Archives Unlocked, the vision for Archives in England

Archives Unlocked was launched by the National Archives yesterday, 29th March. This is a compact, but important document: “IN SHORT: ARCHIVES MATTER. Our collections need to be used to be useful.”  This is not a new philosophy. However, it does have new implications, driven by three changes in the context of archives which have become more apparent over the last decade or so, and the last months. The technological and social context is characterised by the concern for digital and accessibility in the UK Digital Strategy  section on heritage. This is joined by a concern for confidence in information in an era of false news, and the removal of old obfuscations and lies through examination of archival material.

The Vision document changed significantly in response to the changes we experienced particularly through the second half of 2016. The importance of access, particularly digital access and access to born-digital information highlighted when the importance of this data for confidence in institutions became clearer. Therefore, it is not enough for the data to be preserved, or for it to be reliably transmitted. It also has to be open and transparent.

This context leads to three high-level visions, for Trust, Enrichment and Openness. There are case studies and think pieces for those who would like to delve further, and action plans for those who are involved with delivering the vision, in whatever capacity.

How Free UK Genealogy helps to achieve that vision (using the language of Archives Unlocked).

Trust

People and institutions trust in the quality of our type-what-you-see transcriptions as an authentic representation of archived records, supported by our openness about the limitations of a transcription, and the need for researchers to verify information.

• Democracy and society are strengthened by enabling free, comprehensive, remote scrutiny of the archival record, holding institutions and individuals to account.
• Users have confidence in the integrity and authenticity of our transcriptions, and in the charity and its volunteers who support their research.
• We embrace the opportunities of technological change, ensuring confidence in both born-digital and transcribed records.

Enrichment

Our work enhances and enriches our society intellectually, economically and culturally.

• Our culture of knowledge and learning and our commitment to open data expands through new ways to discover and use archive material.
• Open data means value in businesses(1) can grow through the use of archive material to support change, innovation and efficiency.
• People’s lives are enhanced through their engagement with archive collections.

Openness

Free UK Genealogy cultivate an open approach to knowledge, makes archive records accessible to all.

• We aim to deliver an excellent user experience, enabling people to find, access and interpret archive records
• The rich diversity of society is increasingly reflected in our archives’ collections, users and workers (including volunteers).
• We are networked globally to maintain excellent practice and open new possibilities for institutions and users.

Our plans to support Archives Unlocked

In some of the above areas, we have almost 20 years’ experience as an institution, and huge experience as individuals.  In others, we have just started on our paths towards truth, enrichment and openness. The work plan will help us in that, and we in turn can help others in the wider archive world.

(1) One change between the consultation version of Archives Unlocked and the published version which we argued for was a fundamental shift from seeing ‘commercial’ relationships in terms of behind-paywall datasets: a wider vision of the contribution of archives to economic sustainability (as opposed to the contribution of business to the budgets of archives) is both more representative of the wider archive community, and fit much better with a vision for archives that has truth, enrichment and openness as its aims.  This is not to say that there is no role in this world for commercial partners who limit access: if they are providing enrichment that cannot be made by the archive or not-for-profit partners, they still have an important role, and will still be contributing to economic sustainability.

Quotations and adaptations from Archives Unlocked are © Crown copyright 2017.

This publication is licensed under the terms of the Open Government