the archive has played in the push for diversity and in highlighting the work of female engineers down the years. Anne explores some of the highlights from the collection, including Chaucer’s little-known ‘Treatise on the Astrolabe’ and his desire to make engineering texts available in English as opposed to Latin.
Links
Website:
Archives:
Methodus Geometrica:
Chaucer's Treatise on the Astrolabe and Peter Peregrinus "Epistola de Magnete":
Twitter: IETLibArch
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Sam Bartle – East Riding Archives
Sam Bartle is The Archivist for Digital Preservation & Engagement at East Riding Archives. Based at The Treasure House in Beverley, the archive has documents dating back to 1129 and is one of only four local authorities that hold Registries of Deeds (a precursor to the Land Registry) dating back to 1703.
Sam talks to us about the career path that brought him back to his native East Riding and about the variety of work in a Local Authority Archive, from digital preservation and engagement strategy to covering the front desk and even dealing with floods.
The interview examines how Sam has used relatable content from the archive to engage with huge new audiences on social media. Sam talks about partnerships with other organisations, the success of the innovative AR project 'What Was Here?' and working with Max on
Links
Website:
Blog: eastridingarchives.blog
Facebook: facebook.com/ERArchives
Twitter: twitter.com/ERArchives
Picture Archives: East Riding Photos
What Was Here App: visithullandeastyorkshire.com/what-was-here.aspx
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Sophia Tobin – Goldsmiths’ Company
Sophia Tobin is Deputy Librarian at the Goldsmiths Company, one of The City of London Livery Companies. Sophia explains the role of the Company in the modern world, the role of the library within the organisation, who uses the library, and discusses the kind of work she is involved in on a daily basis.
Sophia talks about the engagement and digitisation projects already underway for the 700th anniversary of The Company's Royal Charter in 2027.
The interview highlights a changing role for Librarians and Archivists as not just knowledge guardians but as data stewards, guiding visitors through the library's content. She discusses opening the collection to a wider audience via digitisation but at the same time encouraging users to physically experience the treasures of the Library at the Goldsmiths' Hall.
The collection ranges from Anglo-Norman French documents written on vellum to digital files from the 1980s. Sofia picks some of her favourites including an illuminated lapidary of gemstone cuts from the 1300s, correspondence from Thomas Cromwell and a first edition of the 1677 "A Touchstone for Gold and Silver Wares: Or, a Manual for Goldsmiths, and All Other Persons".
Links
Website: www.thegoldsmiths.co.uk
Archives: www.thegoldsmiths.co.uk/craft/library-research/
Instagram: www.instagram.com/thegoldsmithscompany/
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Lindsay Ould – Croydon Council
Lindsay Ould became Borough Archivist at Croydon after a career change from IT later in life that saw her go to university at the same time as her kids.
Lindsay talks about the archives building a sense of place for the diverse communities in her native Croydon. She explains how her previous experience as a researcher helps her understand the needs of users and how engagement with users from different Croydon communities informs the archives work.
Lindsay discusses how being in the same team as the museum and libraries has led to the archives contributing to a wide range of exhibitions and online digital projects reflecting the depth and diversity of both the collections and the communities the archive serves.
She also tells us about her impressive portfolio of TV appearances with the archive.
Links
Website : www.museumofcroydon.com
Collections information : museumofcroydon.com/collections
Our Queer+ Croydon : museumofcroydon.com/mark-goldby-mainpage
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Joanna Friel – Chislehurst Society
With over 4,000 members, The Chislehurst Society is one of the largest civic societies in the UK and is active in preserving and recording the heritage of the local area. Joanna Friel has been the Chairman of the society since 2018 and her absolute passion for the local area and its heritage is apparent in what is a lively, fascinating and extremely enjoyable insight into the local area and its history.
Joanna tells us about some of the famous people from Chislehurst's past, and about many of the gems in the society's collection which she very modestly refers to as 'a cupboard of slightly disorganised ephemera', although it should be noted that the cupboard itself is also a part of Chislehurst's heritage!
Additionally, Joanna talks about the importance of storytelling in preserving local heritage, of engaging with young people and why items found in skips and indeed inside quilts in Victorian attics should never be discarded without thorough examination...
