Title: The National Archives’ User Forum
Date: 12 February 2013
Location: Talks Room
Attendees (staff):
Jeff James (JJ), Director of Operations and Services (Chair)
Mary Gledhill (MG), Commercial Director
Lee Oliver (LO), Head of Public Services Development
Guy Grannum (GG) – Discovery Product Manager
David Priest (DP), Production Co-ordination Manager
James Lawson (JL), Customer Intelligence Manager
Foluke Abiona (FA), Customer Intelligence Officer
Corinne Harrison (CH), Reader Adviser
Mark Jones (MJ), Customer Intelligence Assistant (Minutes)
Attendees (users):
Bob O’Hara, John Seaman, Richard P Bateson, Annie Thompson, Francis Howcutt,
Barbara Harvey, James C Young, Tim Powys-Lybbe, Victorine Martineau, Graham
Woolgar, P Gallagher, Jeff Jefford, Scott Reeve, Ron Platt
1. JJ welcomed all to the meeting
2. Matters arising
(2.1) Q. With reference to item (2.4) of the previous meeting’s minutes, have TNA
considered reinstituting the role of Deputy Keeper?
A. No. We have never had a discussion about this.
(2.2) Q. At (2.5) of the previous meeting’s minutes it is mentioned that research and
feedback has shown that many people find it difficult to use the old online catalogue
(which is in the process of being replaced by Discovery). Is that really the case?
A. Yes. Feedback has clearly demonstrated that the old online catalogue is difficult and
somewhat bewildering; particularly so for users who are not familiar with it, and for
those who are less familiar with archives generally. Part of the aim of Discovery is to
make it more intuitive and to make the user experience closer to that of other online
searching tools which users are increasingly familiar with.
Q. It was also stated that you have made it harder to find the old catalogue. Why is
this?
A. Because we are in the process of decommissioning it and are trying to encourage
use of Discovery. User feedback has been central to the development of Discovery so it
is vital that people use it.
(2.3) Q. Are new accessions now being recorded in Discovery only?
A. No. Both Discovery and the old catalogue are up to date with new accessions.
(2.4) Q. At the last User Forum meeting Chief Executive and Keeper, Oliver Morley was
asked for his views on Treasury’s decision to transfer the document selection process
out to Iron Mountain. Is TNA really comfortable with Treasury’s decision to hand
responsibility over to an independent company?
A. As Oliver stated, TNA is not inherently opposed to a third party being involved,
provided they are appropriately security cleared and they are properly invested in the
process.
(2.5) Q. Has the new memorandum of understanding between The National Archives
and the London Family History Centre (LDS) now been signed?
A. No, it has not been signed yet. However, the negotiations have been completed and
it is hoped that the signing of the agreement will simply be a formality.
Q. Will TNA be disclosing the sum of money LDS will be contributing to The Friends of
The National Archives that will presumably form part of the memorandum of
understanding?
A. We would have no problem sharing that information.
Q. Has having LDS located in the Reading Rooms at TNA reduced the number of family
history enquiries dealt with at your own enquiry desks?
A. We have not been tracking this but the arrangement seems to work well in
collaboration with our own enquiry desks. We have a good mutually supportive working
relationship with LDS which we feel benefits our users.
(2.6) Q. At the last User Forum, User Advisory Group delegate Graham Woolgar
advised that he had suggested that an inventory of documents being held by
government departments be added to the TNA website. Has there been any further
developments regarding this?
A. Yes. In September 2012, 80 government bodies that transfer records to The National
Archives provided data on the volume and transfer status of the records they hold that
were created up to 1984. The Record transfer report has been published on our website
and can be accessed here: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/about/record-transferreport.htm
(2.7) Q. Is there a record of documents that are requested back by government
departments?
A. No. We generally receive somewhere between 8,000 and 10,000 such requests per
year. Many of these are now dealt with by providing copies rather than sending back the
documents and we are looking to increase this practice in future.
(2.8) Q. Have you now put in a bid for a portion of the grant money that the government
has committed to commemorations marking the 100th anniversary of the start of the
First World War? Will you be inviting Dr Andrew Murrison MP to TNA to give a talk (as
suggested at the last User Forum meeting) as part of the commemorations?
A. We are still developing our plans. It is currently being discussed at the highest level
and we will be looking at opportunities to engage with ministers as part of the
commemorations. Mary Gledhill and the Customer and Business Development team will
provide an update on our wider commemoration plans at the next User Advisory Group
meeting in March.
3. Discovery service update and latest release – Guy Grannum, Discovery
Product Manger
GG explained that we have given Discovery a new look and added two new features:
you can now sort results by catalogue reference and filter them by the first letter of
government department. You can also sort results by their start date in both ascending
and descending order. We have also improved the layout for the browsing screens and
fixed some minor technical bugs. See our updates for more details of what has
changed.
(3.1) Q. Is it possible to sort by both date and relevance?
A. No. You have to initially sort by either date or relevance but you can then filter the
results using the refine results function.
(3.2) Q. Are former document references being included in Discovery yet?
A. No, not yet. We are still considering the best way to introduce former references.
(3.3) Q. Is a suitable equivalent to the index page on Documents Online being
developed for Discovery?
A. No, not at present, but it is something we could consider looking into. Users are
currently able to browse our online collections and look at our research sign posts here.
