MLAG are holding a conference on museum repositories and open access publishing at the British Museum on the afternoon of Thursday 14th December. There will be speakers from CILIP, Natural History Museum, JISC, National Museums Scotland and the British Library.
Bookings can now be made for this event at the following URL:
http://www.britishmuseum.org/whats_on/events_calendar/event_detail.aspx?eventId=4053
The cost is £25 (£20 for MLAG members).
Workshop programme: MLAG 2017 Repository Workshop
TWA Digitisation Grant 2017 winners revealed
After receiving over 100 applications from local authority and business archives, libraries and museums (a new record), TownsWeb Archiving has announced the winners of its 2017 Digitisation Grant.
This year’s winner is Dorset History Centre with its project to preserve the deteriorating Graham Herbert Collection; a unique 7000-strong collection of photographic negatives taken by the eponymous local Weymouth photographer between 1953 and 1983. Dorset History Centre wins the primary grant of £5000 funding, provided in the form of TWA digitisation services.
The 2017 runner up prize of £2000 went to Birmingham Museums Trust, to support their project to digitise the Birmingham History Trade Documents Collection. The collection offers an unmatched insight into the city’s commercial history, featuring trade catalogues, advertisements, correspondence and other documents.
On hearing of her applications success Cassandra Pickavance, archivist at Dorset History Centre and lead applicant, said:
“We are delighted to have been awarded the funding from TWA to save the Herbert collection from being lost due to the irreversible deterioration of the negatives. We look forward to continuing to share the fantastic images of our recent past in outreach activities with a wide range of people.”
Last year’s esteemed judging panel returned once again to assess the 2017 applicants – featuring Archives and Records Association (UK & Ireland)’s Chief Executive, John Chambers; HLF-appointed Expert Advisor, Claire Adler; and Senior Digitisation Consultant at TownsWeb, Paul Sugden.
Speaking on the winning Dorset History Centre project, Judge Claire Adler said:
“The urgent need to digitise these photographs was eloquently communicated as well as the need to record and reinterpret a way of life which is currently changing in Dorset. The images have already been used with people with learning disabilities and I was delighted to see that they will be using the images to engage with communities across the region. I wish them every success with their project.”
TownsWeb Archiving plans to offer the Grant funding again in May 2018.
Readers can watch the winners announcement and find out more about this year’s successful projects here: https://www.townswebarchiving.com/2017/07/video-digitisation-grant-2017-winners-announced/
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Bank of England Information Centre, Archive and Museum
The Bank of England Information Centre joined MLAG in summer 2016. This is a brief outline of the Bank’s Information Centre, Archive and Museum. The Information Centre provides a corporate information service including access to books, journals and online resources for the staff working at the Bank. An enquiry desk service is open weekdays from 9:00 to 17:30, and the Centre remains open for staff to use at any time. Apart from the printed collections and the enquiry service, it is valued as a quiet place to work, with a range of PCs available.
The hard copy collection consists of approximately 30,000 items, including 2000 in the special collection. The special collection includes books published from the 17th century onwards on a range of Bank and finance related subjects, for example a series of tracts published in the 17th and 18th centuries including A short history of the Bank of England by Michael Godfrey, a Bank Director, published 1695, and A short view of the apparent dangers and mischiefs from the Bank of England published in 1707.
At the moment the catalogue descriptions of the special collection are not externally available but we are considering ways of doing this. We have been tweeting about the collection from time to time to coincide with anniversaries or events that relate to items in the collection. We also plan to digitise a few items from the special collection and make them available on the Bank’s website.
In addition to the published works available in the Information Centre collection, there is also an Archive at the Bank of England. The Archive contains over 80,000 ledgers, files and individual records relating to all aspects of the history of the Bank and its work, dating from its foundation in 1694 to the present. The Archive supports the work of the Bank today, and provides facilities for researchers from all over the world. The catalogue is available on the Bank’s website here. Enquiries about access to the Archive can be sent to archive@bankofengland.co.uk
The Bank of England Museum is open to the public, free of charge, on weekdays from 10:00 to 17:00. Round the corner from the Bank’s Threadneedle Street entrance, in Bartholomew Lane, the Museum explains the Bank’s history and its work today at the centre of the economy. A variety of free talks and presentations are on offer to groups of between 15 and 50 (booking essential). There is an annual temporary exhibition – this year’s will tie in with the launch of the Jane Austen £10 note in July and will be about the Bank’s literary connections. It will include material from the Information Centre and Archive collections: http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/education/Pages/museum/whatson/2017/stories-from-the-city.aspx
For more information about the Bank’s Museum see the website here.
The Digitisation Grant is aimed at UK archives (incl. business archives), special collections libraries and museums, and offers funding grants of up to £5000 for institutions to digitise their collections.
The fund will be accepting applications from today until 7th July and bids will be judged by a panel composed of:
John Chambers – Chief Executive ARA; Claire Adler – HLF Appointed Expert Advisor; and Paul Sugden – Senior Digitisation Consultant.
More details and how to apply can be found below:
https://www.townswebarchiving.com/twa-digitisation-grant/
Museum Librarians and Archivists Group 