This comment may not apply in Scotland but will in the rest of the UK.
One factor to bear in mind when considering priorities for cataloguing is
Freedom of Information. The FOI Bill currently going through Parliament will
apply not only to the official records of central and local government and
other public bodies but also to records of private origin which are owned by
public sector archives offices or their parents, ie those records given,
bequeathed or purchased. It will not apply to records held on deposit, where
ownership remains with the depositor who can withdraw them at any time. this
is because such records are regarded as being 'held on behalf of' the
depositor (see clause 3 of the Bill).
What this means is that public archives offices will be required to respond
to requests for information relating to such records by confirming or
denying they hold the information and disclosing the information. There is a
relevant exemption: clause 20 relates to information already accessible.
Just how this exemption will be interpreted by the Information Commissioner
remains to be seen (there are differences between the text of the clause and
the explanatory memorandum). But what I am reasonably certain of is that the
exemption could not be claimed in respect of uncatalogued material and so I
recommend that if the FOI bill is enacted public sector archives offices
should look at their holdings to determine which records are covered by FOI
and which not, and bear the result in mind when determining priorities for
cataloguing.
Susan Healy
Public Record Office
> ----------
> From: Jane Brown[SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
> Reply To: Jane Brown
> Sent: 06 November 2000 17:04
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Cc: David Brown
> Subject: Assessing cataloguing priorities
>
> In common with many archives, The National Archives of Scotland has a
> backlog of records awaiting cataloguing. I have been asked to assemble a
> set of criteria that could be used to assess our backlog. It is hoped
> that
> these in turn might lead us to the establishment of a set of priorities
> for
> future listing work.
>
> Have any other archives undertaken investigations of this sort that might
> provide lessons for our own project?
>
>
> David J Brown
> National Archives of Scotland
> H M General Register House
> Edinburgh
> EH1 3YY
>
>
>
>
> ________________________________________________________________________
> This message has been checked for all known viruses, by Star Internet,
> delivered through the MessageLabs Virus Control Centre.
> For further information visit:
> http://www.star.net.uk/stats.asp
>
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity
to whom they are addressed. If you have received this email in error please notify the system manager.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
|