Personal and Corporate Recordkeeping: An Exploratory Study
This sheet provides information about the above study and invites you to participate in it. It
provides answers to some of the questions you might have, but if you have further
questions, please contact me. My contact details are as follows;
Jenny Bunn, Lecturer, Department of Information Studies, University College London, Gower
Street, London, WC1E 6BT.
Email: j.bunn@ucl.ac.uk
Telephone: 020 7679 2481
What exactly is the study about?
It is a commonly held view that the archives and records management profession has, in the
past, neglected the study and practice of personal archives and recordkeeping in favour of
that of corporate archives and organisational recordkeeping. To seek to rectify this I have
been exploring literature from outside archives and records management (e.g. Human
Computer Interaction) to see what it concludes with regards to archiving and recordkeeping
practice in personal and individual contexts. I would now like to share what I have found with
practising archivists and records managers to see what they think of it.
What does participation involve?
If you decide to get involved, you should let me know that you wish to attend one of the
scheduled focus groups and read the summary document in advance. At the focus group,
we will discuss the contents of the summary and I will then write up a report of our
discussions. I will forward the report to you and I will ask you to make any changes or
additions that you wish. Based on the report and the discussions that it records, I will then
write up a view on what can be taken from the exercise of exposing ourselves to thinking
from outside the archives and records management profession. This will be presented in
journal articles and presentations, copies of which will be provided to you, should you so
wish.
Will my anonymity be maintained?
The conclusions to be drawn from this study will not require that any individual participant be
referred to by name, nor will it be possible, given the collaborative nature of the focus groups
for individual words and/or opinions to be directly attributed to any individual. I would
however, like to be able to thank you for your participation in all public presentations of work
based on the focus groups, and you will be asked if you would like such thanks to be made
to you by name or anonymously.
This project has been approved by the UCL Research Ethics Committee and registered with
the UCL Data Protection Officer (data will be collected and stored in accordance with the
Data Protection Act 1998).
If I am interested, what do I do next?
Participation in this study is entirely voluntary. It will take up a limited amount of your time,
but it will also offer you the opportunity to learn about and discuss others’ thinking on
personal archives and recordkeeping. If you are interested in getting involved, please
confirm with me that you would like to come along to one of the scheduled focus groups and
that you are happy to complete and return the attached consent form.
Personal and Corporate Recordkeeping: An Exploratory Study
Agreement to Participate
I have read and understood the information contained in the Information Sheet and would
like to participate in this study.
In relation to my participation in this study, I note that the researcher has outlined her
undertaking to me in the Information Sheet and offered me a number of options for shaping
my own contribution. In this regard I would like to register the following conditions to my
participation (delete as appropriate):

I do/do not wish to receive copies of all public presentations of work, based on the
focus groups.

I would/would not like to be thanked by name for my participation in this study in all
such public presentations.

I wish to register the following additional conditions (complete box as required)
Signed:
Date:
The position set out in this document can be renegotiated during the course of your
participation. Please keep a copy of it for your records and contact me if you wish to revisit it
during the research process.
Jenny Bunn, Lecturer, Department of Information Studies, University College London, Gower
Street, London, WC1E 6BT.
Email: j.bunn@ucl.ac.uk
Telephone: 020 7679 2481