User Forum carry forward action list 2011-12.xls
Note: Initials are those used in the published Notes of User Forum meetings. The 'Note' column is only used where the response is not recorded in published Notes of User Forum meetings.
Date raised Action (relevant extract from published Notes of User Forum meeting)
Owner Status
Date
Note
Completed
Item ID
17/03/2011 JJ welcomed everyone to the meeting and introduced Malcolm Fearn, (MF) the
JJ
OPEN
N/A
The Security Operations Manager post is currently
new Security Operations Manager. It was requested that security issues are
vacant. The new appointee will carry forward this action.
covered as an agenda item at a future meeting. JJ suggested that this is
scheduled in approximately 6 months time, giving MF an opportunity to settle in
to the role and gain a clear picture of the organisation and its unique security
issues and functions.
11-09
17/03/2011 Q. Is there an update regarding the installation of a mobile phone mast at The
JJ
OPEN
N/A
This is still open. There have been no developments to
National Archives?
report.
A. (JJ) There is no news on this. We have noted your concerns on this matter.
As reported previously, it may be that we have no choice but to allow the mast
to be installed. However, legal advice is being taken. We will keep users
informed of any developments.
11-10
17/03/2011 Q. Would it be possible to have more than one “Meet the CEO” day per year as
JJ
OPEN
N/A
We are still considering this.
a further opportunity for users to interact with senior management?
A. (JJ) We will take this away and consider it.
11-11
05/06/2011 JL to investigate the issue of email auto responses (including the text of the
JL
OPEN
N/A
An alternative solution was identified: The text of the
original enquiry) not being generated when a records enquiry is made via the
query will be repeated on the confirmation page, along
new contact form.
with a time and date stamp and a message instructing
the user to print or save the page. This will be
implemented this financial year (by April 2013)
11-21
05/06/2011 User Advisory Group: It was suggested that brief biographies and possibly
JL
OPEN
N/A
These are currently in production.
pictures of delegates are also made available on the website.
11-22
05/06/2011 JL to investigate possibility of enabling on site users to email documents
JL
OPEN
N/A
This is still under investigation, but there is nothing to
downloaded from DocumentsOnline to their own email address as an alternative
report at present.
to printing.
11-23
08/10/2011 JL to update the User Forum when the Discovery service is linked to the onsite
JL
OPEN
N/A
Discovery is now linked to DORIS, but this was not
document ordering system (DORIS), enabling users to directly order documents
specifically mentioned at a later Forum.
found in Discovery.
11-28
06/01/2012 Q. There are 4 collations of service records that are due to be transferred to The CM
OPEN
N/A
This is a regular topic at User Forum. Updates will be
National Archives. Why aren‟t these records being digitised in-house?
provided as and when there are developments to report
A. (CM) Our main focus at the moment is on the pilot digitisation of the Home
Guard records. However, we will be digitising the Air Force records in-house.
Q. Do you have a date for when this will be done?
A. (CM) Not currently as our focus is with the Home Guard records. However
we will let you know when we have a clearer idea of dates.
11-44
17/02/2011 Q. What period of years do the Royal Navy cards cover? This is actually a
AD CLOSED 17/03/2012 Andrew Dyer (Information Management Consultant
question I asked in the January forum, but my question was taken to be about
repsonsible for dealing with MoD)discussed this question
the “starting” range of years, not the end date(s). Do they continue until 1963?
with interested parties outside the meeting.
A. We will look in to this and give a full response at the next meeting
11-01
17/02/2011 It was suggested that it would be helpful if an example image of each of the 4
JL
CLOSED 21/04/2012 MoD supplied 2 examples, other 2 collations use same
collations in question could be made available to help users understand what
format as existing records.
the records look like and what information they contain. JJ said that we would
take this suggestion away and look in to it.
11-02
User Forum carry forward action list 2011-12.xls
11-03
11-04
11-05
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17/02/2011 Q. Now the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council is being wound up, how
does the Minister envisage this affecting TNA and the Advisory Council on
National Records and Archives?