Links
Website: The Chislehurst Society - Heritage
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Erin Lee – National Theatre
Founded in 1976 by English Actor and Director Laurence Olivier, The Royal National Theatre is one of three historically prominent performing arts venues in the UK. Located in the heart of London and with an abundance of history, the The National Theatre Archives department holds a diverse collection which includes production posters, scripts and original photography of historical plays as well as numerous live recordings.
In this interview, Head of Archives, Erin Lee, talks about her own journey from the role of archive assistant to the organisation's head of archives and shares insights into the role that the National Theatre plays in different parts of our society.
The National Theatre have made a variety of services such as online catalogues and online tours available to the public and Erin talks to us about the impact these collections have made as well as telling us about exciting upcoming projects including a podcasts series, launching in September which aims to shed light on innovative, original black theatre.
Links
Website : The National Theatre Archives
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Carol Morgan – Institution of Civil Engineers
Formed in 1818, The Institution of Civil Engineers archive holds a large and distinctive collection of books, photographs and manuscripts relating to the construction industry, both past and present, with the earliest book (a copy of the Trevis' Book on Architecture) dating back to the 15th century.
From promoting collections, to supporting the panel for historical engineering works, Carol Morgan provides a fascinating insight into her role as archivist and outlines the rich and varied collections she has had the good fortune to work on.
Carol also talks about how The Institution of Civil Engineers has invested in its online presence and how, as a result, it now has a wide variety of e-books and e-journals easily accessible to the public.
As a glimpse of things to come, perhaps, Carol discusses ICE's experience with online exhibitions. So far these have showcased engineering feats from World War I and World War II as well as the unique and prestigious content of the library catalogue, including landmark projects like Tower Bridge and The Bell Rock Lighthouse by such luminaries as Robert Stevenson, Sir Alexander Gibb and John Wolfe Barry.
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Leonie Paterson – Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh
Leonie provides an overview of her role at the library, describing how an inquiry from botanist George Forrest's granddaughter led her to a career in Archiving.
We learn about the contents of the archive including correspondence from collectors, field books, manuscripts, David Douglas' telescope, plant models, illustrations, artwork, dance programmes, the glass plate photo collection and the hidden history of women working in the garden.
Leonie explains the challenges that part time archivists face: time-managing researcher requests, administration, dealing with the output from volunteer workers and the ongoing cataloguing necessary to make her "perfect archive".
There is a discussion around the "decolonisation of archives" and the experience of physical engagement with the collection when public access is increasingly digital and remote, especially during the COVID 19 lockdown.
She shows that even though the archive is ostensibly about plants, it is also about the lives of the people who worked and engaged with the garden.
Links
Website: www.rbge.org.uk/science-and-conservation/library-and-archives/archives/
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Jill Williams – Egham by Runnymede History Society
Jill William is Honorary President of The Egham by Runnymede History Society where she has been a member for 30 of its 52 years existence. The society was originally set up in response to the redevelopment of the High Street in the 1960s as an attempt to document some of the historic buildings being demolished.
The Society exists to encourage interest in the local history of Egham, Egham Hythe, Englefield Green, Thorpe, Thorpe Lea, Virginia Water and the Surrey part of Sunningdale. The area includes Runnymede Meadows, site of the Magna Carta signing. The archive contains organizational documents, archaeological and historical reports, members research on buildings, newspaper clippings, audio recordings of local history talks and over 550 of the Society’s newsletters.
Jill talks about the challenges of managing an archive for a volunteer-run society with no support from a larger parent organization. Providing staff and coping with the demands of researchers at the society’s shared office and preserving the wide variety of archaic media formats present particular problems for unpaid volunteers without formal archive training.
Jill discusses successes and disappointments when engaging with local schools and building relationships with other heritage and educational organisations. She explains why, for her, the most interesting items in the collection are the ones she is working on right now.
Links
Website: eghammuseum.org/ebrhs/
Website: www.ebrhistsoc.wordpress.com
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @EbRHistSoc
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Hugh Petrie – London Borough of Barnet
Hugh Petrie has been Heritage Development Officer at the London Borough of Barnet since 1999.
Hugh talks about the formation of Barnet as an administrative area in 1963, and the historical nature of the areas and archives it took on. He then goes on to describe the four sections that the physical archive covers: a reference section (mostly now online); the council minutes and reports; artifacts specific to the area from the former Church Farmhouse Museum; and the library's local history collection started back in 1927.
