Memorandum submitted by the Devon Family
History Society
I am Chairman of Devon Family History Society,
a registered charity with 5,500 members world wide, 4,500 of whom
live in the UK.
With reference to the Culture, Media and Sport
Committee Inquiry: Caring for our Collections, I would like to
express my concern on behalf of our society's members and request
that the aims of the Caring for our Collections inquiry
should apply equally to Archives, Library and Museum collections.
In a recent Parliamentary answer it was stated
that in 2005-06 the DCMS spent £299.4 million on museums
and galleries, £8.6 million on local libraries and just £0.3
million on archive development. I hope that the Select Committee
will consider the implications of this underfunding.
Because of the three BBC series of Who do
you think you are? the public's interest has been aroused,
and more people are investigating their forebears, through censuses,
printed material, but most importantly, through original documents,
held in our county archives offices.
These records are unique. The more popular records
such as parish registers may have been filmed, but this represents
a small section of the total holdings of most county record offices.
There seems to be an imbalance in allocation
of funding. In Devon most libraries are open six days a week.
There is a new record office in Exeter, mainly built to accommodate
the expanding collections and the increasing use of these by family
historians. However, the smaller record offices in Plymouth and
Barnstaple are fast outgrowing their existing premises. It is
hoped that by the end of the decade the Plymouth and West Devon
Record Office will be able to move from its dilapidated warehouse
unit to amalgamate with the Museum and Local Studies Library in
a purpose built History Centre—but meanwhile visitors work
in cramped conditions, only exceeded by those endured by the staff.
All three Devon based record offices are severely
understaffed and underfunded and they struggle to provide the
services they wish to give. Cataloguing and conservation have
to wait in order that staff may man the "front desk."
I am a member of one of the nine Regional Archives
Councils which were set up in 1999. These have now been superseded
by the MLAs. The views of users should to be heeded, but are often
sidelined. Users should be consulted, and as a representative
of one of the major bodies which use the Archives services, I
hope that this Inquiry will recommend more user involvement in
decision making.
Members of Devon FHS co-operate with the Devon,
North Devon and Plymouth and West Devon Record Offices and we
are actively participating in many projects. These projects involve
cataloguing, transcribing and indexing collections of records,
in addition to transcribing parish and other records. As a society,
we offer to fund the cost of replacement registers so that incumbents
are encouraged to deposit their older registers. We provide volunteers
to man "help desks" to introduce visitors to the use
and interpretation of documents. During four days in September
a group of Archivists and Family Historians spoke to over 800
visitors to an event in Exeter. Co-operation is free, but funding
for new ventures and initiatives is urgently required.
The National Archives have already shown the
way forward by making many records available via their "documents
online" service. County Record Offices should be funded to
enable them to provide a similar service. Digitisation of records
provided on a "pay per view" basis would generate local
funding, provided by people, elsewhere in UK and worldwide, who
are unable to visit record offices in person. But financial backing
is needed to get this started. Of course, digitisation also protects
the original document from excessive handling and ensures its
preservation.
May I urge the Select Committee to consider
these points in relation to the preservation, conservation and
continued access and use of our country's vast collection of archives.
Books can be reprinted. Original documents are unique and irreplaceable.
They are our heritage.
3 October 2006
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