SOCIETY OF ARCHIVISTS, SCOTLAND
Minutes of the Meeting of the Society of Archivists, Scotland held at Glasgow
University Archives Services on 20th April, 2002
ATTENDEES:
Irene O’Brien (Glasgow City Archives), Helen Taylor (West Lothian Archives and
Records Management Services), John McLintock (NAS), Alison Rosie (NAS), Linda
Ramsay (NAS), Alison Horsburgh (NAS), Judith Cripps (Aberdeen City Archives),
Jan Merchant (Perth and Kinross Council Archives), Jennifer Tait (Dundee University
Archives), Margaret McBryde (NAS), Sarah Hepworth (Glasgow School of Art),
Andrew McLean (Mount Stuart Trust), Siobhan Convery (Aberdeen City Archives),
Laura Mitchell (NAS), Gillian Whitley Roberts (NAS), Frank Rankin (South
Lanarkshire Council), Marion Stewart (Dumfries and Galloway), Arnott Wilson
(Edinburgh University Library), Virginia Russell (NAS), Lyn Morgan (Glasgow City
Archives), Claire Harrington (Glasgow University Archives), David Powell
(Glasgow University Archives), Ruth Smith (Royal Bank of Scotland), Anne
Thompson (University of St. Andrews), Mary McHugh (Archdiocese of Glagow),
Lesley Richmond (University of Glasgow), Iain Flett (Dundee City Archives), Karl
Magee (Glasgow City Libraries), Moira Rankin (University of Glasgow), Alice
Stewart (Strathclyde), Adele Redhead (Glasgow University Archives), Claire Johnson
(Glasgow University Archives).
APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE:
Bruno Longmore, Tristram Clarke, Caroline Scharfenberg, George Maakenzie, Iain
Gray, Steven Connolly, Pat Whatley, Michael Bolik, Sarah Chubb, Jean Crawford,
Sian Yates, Pam Cranston, Helen Redmond-Cooper, Alan Bell, Richard Cullen, Phil
Astley, Rachael Watson, Patrick Cadell, Kirsty Forbes, Ann Simpson, Allison
Cunningham, David Iredale, Grant Buttars, Caroline Brown, Craig Geddes, Iain
McIver, Cathrin Macaulay, Elspeth Reid, Olive Geddes, Stephanie Davidson, Pam
McNicol, Jo Peattie, Richard Hunter, Fiona Flett, Charles Kelham, Maggie
MacDonald, Alison Fraser, Murdo MacDonald.
SRM 564 PRESENTATION ON COPYRIGHT
Tim Padfield, Public Record Office, delivered a very informative presentation on
copyright prior to the business meeting.
SRM 565 MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING
The minutes of the previous meeting held on 16th January, 2002 were approved by
Linda Ramsay and seconded by Jan Merchant.
SRM 566 MATTERS ARISING
1)
SRM 549.1 It was felt that no-one knew enough about archaeology to
contribute to an article.
2)
3)
SRM 549.3 Marion Stewart was elected as the second representative on the
SRAC.
SRM 549.5 It was agreed that mailings would continue to be posted
electronically on Scotarch and only in hard copy to those without e-mail.
SRM 567 CHAIRPERSON’S REPORT
Any relevant issues would be raised under general business.
SRM 568 SECRETARY’S REPORT
A reply had been received from Aideen Ireland regarding the suspension of the
Diploma course, outlining the reasons for the decision.
The Committee for the Regions had recommended that each Region have a designated
Officer to co-ordinate Regional updates to the Society’s website. No nominations had
been received for this post and it was agreed to approach Rachael Third who had
previously shown an interest.
SRM 569 ASLAWG REPORT
There had not been a meeting since the last Society meeting.
SRM 570 COUNCILLOR’S REPORT
Clare Johnson reported that the Strategic Plan had been discussed.
SRM 571 COMMITTEE FOR THE REGIONS
Laura Mitchell reported that Neville Mackay had resigned as head of Re:source. The
loss of a Scottish module with the demise of the Diploma course had been raised, and
it had been pointed out that the SPAT project was already underway. The issue of
communication had been discussed, and the CFR wanted a volunteer from each
Region to write Scottish reports for the revamped version of the Newsletter.
SRM 572 TRAINING COMMITTEE REPORT
Moira Rankin noted that a report on the Committee’s activities had been posted on
Scotarch which would be submitted to the national Training Group. Problems had
recently been encountered in organising events because of staff shortages at the
national offices.
SRM 573 SCOTTISH POSTGRADUATE ARCHIVE TRAINING REPORT
Frank Rankin reported that two meetings had been held with HEIs interested in
supporting postgraduate training. The exact means of delivering the course needed to
be identified, and a starting date of 2003 was envisaged. The final report should be
available by the end of May.