Hugh also takes us through his four areas of work: preparing materials for heritage use; dealing with inquiries; managing the collection; and digitization. Working in archives from the early days of digitization, Hugh is an enthusiastic advocate for the benefits of digital content and discusses changes that have occurred over that time. He explains how digitization has helped the archive to reach a wider audience, facilitating production and dissemination of YouTube videos and learning materials.
With a keen eye on a sustainable legacy, Hugh shares how digitization helps to preserve the material and how it allows archivists to become research facilitators and guides rather than just "porters" ferrying the physical boxes back and forth.
Links
Website: www.barnet.gov.uk/libraries/local-studies-and-archives
Youtube: Until the 1960s you could travel by train from Finsbury Park to Edgware via Highgate and Finchley. This video recreates that journey using historical pictures from the Alan Lawrence Collection (Barnet Local Studies)
Youtube: A guided tour of High Barnet in the 1860s by balloon, using the 1860s 1:2500 ordnancy survey, and old pictures, and newspaper cuttings from the Local Studies Collection of the London Borough of Barnet Library Service.
Youtube: Barnet VE Day
Youtube: Finchley Common a History.
The Local Studies Centre has over 10,000 photographs and postcards dating from circa 1900, as well as a small collection of paintings and illustrations from the 19th century. Hundreds can now be viewed at: boroughphotos.org/barnet
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Lucy Bonner – Institution Of Mechanical Engineers
Archivist Lucy Bonner introduces the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, a learned society and membership organisation of 120,000 engineers in 140 countries.
IMechE covers all engineering involving movement. The archive includes institutional records, engineering company records, personal records of members, large engineering drawings and related paintings, photos, models and artefacts.
With records stretching back to The Bolton and Watts Company in 1726, Lucy picks her favourites from the archive and shows how the foundation letter sent out to potential members in 1847 still reflects the mission of IMechE in the 21st Century.
Lucy tells how the legendary rejection of George Stephenson by The Institution of Civil Engineers may (or may not) have been the impetus to start IMeche.
Lucy describes working on projects with other Institutions(including the Civil Engineers) and loans of material for exhibitions to other organisations including the V&A.
She outlines IMechE’s processes for decision making, such as whether to keep IMechE member Beatrice Shilling's material at IMech or with the Archive of Female Engineers at the Institution of Engineering and Technology.
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Tom Gillmor – Mary Evans Picture Library
Founded in 1964 by husband and wife team Hillary and Mary Evans and now comprising approximately 2.5 million unique and eclectic images (and still growing), The Mary Evans Picture Library is a fascinating example of a collection which started as a personal hobby but which has grown into a major international business.
Tom Gillmor, Head of Content, speaks to us today about managing a growing collection and how to continue to expand whilst still maintaining the personal ethos which helped make the collection so unique in the first place.
He tells us about the collection's international reach, how they have embraced the digital age, and the importance of strong metadata. He also shares some of his personal favorites from the collection, including an (almost) accurate view of life 'In the year 2000' as imagined by French artist Jean-Marc Cote in 1896.
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Rob Baker – Blind Veterans UK
Rob Baker, Information and Archives Executive for Blind Veterans UK, talks about working for archives in the third sector. The archive contains lifelong records of everyone the charity has ever helped since its inception in 1915, as well as records about its celebrity and royal supporters. It contains artifacts used by the veterans in their rehabilitation, highlighting the similarities and changes in the work of the charity over the past hundred years. Rob covers how the archive is used both by researchers and for the promotion of the charity. The interview shows how the archive continues growing, documenting today's activities with born digital material.
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Alison Cable – Rochester Bridge Trust
Alison Cable, archivist at The Rochester Bridge Trust, talks about her experience of moving from roles in local authorities looking after dozens of collections, to this very specialised collection. The Trust is one of the oldest charities in England and the archive goes back to the early medieval time. It holds documents accrued by the Trust over the centuries, including civil engineering documents from suppliers nationwide and material of interest to local historians. She talks about the challenges of digitising oversized paper based plans and the challenge of archiving born digital material from contractors. Alison discusses her hopes for increasing visitor numbers to the archive with the refurbishment of the medieval chapel owned by The Trust.