A. With support from colleagues at TNA, I have been in discussions with the
Department for Culture, Media and Sport to ensure continuity of the MLA‟s
archives provision, and hope to be able to make an announcement soon.
17/02/2011 I am excited by the prospect of the release of the records. We will clearly see a
massive surge in interest which we must manage proactively. Going back to the
last question, I think willingness of government departments to release
information is variable and we must impress standards. One can see why erring
on the side of caution with regards to the release of certain information is
particularly important in some cases for the Ministry of Defence. I would be very
willing to talk to Liam Fox regarding this issue and I must take good advice
(including that from yourselves). The comments I have received so far have
been very useful and I think we need to look again and make this process as
bureaucracy free as possible while considering the sensitivities involved.
17/02/2011 Q. Can you give us further information on what constitutes a complaint about
document condition / preservation, as reported in the regular graph showing
complaints received by category?
A. We will take this away and provide a response.
(Post meeting note: the Document Condition forms submitted by readers to
Document Services have not appeared in the Complaints charts up to this point.
The feedback that is recorded there under the category “Document
condition/preservation” usually has its source in Your Views forms. However we
think it is a good idea to include and report on the number of Document
Condition forms we receive from now on.)
17/02/2011 Q. In the previous meeting, a point was raised about reporting rules violations in
the reading rooms (3.14). You said that if a user witnesses a breach of the
rules, they should report it to a member of staff. However when I did this
recently nothing happened. What is the point of telling a member of staff when
nothing is done about it?
A. (JJ) You were absolutely correct to report the incident to a member of staff,
and we are sorry that nothing was done in this case. We will investigate this
matter further off line.
17/02/2011 Q. Is it possible to have some time at the next user‟s forum devoted to the User
Consultation Review as this item was cut short due to the Minister arriving?
A. Yes we are happy to devote some time to this at the March forum, although
there may be other items for the agenda. The proposals will begin to be
implemented from April onwards.
17/02/2011 Q. During the forum today, the minister said that he would go back to various
departments. Can we ask him for feedback in 6 months time?
A. (OM) Yes, please do so via me.
17/03/2011 Q. At the last meeting you confirmed that we could ask for an update on the
various actions taken away by Lord McNally in 6 months time, but will you
inform us if anything happens sooner?
A. (JJ) Yes, we will share any information that we receive in the mean time.
Page 2 of 6
LM
CLOSED 03/04/2012 Announcement made April 2012:
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/news/693.htm
LM
CLOSED 17/03/2011 The Rt. Hon. Lord McNally, Minister of State reponsible
for The National Archives, wrote to The Rt. Hon. Dr Liam
Fox, Secretary of State for Defence 14/03/2011
JL
CLOSED 05/07/2011 Paper forms removed, new forms available (link on public
screens to online forms).
JJ
CLOSED
JJ
CLOSED 17/03/2011 Jess Nelson gave a summary and a Q&A session
followed.
All breaches of the rules are investigated, and action
taken as appropriate.
ALL
CLOSED
No requests received.
JJ
CLOSED
The only action was the letter from Lord McNally to the
Rt Hon. Dr. Liam Fox. This was done, and a reply
received. There was nothing further to report back.
User Forum carry forward action list 2011-12.xls
11-13
11-14
11-15
21/04/2011 Business Plan - The National Archives‟ Business plan for 2011 – 2012 has
OM
recently been published and can be found here. This will be discussed in detail
by Oliver Morley (CEO of National Archives) at the next meeting.
21/04/2011 Post First World War Service Records - The MoD had supplied example images
JL
of the Home Guard Attestation and Royal Navy CR forms, both of which can be
found here. The other 2 collations of Post First World War Service Records are
continuations of the existing Army and RAF service records and use exactly the
same forms to capture the information. Following an offline meeting with a user,
Andrew Dyer (Information Management Consultant) has also asked the
following questions of the MoD. We will make any answers that we receive
regarding these questions available via the minutes.
