CHAPTER 7: Parliamentary Archives
Annual Review 2007-08
29. In January 2009, the Committee discussed
the Annual Review 2007-08 with Caroline Shenton, Clerk of the
Records. Particular highlights had been the completion of the
Portcullis II cataloguing project, the Parliament and the British
Slave Trade website, and the Act of Union Exhibition in the Royal
Gallery. The Committee congratulated the staff of the Parliamentary
Archives on their work.
Digital Preservation
30. At the same meeting, the Committee discussed
digital preservation and the challenge posed to Parliament's long-term
digital information by technological obsolescence. For over 500
years Parliament has managed its information in various analogue
(that is, hard-copy) formats, including parchment, paper, videotape
and photographic film. It now needs to address the challenge of
preserving Parliament's digital resources for the same length
of time. Without access to the trusted digital information it
needs to preserve (up to and including in perpetuity), neither
House will be able to support the work of its Members or its administration,
nor the requirements of the public for access to Parliamentary
information wherever and whenever they want it in the future,
including for archival research.
31. Digital Preservation is the process of ensuring
that a piece of digital information remains authentic and accessible
over time, despite changes to, and obsolescence of, the hardware
and software which makes it readable. Since June 2008 the Parliamentary
Archives has been implementing a digital preservation strategy
- to ensure that the long-term digital
memory of Parliament is not lost or inaccessible, or compromised
in any way which could damage either House's ability to do its
work, or its reputation, and
- to enable Parliament's mission to offer permanent
public access to its online resources, for leisure, educational,
academic or business use, and to support democratic accountability.
32. The Committee welcomed the digital preservation
activities underway to counter the risks to Parliament's digital
resources.
Connecting with Communities Exhibition
33. In January 2008 we agreed an outline proposal
for a project entitled 'People and Parliament: connecting with
communities' designed to generate interest in the History of Parliament
and raise the profile of the Parliamentary Archives through web-based
learning resources based around the idea of connecting with communities.
Following that decision, plans were developed for an exhibition
to link material held by the Parliamentary Archives with regional
archives and thereby explore interactions between Parliament and
communities, particularly over the course of the last three hundred
years.
34. In January of this year we received a progress
report on plans for the exhibition and associated events in regions
around the country. The exhibition was open to the public, free
of charge, in Westminster Hall from July to September. Exhibits
were drawn from the collections of the Parliamentary Archives
and the regional partners and include archive film as well as
documents. The exhibition launched a four-year outreach project
which partners Parliamentary Archives with regional archive services
in Birmingham, Kent, Glamorgan, Norfolk and Tyne & Wear. The
aim of the project is to explore ways in which Parliament has
affected people and communities and how in turn people have influenced
Parliament.
Taking Liberties Exhibition at
the British Library
35. In February, the Committee visited the British
Library's exhibition Taking Liberties: The Struggle for Britain's
Freedoms and Rights with David Prior, Assistant Clerk of the
Records (Public Services & Outreach), for a curator-led tour.
The Parliamentary Archives had lent four iconic constitutional
records to the exhibition—the Petition of Right 1628, the
Death Warrant of Charles I 1649, the Bill of Rights 1689 and the
Great Reform Act 1832.
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