Links
Website: www.rbt.org.uk
Archives: rbt.org.uk/archives/
Twitter: twitter.com/RochesterBridge
Facebook: www.facebook.com/TheRochesterBridgeTrust
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Patricia Dark – Southwark Council
Patrica Dark, Archivist for the London Borough of Southwark, speaks about the exciting range of material she oversees, and the interesting people she gets to meet as part of her job.
From saving architectural drawings from the bin to helping with police investigations, you never know what useful information you might find. Patricia talks about two of her favorite collections; the Pat Brown Papers, the extensive writings of an insightful, everyday Peckham woman, and the Crutchley Archive, an invaluable record of 18th Century textile dying which has since been recognized as part of 'UK Memory of the World Register'.
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Rachel Howse Binnington – Fortnum & Mason
Fortnum & Mason is a business that actively thrives on its heritage. Rachel Howse Binnington, Deputy Archivist with the company talks to Max about the central role played by the archive supporting aspects of the business ranging from logistics and warehousing to ensuring historical accuracy in any building renovations. She discusses the hurdles that have been overcome in digitising the archive, the role digital preservation has played and her hopes for the future.
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Abby Barletta – Royal Society of Arts
Reordering and digitising a physical collection in the middle of lockdown? A tall order it would seem but not for the RSA who have been getting creative in their working practices.Abby Barletta, Assistant Archivist talks to Max about the practicalities of digitising and preserving a large and eclectic physical collection and about the added potential for outreach and audience engagement a digitised collection offers, particularly during lockdown. She talks additionally about the RSA's current digital projects and plans for the future.
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Jude Dicken – Manx National Heritage
Jude Dicken, the Collections Information Manager for Manx National Heritage, speaks about the variety of collections she oversees. This ranges from Viking Archaeology to early daguerreotypes of the island, and the contemporary showcase of the Isle of Mann's TT motor festival.
Jude discusses ambitious projects from as far back as the 1940s when an archive of recordings was made of the last native Manx speakers, to the recent 3D scanning and modeling project of the 200 early Medieval Viking crosses on the Isle. The promotion of their freely available digitized archive of Manx newspapers dating from 1792 has led to very positive engagement from both locally and further afield.
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Brian Riddle – Royal Aeronautical Society
Brian Riddle, Former Chief Librarian for the Royal Aeronautical Society - National Aerospace Library, discusses his experience working with one of the oldest aeronautical collections in the world.
Brian talks about the impressive array of online resources, that anyone can use to research the history of flight. With George Cayley's doodles, letters from the Wright Brothers, and podcasted interviews with Test Pilot Chuck Yeager, the collection has something interesting for everyone.
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Sarah Frandsen – All England Lawn Tennis Club (Championships) Limited
Sarah Frandsen joined the All England Lawn Tennis Club 8 years ago in the role of its first-ever Picture Library and Photo Coordinator for the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Museum.
The collection is around 1 million images, with more being added every year. In addition to the historic collection, in 2006 the Club started commissioning its own photographers to shoot the annual Championships and now has about 24 photographers shooting the event. Sarah describes the work she does co-ordinate and cataloguing these images, which can then go on to be widely distributed.
Although their online archive wimbledonimages.com is only open to certain users, Sarah often responds to inquiries from the general public who request photos of their loved ones who served as ball boys and girls in years gone by.
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Barbara Jones – Lloyd’s Register Foundation
Barbara Jones, Curator of Maritime History and Heritage, has spent most of her career working for Lloyd's Register Foundation. She is currently in midst of an ambitious project to digitize their large collection of survey reports and plans of maritime vessels, estimated to be around 1.25 million documents.
As well as providing an in-depth catalogue of the minute details of shipbuilding since the 19th century, there are some treasures to be found in the stacks, including intricate plans, early photos of damaged vessels, and top-secret Soviet records.
Links
Website: www.lr.org
Twitter: @LRFHEC
Instagram: @LRFHEC
Facebook: @LRFHEC
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Hayley Whiting – Royal National Lifeboat Institution
Hayley Whiting, Heritage Archive and Research Manager for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, has worked in universities, business archives and the third sector before becoming the first archivist for the RNLI in 2013.
