Pay & Power

Pay and Power was a project that took a strategic approach to making a themed series of uncatalogued collections about work and politics in the West Midlands, which were in demand from users, accessible and of value to new audiences. It was a partnership of fourteen archives, including local authorities services, a university, The Birmingham Roman Catholic Church Diocesan Archives and an independent record office trust. The project created access to eighteen archive collections by cataloguing them and making the catalogues available online via the Internet. Using volunteers, the project ran an extensive series of training sessions, workshops and events aimed at a range of audiences including teachers, librarians, curators, and new users so they could learn about how to access the resources and, in turn, be able to show other people how to do so. There were six project staff including 4 archivists, and an outreach officer.

Target Audience

Current users i.e.academics; family and local historians and new audiences e.g. young people under 25 years, disadvantaged groups particularly ethnic communities, disabled people and isolated rural communities.

Aim

To increase physical and online access to the 18 collections.
To widen awareness of the collections’ content by improving service to current users and developing new audiences.
To develop a strategic approach to increasing access to uncatalogued archive collections by meeting the needs of users.
To develop partnership working.

Process

A small team catalogued the eighteen archive collections which meant there could be properly accessed for the first time, either physically or by searching the internet. Some collections were repacked and minor conservation carried out using volunteers. An audience development programme of training and workshops was implemented to engage current and new users. The events varied from: activities for teaching staff linked to the National Curriculum; training to make archives more accessible to blind and visually impaired users; to a village road show.

Number of participants

Over 15,000 requests to view the catalogues online are made each month; 665 people attended the workshops and training events.

Impact and outcome

People can now access and learn from the collections in ways they could not before. More people are now requesting to view the material in record offices and about 15,000 requests to view the catalogues online are made each month. Volunteers increased their archival skills in boxing, numbering, conservation, cataloguing, editing and inputting.
Double the number of planned training sessions, workshops and events took place with 665 people attending. The events varied from: activities for teaching staff linked to the National Curriculum; training to make archives more accessible to blind and visually impaired users; to a village road show.
Over 90% of the new users that attended events agreed that their understanding of the collections and the archives service had improved and that they had positive attitude to visiting again. A Shropshire teacher commented “Inspired – I must admit my preconceptions were unrealistic because I thought it would be boring. But it has been fascinating”. A Birmingham Key Stage 2 pupil felt “like a detective trying to find out lots of information. I found a lot about what they lived like. I learned a lot!”
Training sessions focussed on allied professions resulted in increased opportunities for working together and an increase in referrals to archive services from other services has been reported. Over 90% of those attending the training sessions strongly agreed that they generated a more positive attitude about working with the archive service. One colleague even describing their sessions as ‘an inspiration’.
Several of the events led to plans to work with different organisations and local authority services to develop inter-generational projects and the creation of new resources to meet identified needs from professional colleagues or partners.

Evaluation

The outreach programme was very successful in improving awareness of archives; activities, boosted understanding and knowledge of archives in general and of the collections of the host record offices in particular.
Partnerships at a local level between record offices and teachers, curators, librarians and new users groups have grown. Over 90% of the professional staff that attended the events agreed they felt inspired to enter into partnership with the archive. The use of evaluation techniques, particularly using 'Inspiring Learning for All' during the outreach sessions, gathered evidence and useful information for long term planning.

Tips

The project was an ambitious experiment in large-scale joint working to tackle shared problems of cataloguing backlogs and lack of outreach capacity. For projects like this it is essential that partners agree and understand the objectives, standards of implementation and lines of authority. This takes time. From the outset identify and plan to provide the essential skills needed to complete the project.