Society of Archivists Business & Strategic Plan 2002-2007 Review
Response from CFR representatives, Society of Archivists, Scotland
9/4/2002
As the Society of Archivists, Scotland’s CFR representatives, we welcome the opportunity to contribute
to this Review of the Society’s Business and Strategic Plan. The Society’s stated objectives are “to serve
the needs of archives, those who work with them and those who use them for work or recreation.” It is
suggested that these aims be reviewed in light of the financial constraints within which the Society
operates. The Society, as the professional body for archivists, records managers and conservators should
focus on the professional development needs of its members, mainly through training, the prompt
disemmination of information, and the encouragement of discussion and debate. It should worry less
about formulating individual responses to government initiatives etc, joining instead with other likeminded bodies to issue joint responses and ensuring that the Society has representation on relevant
bodies, working parties etc so that it can influence such initiatives at an earlier stage. In other words, the
Society should do less, to a high standard.
The Society's role
The Society should focus on maintaining and enhancing the quality of the profession by:
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Maintaining a register of qualified/ registered archivists, records managers and conservators (see
proposed changes to Membership Structure);
Overseeing standards of entry to the profession, by helping to ensure the recruitment of high quality
candidates;
Accrediting and reviewing postgraduate training courses to ensure that these continue to deliver what
employers require;
Supporting Registration Scheme candidates through the provision of seminars and advice;
Provision of quality training to assist the continual professional development of all members;
Disseminating best practice standards;
Contributing to research on the recruitment, education, training and supply of archivists;
Raising the profile of archives (including conservation and RM) as a profession.
By focussing on the quality of the people working with archives, the Society will ultimately be serving
the needs of archives and those who use them.
The Society should continue to liaise closely with Resource and grasp the opportunity presented by
Resource’s ‘Action Plan for United Kingdom Archives’ which identifies as one of three key priority
areas ‘promoting training, career development and skills’. The Society should monitor the results of
Resource’s study on archive training to ensure that the profession’s concerns and needs are addressed.
"Horizon scanning" through Policy Development Groups?
It is important that the Society is aware of what may be coming up on the agenda of government
agencies, funding bodies etc, but we are not convinced that Policy Development Groups are the most
effective way to achieve this aim. An alternative would be to ensure that the Society has at least one
representative on all relevant bodies. The NCA has recently announced that Resource and the PRO are
jointly providing funds to enable the NCA to appoint an Archives Policy Officer. Perhaps the Society
should consider setting up a similar post on a secondment basis, so that the Society has an independent
Archives Policy Officer.
Involving groups, regions and individual members
This can best be achieved through improved communication between the Society and its members.
Improved communication could be achieved effectively and relatively cheaply through making better use
of the Society’s website. There should be forums for debate on the website. It is important that members
feel that the Society is listening to their concerns. Equally, members should be made more aware of the
Society’s achievements. These are contained in the Annual Report or in Council Minutes etc, but how
many members actually read such formal documents? The website could be used to highlight
achievements as they happen, in the style of press announcements.
Problems or issues which the Society is facing could also be flagged up on the website and members
asked to contribute possible solutions (e.g. a ‘Debate of the Month’ feature).
Most members get the opportunity to contribute to the Society at regional meetings, so Regions should
be encouraged to provide a training element to meetings whenever possible to encourage high
attendance.
The Annual Conference would be more interesting if, as well as the training element, there was also a
policy debate element (similar to trades union conferences). Eg regions or groups could put forward
motions for debate and invite members to speak for or against motions. This would encourage more
involvement and assist policy development.
Regional Archive Councils
Scotland not in a position to comment on RACs.
The Society of Archivists, Scotland needs to have a voice in discussions between Resource and the
Scottish Executive. There is presently no formal communication mechanism in place, although this
should change with the establishment of the Scottish Council on Archives.
The Society should continue to support the SAS in trying to progress discussions with Resource and with
the Scottish library and museum sectors.
Membership structure
Suggest the following membership categories should be introduced:
 Student Members (students on recognised postgraduate training courses)
 Members (those with recognised professional qualification or recognised experience, if
admitted to full membership prior to ?date?)
 Registered Members (Professional qualification or recognised experience and completed
registration process)
 Affiliate Members (those with an interest in archives but with no recognised professional
qualification)
 Institutional Members
The category to which a member belongs should be made clear in the membership list and on any
membership card.
An explanation should be published along with the membership list to explain the categories of
membership.
Continuing Professional Development
Encouraging and supporting members in CPD should be one of the Society’s core activities. The
Registration Scheme in its current format is still relatively new and should not be tinkered with, but there
should be a process in place whereby candidates who complete the Scheme are consulted about
suggested improvements.
Employers generally expect professional employees to keep abreast of professional issues and to attend
relevant training courses. By continuing to provide high quality training which addresses professional
needs and the changing environment, the Society will by definition be supporting CPD.