With 7 museums and a support center in Poole, there is a wealth of historic material for people to access, and the importance of local links and engaged communities help keep the collection relevant. Amongst their varied collection, Hayley highlights their extensive photographic collection, their display of historic lifeboats, and a letter sent before the sinking of the Titanic by one of the crew complaining about everyday problems on-board such as ill-fitting shoes.
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Sarah Broadhurst – Zoological Society London
Sarah Broadhurst, Archivist for the Zoological Society London, talks about the challenges that come from working as part of a small team looking after the archive of one the largest zoological collections in the world.
Those who have visited London Zoo since its foundation in 1828 may not be aware that their ticket also goes towards funding the care of the working Society's archive. Sarah talks about the impressive collection of zoological research and the Society's historic records and also discusses the importance of an Archivist's role in valuing and retaining commonplace items that provide insight into everyday life.
Photo: Jumbo the elephant with Keeper Matthew Scott and small girl, 1870. © Photograph by Frederick York, from ZSL collections.
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Natasha Swainston – National Army Museum
Natasha Swainston, Museum Archivist for the National Army Museum, talks about managing the military collection dating back to the Civil War. With an active Collections Policy including current analog and 'born digital' material, Natasha divides her time between caring for the collection, interacting with users, and promoting the wealth of material on offer.
The National Army Museum prides itself on telling the stories of people caught up in war, and in doing so often collaborates with other institutions such as the National Archives, and on film and television projects.
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Lucy Inglis – King’s College School Wimbledon
Lucy Inglis, School Archivist for King's College School Wimbledon, talks about her role in preserving and collecting the history of the school.
With many Alumni feeling a close connection to the College, the archive provides a valuable resource of photos, programs and past Chronicles. Lucy discusses her ideas for opening up the archive to a wider audience and engaging current students in learning about those who came before them.
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Sandy Wood – Royal Scottish Academy of Art & Architecture
Sandy Wood joined the Royal Scottish Academy of Art and Architecture in 2003, and now works as their Collections Curator. Founded in 1826, the Academy is artist run, and administers scholarships, awards, and residencies for artists who live and work in Scotland. The collection has been recognised as being of National Significance to Scotland, and new works are accessioned every year. Sandy talks about the experience of working with a collection that has largely been developed by the contributors. This unique perspective provides an insight into both the world of Scottish Art in general and the individual artists involved.
Sandy talks about the experience of working with a collection which has largely been grown by artists themselves, which provides a unique insight into both the world of Scottish Art in general, and also the individual artists.
Links
Website: www.royalscottishacademy.org/
RSA Bookshelf: www.royalscottishacademy.org/collections-archives/rsa-bookshelf/
Twitter: twitter.com/RoyalScotAcad
Facebook: www.facebook.com/RoyalScotAcad/
Instagram: www.instagram.com/royal_scottish_academy/
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Helen Close – Women’s Engineering Society
Helen Close talks about her role as Centenary Trail Project Officer for the Women's Engineering Society, working to highlight the contributions of female engineers throughout the years. Founded in 1918, the Society aims to support the education and employment of women in all areas of engineering.
The collection for WES is housed with the IET, and the Centenary Trail project celebrates the 100th anniversary of WES by expanding digital resources. Helen talks about engaging volunteers in Wikithons to increase the number of research pages for female engineers, creating an interactive map for people to see the diverse spread of where these women came from and digitizing The Woman Engineer journal which WES has published since 1919.
The project has increased interest in the history of women's engineering and has led to new donations to the collection, better representation in museums, and the commission of Blue Plaques in honor of significant female engineers.
Photo (Holmes & her friend Nancy Johnson and her two children, 1934, Pulham.) courtesy of © Andrew Fox, Private Collection & donor of the Verena Holmes Diaries
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Cressida Williams – Canterbury Cathedral
Cressida Williams, Library and Archives Manager for Canterbury Cathedral, talks about the collection, which is designated as "outstanding significance to the UK” and has been given a UNESCO Memory of the World Award.
Dating back from the 8th century, the Cathedral's collection has suffered some tragedies over the years, particularly during the Reformation. However, the Library still retains an impressive collection, including material related to William the Conqueror and the Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Becket.
Cressida talks about her hopes of digitising the collections which were dispersed during the Reformation, and digitally reuniting the material that has found its way into other Archives.