Will the RN record cards of ratings enlisting in the period 1924 - 1939 give
service details until the end of their careers? If not, will the limiting factor be the
end of the card system, and in this case what year was this system terminated?
When can we expect to see the release of the record cards for ratings who
enlisted prior to 1924, whose partial records where transferred to the card
system in 1929?
What types of unreleased service personnel record are held for what periods?
The collection of army records within the “four collections” is to be limited to
soldiers born in 1895 or earlier. Why has this date been chosen? Is it because
there was a “natural break” (format or system) in the records at this date, or is it
related to the MOD 116 year rule?
When can we expect the publication of the Naval General Service Medal roll
corresponding to the clasps?
21/04/2011 Nick Kingsley (Head of Archives Sector Development) to be invited to attend a
JL
future meeting to discuss the practical implications of TNA‟s new role in Archive
Sector support and leadership.
21/04/2011 Can TNA obtain a subscription to the new digital Illustrated London News?
JL / LO
11-17
11-18
11-19
Page 3 of 6
CLOSED 12/04/2012 Replies to these questions were provided by Andrew
Dyer.
CLOSED 03/08/2011
JL
CLOSED 19/05/2011 Helen Pye-Smith (Head of Library Services) investigated
and found prohibitively expensive.
CLOSED 03/08/2011
JL
CLOSED 03/08/2011
11-16
19/05/2011 Q. Can Valerie Johnson (Research and Policy Manager) attend a future meeting
to give an update on Academic Research at The National Archives?
A. (JL) Yes, she will be attending on 3rd August.
19/05/2011 Q. Could Nick Kingsley, Head of Archive Sector development be invited to a
future meeting to discuss The National Archives‟ role in Archive Sector support?
A. Yes, we can certainly ask him (post meeting note: Nick has agreed to attend,
also on the 3rd of August).
19/05/2011 Q. As you are now varying the timings of the User Forum, could you
reinvestigate the possibility of podcasting the meetings for those who are unable
to attend. Also, would it be possible to submit items for discussion in your
absence if you are unable to attend?
A. (JJ) Yes, we can reinvestigate podcasting but there may be issues around
data protection. Yes, we would be happy to accept submissions for items to be
discussed in advance, although we can‟t always guarantee that there will be
time for everything.
CLOSED 19/05/2011
CLOSED
Copyright legislation prevents us from podcasting the
meetings
User Forum carry forward action list 2011-12.xls
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11-24
19/05/2011 Q. Please could you reinstate the instructions for using the advanced search
functions of the online catalogue? This is particularly important to me now that
the paper catalogues aren‟t definitive and there are inserts directing me to the
online version.
A. (SS) Yes, we will investigate this.
05/06/2011 We are currently looking to implement the suggestion of podcasting User
Forums. It would be necessary for those present to sign a consent form. It is
likely that we will try this for the first time at the October forum. Any opposition
to podcasting the meetings should be raised at the next meeting or sent by
email to user.forum@nationalarchives.gov.uk
05/06/2011 JL to investigate technical problems with digital cameras (issues with the lens
going out of focus and one camera taking a long time to „see‟ the image).
SS
CLOSED
This has been superseded by the release of Discovery.
JL
CLOSED
Copyright legislation prevents us from podcasting the
meetings.
JL
CLOSED
This was fed back to Richard Groocock (Public Services
Manager, Document Services Dept.) who was
responsible for making improvements to the service.
05/06/2011 JL to invite Dinah Easton, Clothworkers Fellow, Collection Care, to attend a
future meeting to report on work being done on the design registers.
05/06/2011 II to investigate issue of users not being able to access their own Ancestry
account on site at The National Archives.
03/08/2011 DocumentsOnline, the system which delivers electronic images of documents
digitised in house by The National Archives is to be replaced with a new system
which will be integrated with the Discovery service. We will investigate including
the ability to email (links to) downloaded images from the system in addition to
printing or saving them locally.
03/08/2011 JL to follow up query regarding Army and Navy lists no longer being published.
