Does anyone have any experience of archiving material?
We have access to large quantities of material from a bomber squadron association. It would be good to make this more easily available. However I do not know of anyone with sufficient experience of such matters to give us advice. The material is wide and varied, photos, hand written and printed documents, newspaper articles etc. The full works basically. I could sit and wade through these, scanning etc. But there must be correct procedures, formats etc. Then there is cataloguing, indexing and cross referencing. All must be done correctly. This does appear to be a job beyond that of an amateur, so before we cost up the professional route I would like to ask if anyone else has any experience they could share with me. Some of the material is in private hands, some in institution hands. It would be good to get it all together before the veterans cease to exist. At present their first-hand knowledge is invaluable but once they are gone nobody will be able to answer questions and this material will be the sole historical record.
Thanks for any ideas,
Paul.
By: Paul - 11th February 2013 at 16:56
Thanks all for the starting points, I think the hard part will be the catalogue and ability to search for references.
Paul.
By: TwinOtter23 - 11th February 2013 at 13:55
Most Accredited museums will have the topic covered but it’s how you advise individuals or smaller groups without frightening them away! 😉
If anyone wants more details of the wider aspects such as Digitisation PM me an email address and I’ll willing send you some details on the subject, including Case Studies and the like! 🙂
By: Bunsen Honeydew - 11th February 2013 at 13:48
This is one aspect of aviation histroy that is neglected.There’s a lot of attention paid to airframes and parts of airframes but paperwork, buiildings, uniform and to a lesser extent flying clothing don’t receive the attention they should.
By: TwinOtter23 - 11th February 2013 at 12:52
You could also contact your regional office for the Arts Council England (now responsible for museums etc.) http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/who-we-are/working-in-the-regions/yorkshire/
Or the County Archive.
By: Resmoroh - 11th February 2013 at 12:30
Try (a) the County Library Service, (b) the University Library, and (c) the Council Archaeologist (who will have knowledge of the local Sites & Monuments Record (SMR – or whatever it’s called these days!)).
If none of the above either can give you advice then you might be in a bit of trouble. But if you don’t ask, you’ll never learn!!
HTH
Resmoroh
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February 11, 2013 at 11:46 am