EXHIBITIONS
45. The Committee monitored preparations for
the exhibition to mark the 50th anniversary of the Life Peerages
Act 1958 and received regular updates.
46. The Committee also approved the proposed
outline of a phased project—provisionally entitled People
and Parliament: connecting with communities, which will seek
to engage the public with the work of Parliament. It will demonstrate
the role that individuals and communities have played in the development
of Parliament and its activities during the last 200 years and
will draw heavily on archival materials. Running from 2009 to
2012, it will represent a contribution by Parliament towards the
cultural Olympiad. Moreover, it will showcase the holdings of
the Parliamentary Archives and develop a sustainable web-based
learning resource based on archival materials. The programme will
begin in 2009 with the Archives and the Parliamentary Outreach
team working closely with Norfolk Record Office.
47. The Committee was pleased to note the loan
of four iconic Parliamentary records—the Petition of Right
(1628), the Death Warrant of Charles I (1649), the Bill of Rights
(1689) and the Great Reform Act (1832)—to the exhibition
Taking Liberties, which is taking place in the British
Library from October 2008 to March 2009.
FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS
48. Members of the Committee attended a business
planning meeting of the Archives in July 2008 and expressed keen
interest in the wide range of information management activities
which the Archives undertakes to support Parliament's aims and
objectives. As a result, at future meetings, the Committee will
receive updates from the Archives on its other functions, including
records management, Freedom of Information and Data Protection,
managing information risk, and digital preservation.