The Society must continually review training needs, given the ‘cross domain’ agenda set by Resource
and changes in ICT. Training on all aspects of managing, selecting and preserving electronic records
will be especially important.
Equal Opportunities
The Society does not have adequate resources to tackle this issue alone. Perhaps a joint research project
could be established with the NCA, Resource and other relevant agencies to find out why the profession
is not representative of society as a whole. Does the archives profession differ markedly in this respect
from other professions? What strategies can be adopted to address this? These are all questions which
need to be tackled in partnership with others and the Society would not necessarily have to be the lead
body in order to contribute.
Current crisis in recruitment
Again, the Society cannot address this alone. The Society should focus on:
 raising awareness of archives as a profession, through existing channels like University and Schools
Careers Services;
 Raising the profile of the profession, eg through the media, government and other relevant bodies;
 Contributing to research projects addressing the issue;
 Encouraging funded research into this issue.
Communication
The website is central to improved communication. It needs to be regularly updated and used in a more
imaginative and innovative way. (See comments above under ‘Involving members, regions and groups’).
The Society needs to set up a members-only email discussion list on the website and should encourage
each region to do likewise.
The Newsletter could be made available to as many members as possible electronically which would
save a lot of resources. In general, much more use could be made of electronic mailings. The resources
saved could be redirected to employing a dedicated website editor. This is crucial because a site which is
not updated regularly and which is therefore not responsive to the fast-moving pace of change within the
profession will not be visited.
The website could also be used to post advertisments which comply with the SoA’s rules on minimum
salary etc. This would allow organisations which are not well funded to reach a professional audience –
something which current charges for advertising in the printed newsletter may prevent them from doing.
Other suggestions for improving communication:
The rationale behind Council decisions could be made more explicit. Many members see the Council as
remote and secretive. The website could be used to ‘open up’ the Society’s decision-making processes.
A more active marketing and PR strategy
 Marketing strategy should focus on marketing archives as a career and on recruiting new members to
the Society (e.g. a discount on membership subs to existing members who introduce new members?).
Potential employers of archivists could also be targetted (eg employers’ pack recently produced by
SoA Ireland could be adapted for use in UK)
 PR strategy should focus on raising profile of archives and archivists, in partnership with other
relevant organisations.
 Society could set up and maintain a database of ‘Rapid Response’ contacts should a high profile
issue suddenly arise in the media – acknowledged experts in specific areas could be called on to issue
press statements/ speak to journalists etc.
Working with other agencies in strategic partnerships
The Resource Liaison Group is a step forward in this area.
The Society is a small fish in a large pond, so it must ensure that there is a forum for the profession’s
needs and concerns to be addressed. This can only be done by ensuring that the Society has a
representative on all relevant bodies. (e.g. the new Cultural Heritage National Training Organisation and
equivalent body in Scotland etc.). The Resource agenda is on our side at the moment, in that training and
recruitment have been identified as priority issues, so the Society should use the relationship with
Resource to full advantage.
In international matters, the Society should ensure that the voice of UK archivists is represented on
relevant international organisations (e.g. ICA training panel) – whether by having a SoA representative
or working together with the NCA and HMC. International activity should be focussed and be directly
relevant to members’ needs (eg issues involving training, recruitment, professional standards).
Working with like-minded organisations in order to lobby effectively
This will only work if all the other organisations are in agreement with the Society’s position on a given
issue. It might be worthwhile for the Society to consider amalgamating with certain of the other
organisations to create a larger membership (e.g. Records Management Society) and ensure that the
profession speaks with one voice. This would also allow these societies to pool resources over areas like
the development of training and website management.
Code of Conduct
This should be reviewed periodically to ensure it continues to reflect professional concerns. It does not
necessarily have to be re-named. It could be reviewed by a working group of the Professional Affairs
Committee and members consulted specifically on this issue.
Other Strategic Areas
 The Society should investigate whether more use could be made of secondment in order to progress
specific projects or development areas, rather than relying on volunteers. It is possible that employers
would look on secondment favourably provided the member of staff being released was gaining
valuable experience which could be brought back to benefit his/her employing authority.
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The Society may need to consider a more devolved constitutional structure for Scotland, Wales and
Ireland regions given the changes in the political environment. For example, there is no clear
relationship as yet between Resource and the Scottish Executive. The Society has necessarily
dedicated a lot of time and resources into developing a relationship with Resource, but the SAS may
need ultimately to develop relationships with different partners.
The Society of Archivists must be responsive to the changing political environment throughout the UK
and Ireland, whilst setting realistic aims which are achievable within its limited resources. This means
focussing on what the Society is good at (training and development, enabling the sharing of best practice,
providing a framework for CPD), meeting members’ needs in these areas and forming alliances with
other organisations working towards similar goals where necessary.
Seonaid McDonald
Laura Mitchell
Joint CFR Scottish representatives