JL
CLOSED 03/11/2011
II
CLOSED
JL
CLOSED
JL
CLOSED 08/10/2011 Response from MoD
03/08/2011 JL to follow up the request for copyright to be covered at a future meeting.
JL
CLOSED 07/02/2012
03/08/2011 JL to follow up query regarding how recent document releases will be indicated
and found in Discovery.
08/10/2011 It was noted that a suggestion regarding „complementary digitisation‟
(digitisation of records which are held by Places of Deposit and other
organisations rather than just us, but which complement our collections) was
missed from previous minutes. JJ and JL apologised for this omission and
agreed to pass this suggestion to Chris Mumby, Head of Commercial Delivery
for to
consideration.
08/10/2011 JL
organise user sessions on „Browse‟ for the Discovery service in
conjunction with colleagues and update the User Forum attendees on details.
08/10/2011 JL to report need for air freshener in ladies toilet to Estates department.
JL
CLOSED 08/10/2011
11-25
11-26
11-27
11-29
This is not possible due to the means by which Ancestry
allows access to the TNA account
11-30
11-31
11-32
11-33
11-34
JJ /JL CLOSED
This was passed on to Chris Mumby (Head of
Commercial Delivery) for consideration.
JL
CLOSED 03/11/2011 Browse sessions took place in December.
JL
CLOSED 03/11/2011
JL
CLOSED 03/11/2011 UAG delegates now report back to UF
JL
CLOSED 03/11/2011
JL
CLOSED 03/11/2011
JL
CLOSED 03/11/2011
11-35
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11-37
11-38
08/10/2011 JL to look at ways of improving the communication opportunities between the
User Advisory Group and the User Forum.
08/10/2011 JL to investigate an issue of an AOL email account not being accessible in the
Cyber café.
08/10/2011 JL to pass on suggestion for improving awareness of rules on items allowed in
to the reading rooms (including the specific suggestion of a sign on the locker
doors) to Malcolm Fearn, Security Operations Manager.
08/10/2011 JL to pass on suggestion for locker key amnesty to Malcolm Fearn.
11-39
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03/11/2011 JL to report requirement for air freshener in the adapted toilet on the first floor to
the Estates department.
03/11/2011 JL to investigate adding some text on the website to encourage the return locker
keys that have been taken home accidentally.
03/11/2011 A user raised some serious concerns regarding a recent first aid call which she
had witnessed and become involved in. Specific questions raised were 1) What
is the procedure for alerting the First Aid team to an emergency? 2) How well
trained are public facing staff in dealing with a First Aid emergency?, 3) What
should members of the public do? 4) Is a log made of First Aid incidents.
LO explained that we have an excellent and well trained team of First Aid
officers on site and that all members of staff are trained in how to contact a First
Aid officer in an emergency. LO also gave a general explanation of our
procedure for dealing with a First Aid situation: A member of the public should
report a First Aid emergency to any member of staff, giving the location and
condition of casualties. The member of staff will put a call through to a central
First Aid emergency line. The call is taken by a member of staff in the Security
Control Room (which is staffed at all times) who will note down the location and
condition of the casualty / ies. A call is then put out to the First Aid Team (who
carry mobile phones) and the information relayed to them. LO also explained
that we have a permanent Health and Safety Advisor who undertakes a review
of any major incident. A log of all First aid incidents is made by the officer who
attends the incident and sent to the Health and Safety Advisor, who maintains
the central incident log. JL and LO to report these concerns to the Health and
Safety
Advisor.
03/11/2011 It
was noted
that Security Officers had recently been asking users to leave the
reading rooms significantly earlier than the published closure times. LO to
investigate.
06/01/2012 JJ noted that there will be a regular item at those User Forums which follow
User Advisory Group (UAG) meetings, providing an opportunity for UAG
delegates to update users on the topics discussed at the meetings.
06/01/2012 JJ / JL to organise a review of the Terms of Reference for both the User Forum
and the User Advisory Group, for the next UAG meeting (6th March) and the
following User Forum (12th April).