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Nick Smith – National Gallery
Nick Smith, archivist for the National Gallery, talks about the work that has been taking place under lockdown. Making the most of a bad situation, the National Gallery team has spent the last year working on transcribing material, answering an upswell of FOI enquiries and utilising digitised material for research purposes.
The archive is separate from the National Galleries' art collection, but no less interesting. Nick talks about the interesting material he takes care of, including personal diaries, prophetic letters, and ransomed paintings!
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Sophie Leverington – Duchy of Lancaster
Sophie Leverington talks about her work as Archivist at The Duchy of Lancaster, up until her departure in December 2020. She explains the role of The Duchy as the private estate of The Sovereign and its association with The National Archives, dating back to the acceptance of Duchy papers by the Public Records Office 1860s.
Sophie describes some of the Duchy's treasures including a copy of the Magna Carta, a Beadles Uniform, postcards and employees' long lost toothbrushes!
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Richard Addison – Family Archive
Richard Addison talks about digitising and cataloguing his family archive using Max Communications' Family Archive service.
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Moira Goff – Garrick Club
Moira Goff, Librarian for the Garrick Club talks about the Club's unique collection including scrapbooks, playbills and prints. . The Garrick Club was founded in 1831 and the Library was part of its founding tenets. The library covers theatrical life from the 18th Century onwards and of course, includes a wealth of material about David Garrick, the Club's namesake. Moira also discusses the displays and exhibitions the library organizes, the collection's relationships with other institutions and the universal challenges archivists face of finding space for collections and time for cataloging.
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Nicky Hilton – The Mulberry Bush
Nicky Hilton, Senior Archivist for the Mulberry Bush, talks about their interesting collection of therapeutic material. The Mulberry Bush is a not-for-profit charity with a mission to provide services to meet the needs of emotionally troubled and traumatized children, young people, their families and communities.
The collection of administrative records, oral histories and artwork documents health care treatments from the 20th century onwards, and provides a unique perspective on attitudes towards mental health throughout the years.
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Charles Hind – Royal Institute of British Architects
Charles Hind has worked for Royal Institute of British Architects for 25 years and is now the Chief Curator and Curator of Drawings. The vast collection numbers items into the millions, and has led to a successful partnership with the V&A where some of the material is stored and displayed at the museum in Kensington.
Charles draws upon his extensive experience to talk about the effect of architecture on everyday life, how Renaissance architectural principles continue to influence modern architects and the unusual items that can be found in the collection.
Photo courtesy of © Eric Winter perspective drawing of the entrance of the British Library, part of the Colin St John Wilson and Partners Archive. RIBA Collections
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Anne Barrett – Imperial College London
Anne Barratt, College Archivist & Corporate Records Manager, has worked at Imperial College London for over 20 years. The College Archive has records dating back to the 15th Century and uses its collection to highlight scientific innovations from the university over the years.
In 2017 Anne published Women at Imperial College Past, Present and Future, which examined the role of women at Imperial from their inclusion in Imperial’s beginnings in the 19th century as students, ancillary staff and then teaching staff, right up to the first woman President of Imperial College, appointed in 2014.
Women at Imperial College, Past, Present and Future by Anne Barrett
To purchase a copy go to: www.worldscientific.com/worldscibooks/10.1142/q0076
By quoting WSSPPS20, you will enjoy a 20% discount.
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Dr Sian Prosser – Royal Astronomical Society
Sian Prosser has been Archivist and Librarian at the Royal Astronomical Society since 2014. The Society has a specialist Library and Archive with a large collection of books, manuscripts, photos and instruments centered on astronomy and geophysics, dating as far back as the 15th Century.
Sian talks about German Astronomer Caroline Herschel and the planned digitization of her journals, artist inquiries for inspirational photographs of planets, and the RAS's place in the context of modern space exploration.
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Jacqui Grainger – Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies
Jacqui Grainger, has been the Librarian at the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies (RUSI) since 2017. Although a relatively unknown archive, Jacqui hopes that by digitizing the collection it will make it more accessible to both Members and the general public.
RUSI receives many inquiries about heritage assets that formed part of the RUSI museum, closed in 1962, and this interest has led Jacqui to work on a part-time PHD collaborating with the AHRC and the University of Westminster, exploring the history of this 'Lost Museum'.