SRM 574 PUBLICITY OFFICERS REPORT
Siobhan Convery reported that the Chair had attended the Westminster launch.
Invitations to Scottish archives had been quite restricted. The new version of the
Newsletter would have a section on Regional news.
SRM 575 STRATEGIC REVIEW
The deadline for responses was 31st May. Comments had been received from the
CFR and the Training Committee. A co-ordinated response would be provided by the
SOA,S, but individual members could also respond. With regards to the structure of
the Society, Scotland did not have the same mechanisms as England and Wales such
as Re:source or the NCA. Margaret McBride noted that many Education Officers
could not become registered members of the Society because they were not qualified.
Regarding CPD, Frank Rankin suggested that the Society should shift to a facilitating
role, rather than delivering training directly. The crisis in recruitment was being
addressed in Scotland with SPAT, but the lack of salary recognition and was also an
issue restricting entry to the profession. Poor salary and lack of progression points,
reflected the poor professional image. It was suggested that ASLAWG could address
the range of professional competancies in local government. Lesley Richmond noted
that universities were establishing a checklist of skills across both academic and nonacademic staff. Clare Johnson added that she was contributing to a Model Action
Plan for implementing FOI in HEIs, which had a core competancy framework for
records management. She would post this on Scotarch once complete.
The Chair and Secretary would pull together all comments and submit a response.
SRM 576 SCOTTISH COUNCIL ON ARCHIVES
The Scottish Council on Archives would be officially launched at 3pm on 2nd May at
Glasgow City Chambers by the Lord Provost. Publicity material would soon be sent
out, and the SCA would have a separate section on the SOA website. The SOA,S
formally recorded its thanks to the team for all their hard work, in particular Siobhan
Convery.
SRM 577 ELECTRONIC RECORDS
Clare Johnson reported that the group had drafted a questionnaire for use by anyone
contemplating Electronic Document Management Systems. Once completed this
would be circulated for comments.
SRM 578 RESOURCE
The Scottish Executive had been contacted regarding the importance of a concordat
with Resource. Meetings were ongoing with SLIC and SMC.
SRM 579 SCAN/A2A
Alison Horsburgh reported on behalf of the KRS. The HLF had granted approval for
CALM 2000 licenses to be granted to participating archives. A B3 would be
employed to carry out an evaluation of a Scottish A2A project. Lesley Richmond
noted that a SUSCAG steering group had been set up to look into this and would soon
be contacting Scottish archives.
SRM 580 FREEDOM OF INFORMATION
The proposed amendments to the Bill which had been sent would be posted on
Scotarch. The Chair and Richard Hunter had attended the third reading a part of the
FOI umbrella group. The draft Records Management Code of Practice was available
on the Scottish Parliament website but this had not gone out to consultation yet.
There was no implementation date for the Act. The proposed revised date for the FOI
Conference was 23rd September.
SRM 581 NAS UPDATE
Alison Horsburgh reported on behalf of the KRS. Work was ongoing to obtain
money to extend Thomas Thomson House, with the view to moving out of West
Register House. Refurbishment of General Register House was ongoing. Frances
Shaw had taken early retirement and had been replaced by Laura Mitchell as Head of
Government Records Branch. SOA,S recorded its congratulations to Laura Mitchell
on her promotion. Two new IT officers had been appointed. Gillian Mapstone had
been appointed Data Protection Officer.
The Keeper was still considering the issue of external recruitment. The Thistle and
Rose exhibition was still at Stirling Castle. Councillors from East Lothian Council
had met the Keeper regarding a Cultural Policy. A copy of this could be obtained
from the Keeper’s secretary.
SRM 582 NOMINATIONS OF OFFICERS
No nominations had been received. It was agreed that Irene O’Brien should continue
as Chair and Siobhan Convery should continue as Publicity Officer. The SOA,S
recorded its thanks for all their hard work.
SRM 583 AOB
1. Margaret McBryde reported on the National Debate on the Future of Scottish
Education. SCRAN had already held two meetings about this. It was agreed that
Margaret McBryde should co-ordinate a response from SOA,S.
2. Clare Johnson reported that Alistair Tough, Glasgow Health Archives, had been
awarded the Records Management Society award at the recent AGM. SOA,S
recorded its congratulations
3. Iain Flett reported that Dundee City was currently looking at the staffing
implications of the requirement to have more than one person working with under
18s. This issue may need to be added into archives training.
4. Karl Magee advertised the Open Space day to be held in Glasgow City Hall on
22nd April.
SRM 584 DATE AND TIME OF NEXT MEETING
The next meeting would be held at Dumfries and Galloway Archives in July. The
North-West Region had been approached regarding having a joint meeting, and the
date would be confirmed once this was agreed.