06/01/2012 ALL to provide us with feedback regarding particular parts of the paper
catalogue which are difficult to browse in their online equivalent.
06/01/2012 JJ / JL to include an update on the pilot project to digitise the Home Guard
records on the agenda for the next meeting.
06/01/2012 Q. I always found the catalogue search tips which were provided as part of the
annual Catalogue Day very useful. Would you consider doing something similar
for Discovery?
A. JL to pass this feedback to the Discovery team.
06/01/2012 Q. Can you tell us about the looted art international project?
A. (JJ) We will take this away.
06/01/2012 JJ / JL to come back to the next UAG meeting and April User Forum meeting
with a „road map‟ regarding our plans for the gradual removal of the paper
catalogue from the reading rooms.
Page 5 of 6
JL
CLOSED
JL
CLOSED 06/01/2012
JL / LO CLOSED 06/01/2012
LO
CLOSED 06/01/2012
JL
CLOSED 12/04/2012
JJ / JL CLOSED 08/05/2012 Draft was circulated for comment. None were received.
ALL
CLOSED
offline feedback
JJ / JL CLOSED 07/02/2012
JL
JJ
CLOSED 07/02/2012
CLOSED 06/01/2012 This was included as Post Meeting update in Jan 2012
minutes.
JJ / JL CLOSED 11/10/2012 This was delayed to allow more preparation, and was
discussd at the September UAG and October User
Forum.
User Forum carry forward action list 2011-12.xls
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07/02/2012 Q. I understand that there are medal rolls for the Home Guard as well as some
JJ
records for members of the Home Guard who had specific roles related to their
professions. Do you know what will happen with these?
A. (JJ) We will take this question away and find out.
07/02/2012 JL / TG to arrange an agenda item for the next meeting for TG to provide an
JL / TG
update on the self service copying machines, to include information on the
background to the project as well as where we are now and planned future
developments.
07/02/2012 JL to invite David Thomas (Director of Technology) to give an update on TNA‟s
JL
overall strategy and approach regarding digitisation.
07/02/2012 Q. The British Library recently launched an enhancement to their catalogue and
JJ
ran a workshop on how to use it which I attended and found very useful. Would
you consider doing something similar?
A. (JJ) We will feed this back to the Discovery team. The team are planning
activities to help users get used to the new system but details have not been
finalised. We will ensure that attendees of this meeting are kept informed.
07/02/2012 Q. You have stated that DocumentsOnline will be integrated in to Discovery.
JL
Will there be a period of parallel running, where the 2 systems run at the same
time, as there has been with the catalogue, to ensure that Discovery effectively
replaces the DocumentsOnline function?
A. We will feed this back to the Discovery team.
07/02/2012 Q. I made a point some time ago regarding the new „contact us‟ form on the
JJ
website. When using the contact form, a unique number is allocated for your
enquiry. The number is displayed on the screen but it would be very useful if an
email could be sent to the address provided containing the content of the
enquiry and the time and date.
A. (JJ) We will look in to this further and get back to you.
07/02/2012 Q. It is now about a year since the minister, Lord McNally, came to talk to users OM
of The National Archives at one of these User Forum meetings. Can he be
invited to return?
A. (OM) we have been in discussions with Lord McNally. He is very keen to
return and we hope that he will be able to return some time in the summer.
07/02/2012 Q. Please could you get an update from the Air Historical Branch regarding
JJ
access to AIR 81: Air Ministry: Casualty Branch P4(Cas): Enquiries into Missing
Personnel, 1939-45, which have not yet been transferred to TNA?
A. (JJ) Yes we will look in to this.
Page 6 of 6
CLOSED 12/04/2012
CLOSED 12/04/2012
CLOSED 08/05/2012
CLOSED 07/02/2012 This suggestion was fed back to the Discovery team.
CLOSED 12/04/2012
CLOSED 12/04/2012
CLOSED 12/04/2012 Silken Paper Trail event on 22/6/12, included open Q&A
session.
CLOSED 12/04/2012
and
08/05/2012