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Chris Olver – Royal Hospital for Neuro-Disability
Chris Olver was brought on board as Archivist at the Royal Hospital for Neuro-Disability in 2018 after The National Archives judged the collection as being of national significance.
The hospital was established in 1854 and has managed to retain it's full set of patient records since it's foundation. Some of these patients spent years in residence and so these records provide a fascinating insight into the treatment of neurological conditions throughout the years.
Chris talks about the extensive work going into digitising this collection in order to widen access to the general public. There is an exhibition planned for this summer, taking place in the Capability Brown designed hospital gardens for the staff and patients, which will also be available online for the public to view.
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Barbara Vesey – Society of the Sacred Heart
Barbara Vesey, has worked as the England and Wales provincial archivist for the Society of the Sacred Heart since 2012. Established in the early 19th Century the Society has since been involved in education of girls around the world, and in the UK since 1842.
Barbara talks about engaging with the past and present members of the schools, the notable achievements of the nuns throughout the years, and trying to promote the archive collections whilst remaining sensitive to the values of the Society. Some projects that Barbara has worked on include a Timeline of the Sacred Heart Society, and a joint exhibition with the University of Roehampton on a 300 plaque War Memorial initiated by the Sisters.
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Paul Logie – University of Aberdeen
Paul Logie has worked as the Assistant Archivist at the University of Aberdeen since 2004. In that time, the University Archive has been moved into a spacious purpose built facility in the academic Library. ,
As well as the collections from the 3 original Colleges that make up the University, the Archive also houses 5000 different collections. Paul talks about the pros and cons of managing such a large and varied collection, which includes material from all over the North East of Scotland.
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Aymée Thorne Clarke – Rogers Stirk Harbour and Partners
Aymée Thorne Clarke in her current role of Archivist at renowned architectural firm Rogers Stirk Harbour and Partners enjoys being able to employ her previous knowledge and experience of art and architecture.
Aymée talks about the challenges of managing archival material in an active, international company, and her concerns that the archive should continue to represent not only the landmark projects from the practice's history but also the more contemporary projects. Exciting projects being undertaken to develop the archive include the current relocation of the archive material and reviewing processes to try and best catalog newer 'born digital' projects.
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Emma Stower – Henry Moore Foundation
Emma Stower, Archivist for the Henry Moore Archive talks about her experiences over the 30 years she has worked with Moore's Artwork and the related material, including an extensive photographic collection that Moore himself took. The Henry Moore Foundation is based at Perry Green where the Artist set up his Studio, within a 60 acre site with sculpture gardens and purpose built archive store.
Emma talks about the ongoing digitization to improve access to the collection, the experiences of staff working with Moore and his family, and her interest in creating an oral history record of those that knew him closely.
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Tavistock Institute for Human Relations
Juliet Scott, Principal Consultant & Artist and Meg Davis, Operations Manager for the Tavistock Institute of Human Relations, talk about the way the Institute has used Social Science to explore contemporary issues and problems throughout the last century.
Wellcome Trust are now the custodians of the archive, both the paper material and the born digital collections, however the Tavistock Institute promotes the collection through means of festivals, exhibitions and dance performances.
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Anne-Marie Purcell – University of West London
Anne-Marie Purcell has worked for the University of West London since 2017 as their first archivist. She talks about the diverse collection that UWL has built from it's amalgamated colleges throughout the years. Anne-Marie hopes in the future for the Archive to include more material from the different parts of the University to create a more representative collection for people to enjoy.
The UWL has recently acquired the Heathrow Archive Collection which, with the help of Heritage Lottery Funding, has now been fully catalogued and is on exhibition on the UWL Ealing campus.
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The Harrow Local History Collection & Archive
Stacey Anne Bagdi, Collections & Exhibition Officer (Curator) and Kelly Accetta Crowe, Digitisation Project Officer, talk about their work with the Harrow Museum Collection and the Local History Collection & Archive. The collections have been moved to several locations throughout the years before finding its current home within the historic site of Headstone Manor & Museum.
With the thousands of papers, photos and maps that make up the collection, Stacey and Kelly put in a lot of work into cataloguing and archiving their material. There is much local interest in the collection, and the team have managed to utilise their ongoing digitisation project in order to remain accessible to the public during the course of this year.
Photo courtesy of © Harrow Local History Collections & Archive
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