Yesterday I vistited the volunteer-run community archive at St Ives. Having worked with a number of volunteers at our Archive and Special Collections Service at Tremough, I have become very interested in how archive services can use volunteers - in ways that are both beneficial to the service as well as the individual.
The St Ives Archive was set up in 1996 and has been collecting material on the town ever since, particularly newspaper articles, legal documents, pamphlets, tourist quides, sound recordings, photographs and genealogical records. The main subjects covered are maritime, art, family history, buildings, photographs, archaeology and public services. Each volunteer has an area of expertise, and many have a vast knowledge of St Ives. Some have even written books using the Archive, and these are on sale as a form of generating funds.You could tell that each person working there had a real love for St Ives and its community, and I was amazed at the wealth of information available.
It's not an archive in a strict sense of the word - they don't work around the rules and regulations that we might do, over handling care for example, and a lot of the information isn't primary sources. Their material isn't catalogued as we would catalogue ours, but information is kept in subjects. Around the walls are hundreds of files, each on a different topic. These files are each colour coded, to tell you which of the main catagory they fall into. This makes it all very user-friendly - a reader can browse through a folder as they like and can look at material on the spot, without necessarily having to make an appointment. So although it isn't an archive in the sense that we might see it, it certainly is a mine of information, and very accessible information at that. And afterall, I think that is what a Community Archive should offer. It was amazing to see how well organised they are, and how well they have managed on nothing but donations, membership and occasional funding for projects. It really was an inspirational visit, and I would be very interested to learn how other Community Archives work - possible dissertation topic for next year?!
The St Ives Archive was set up in 1996 and has been collecting material on the town ever since, particularly newspaper articles, legal documents, pamphlets, tourist quides, sound recordings, photographs and genealogical records. The main subjects covered are maritime, art, family history, buildings, photographs, archaeology and public services. Each volunteer has an area of expertise, and many have a vast knowledge of St Ives. Some have even written books using the Archive, and these are on sale as a form of generating funds.You could tell that each person working there had a real love for St Ives and its community, and I was amazed at the wealth of information available.
It's not an archive in a strict sense of the word - they don't work around the rules and regulations that we might do, over handling care for example, and a lot of the information isn't primary sources. Their material isn't catalogued as we would catalogue ours, but information is kept in subjects. Around the walls are hundreds of files, each on a different topic. These files are each colour coded, to tell you which of the main catagory they fall into. This makes it all very user-friendly - a reader can browse through a folder as they like and can look at material on the spot, without necessarily having to make an appointment. So although it isn't an archive in the sense that we might see it, it certainly is a mine of information, and very accessible information at that. And afterall, I think that is what a Community Archive should offer. It was amazing to see how well organised they are, and how well they have managed on nothing but donations, membership and occasional funding for projects. It really was an inspirational visit, and I would be very interested to learn how other Community Archives work - possible dissertation topic for next year?!
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