Strategic Review of Archive Services in North Wales
An important review of archive services in North Wales is taking place. The
work, which will be undertaken between July and December 2008, has been
commissioned by the six North Wales councils and will be undertaken by
consultancy partnership Creative Cultures.
The project is funded by a grant from the Welsh Assembly Government
(WAG), administered by CyMAL, the Assembly’s division for museums,
archives and libraries, through its Archives Strategic Grant Scheme. Flintshire
is lead authority in the project and is working in partnership with Anglesey,
Conwy, Denbighshire, Gwynedd and Wrexham Councils.
Senior Council Officers from these authorities will manage the project and will
use the research and its conclusions to determine proposals for further
actions and will seek to take forward those elements of the strategic review
which are deemed viable.
The review will explore new models for the delivery of archive services which
are currently delivered by the six unitary authorities in North Wales. It will seek
to review the entire method of service provision in order to identify a range of
complementary methods of service provision that fulfil the requirements of the
public and stakeholders and are practical, sustainable and feasible for the
councils to deliver.
Although the development of archive provision since 1996 has been
encouraging, the project responds to the current issues facing archive
services across North Wales, namely low levels of investment,
underdeveloped customer services and public access to collections, limited
storage capacity and provision for conservation. The aims for the work
include:






Improving and sustaining service standards;
Identifying and prioritising the services that the archives should be
delivering;
Identifying the most effective models for delivering these services;
Safeguarding archival documents through establishing and maintaining
state of the art archive-storage facility/facilities with significant capacity
for growth;
Safeguarding archival documents through establishing and maintaining
state of the art conservation facility/ facilities;
Developing and maintaining effective methods of accessing archival
documents [i.e. this would involve the examination of a range of
methods, from personal access in search-room, through to digital
access, video-conferencing etc.]
It will address key issues including:

Assessment of individual archive services’ requirements;







Assessment of the requirements of stakeholders, including the
governing bodies, archive service staff and depositors;
Assessment of the requirements of the current users and potential new
users of the archive services;
Feasibility of establishing a regional / sub-regional archive service: to
include technical, management, governance and financial aspects;
Feasibility of establishing a regional / sub-regional model for the
delivery of specific services: to include technical, management,
governance and financial aspects;
To explore the contribution of the proposal to sustaining and improving
service standards, including the meeting of statutory requirements;
Ensuring a fully bilingual service;
Ensuring that the proposal makes a full and sustainable contribution to
the provision of digital access to collections.
The work will be undertaken by Creative Cultures, a consultancy
partnership of senior experienced consultants specialising in arts and cultural
strategic planning, feasibility studies and organisational development, whose
members have a track record of achievement and excellence in working with
the public, not-for-profit and private sectors. For this important commission
the Creative Cultures team is led by Brian Mitchell, Creative Cultures Partner
and a cultural development consultant of many years standing, and David
Mander, OBE, Senior Associate, a former Head of Archives in the London
Borough of Hackney and a heritage industry professional of many years’
experience.
For further information please contact
Esther Williams, Archivist / Records Manager, Wrexham Archive Service,
Wrexham County Borough Museum, County Buildings, Regent Street,
Wrexham LL11 1RB. Telephone: 01978 317976 Email:
esther.williams@wrexham.gov.uk