(3.4) Q. Is it possible to do an A - Z search of all documents that were accessioned in,
say, January 2013? Could a ‘hot link’ to newly released records be introduced on
Discovery?
A. We could look into the possibility of introducing a ‘hot link’ for newly accessioned
records. At present it is possible to do a ‘wildcard’ search on Discovery by entering a ‘*’
in the search bar. You can then filter the results by record opening date using the refine
results function.
(3.5) Q. I have experienced difficulties when ordering documents on Discovery. When I
click ‘Order now’ it correctly links me to DORIS but sometimes loses the document
reference I am trying to order and I have to start again. Can this be resolved?
A. This is unusual. We will look into it.
Please send any further feedback on Discovery to
discovery@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk so we can add it to the issues log for
investigation and consideration.
4. Any other Business
(4.1) Q. I have noticed that ‘migrated archives’ (large collections of colonial records from
former British territories that TNA and the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) are
working together to transfer and release) are now being released in dribs and drabs and
no longer on 31st December each year. Why is this?
A. The FCO’s current estimate is that there are around 250,000 files amongst the
special collections to be reviewed and selected before being transferred to TNA. More
information about this (including a timetable for release of the Colonial Administration
files) can be found on the FCO website.
A major benefit of the implementation of the twenty year rule is that many of these
documents will now be released earlier than they otherwise would have been.
(4.2) Q. I have noticed that a number of PCs and overhead cameras in the reading
rooms are regularly out of order. Why is this?
A. There have been some issues with the new ‘Thin Client’ PCs which were introduced
in the reading rooms last year and we are currently monitoring the situation. (A Thin
Client is a device that has no hard drive which is connected to a server, where all of the
processes are performed and stored, making them more secure. They are more cost
effective and the energy consumption is dramatically less compared to a standard
desktop PC).
We are not aware of any major problems with the overhead cameras but will also keep
an eye on the situation.
(4.3) Q. I regularly find that the Army Lists in the open reading room are not put back in
their proper place. Can something be done about this?
A. Thank you for drawing this to our attention. We will speak to the Enquiry Service
Managers about adding this matter to the list of weekly checks carried out in the open
reading room.
(4.4) Q. The digitisation of the Coronation and Jubilee medal rolls seems to be taking
longer than expected. Can anything be done to speed the process up?
A. This work is being carried out by an external company. We are happy with the
quality of the work that has been carried out but it is taking longer than expected. We
have been monitoring this closely, particularly as the work must be completed by the
end of this financial year. The suppliers are aware of this.
(4.5) Q. Is there any prospect of being able to print bi-tonal images in the document
reading rooms?
A. The new printers are not currently producing images with the same level of contrast
as the older technology. However, the quality of the images you can produce is good
enough for research quality copies (for some jobs it is actually better quality than bitonal). On balance, the new technology provides a much better solution, without the
requirement for expensive lease agreements and the long lead times for fixing or
replacing broken equipment.
(4.6) Q. The first Writer of the month event in January was a tremendous success. I
particularly enjoyed the contributions made by TNA staff who spoke during the seminar.
Will the future Writer of the month talks follow the same format?
A. We are very happy to hear that you enjoyed the first talk. The future talks will
generally be shorter and it will usually only be the high-profile author that has been
invited to speak who will be talking about using original records in their writing.
However, we are considering having a larger talk, perhaps towards the end of the year,
which could follow a similar format to that of the first one.
The Writer of the month schedule can be found here.
(4.7) Q. Could you explain why the minutes of the most recent meeting of the Advisory
Council have not been published on your website?
A. (Patrick Mallett) We will look in to this and get back to you.
(4.8) Q. Is there any update on the Reclosure policy?
A. Notes from the meeting with Stuart Abraham (FOI Centre Manager) attended by
Richard Bateson and Graham Woolgar will be added to the minutes of the User
Advisory Group.
(4.9) Q. Was the decision for the Royal Observer Corps records not to be accessioned
by TNA due to a lack of physical accommodation? Where are these records currently?
A. That is not one of the criteria that have ever been applied when deciding the
suitability of an institution to receive a record. Decision making is primarily based on
what is contained in the records (e.g. how complete they are) and where would be the
natural place for them to go. There is no hard and fast methodology as each situation is
different but the Record Decision Panel always works to find the best outcome for the
records. The Royal Observer Corps records are in The Royal Observer Corps Museum.
Q. When will the remainder of the Home Guard records be released?
A. We will take this away and find out.
(Post meeting update: As noted previously, the pilot Home Guard digitisation project
identified that a significant number of individuals who served in the Home Guard were of
a much younger age than previously thought, meaning that their records are still closed
and that digitisation is not currently commercially viable. Once a much higher proportion
of the collection can be opened and digitisation becomes commercially viable,
commercial partners can be sought to digitise the collection in its entirety. This is likely
to be some years in the future).
(4.10) Q. Is there any update on when the Air 81 (Air Ministry: Casualty Branch
P4(Cas): Enquiries into Missing Personnel, 1939-45 War) records will be transferred to
TNA?
A. We will look into this.
(4.11) JJ advised that there has been some temporary disruption to the library as we
have been making space on the first floor for books that have been stored in the
basement for a long time. These are from the Dewey sequence 331-349 and cover a
range of subjects, in particular Business, Labour and Agricultural History and Law.
This move will return 88 metres of books back to the library shelves.
5. Date of next meeting: Thursday 18th April 12:30-13:45