HMC is pleased to announce that Archives in Focus, our new education and
lifelong learning website, was officially launched on 28 June:
What it is:
Archives in Focus is the new education and lifelong learning website of the
Historical Manuscripts Commission (HMC). The URL is
<http://www.hmc.gov.uk/focus>.
Aims of Archives in Focus:
Outreach and access: To promote an awareness of archives and their use among
people who are currently non-users, by describing what archives are, where they
are kept, why they can be useful, and how they can be used in the pursuit of
lifelong learning. The site complements projects being underta
ken by other organisations in the heritage sector to promote access to a wider
constituency of users and encourage the use of archival material as educational
tools.
Educational use in schools: To maintain a current list of on-line teaching
resources that are archive related, and that can help teachers to fulfil the
requirements of the National Curriculum and the Scottish Curriculum.
Publicity: To publicise events and courses held by record offices and
societies, thus advancing this common interest.
Audience:
People with no previous experience of using archives or visiting a record
office, teachers introducing the use of primary sources as teaching aids, local
and family historians, education officers in record offices and archivists
running a service without a designated education officer.
Content of Archives in Focus:
Getting started - an introduction to archives and HMC which answers questions
people may have before visiting a record office.
Teaching resources - a list of on-line educational resources provided by
repositories for teachers to use. Details are provided of the subjects and
school year or Key Stage they are designed for.
The network - a gateway to a general list of sites that broadly relate to
archives and education. A brief summary of each site is supplied.
Your history - this is divided into family, local and house history sections.
It looks at primary sources that can be used in research, how resources at HMC
can be used eg National Register of Archives, Manorial Documents Register and
ARCHON; it provides links to and descriptions of useful websites, and has
bibliographies of published sources.
Noticeboard - lists (i) local and national events at which people can learn
more about archives, including record office exhibitions and open days and (ii)
family and local history courses and conferences
Future:
Archives in Focus will continue to be developed and be updated. Plans are to
add advice on caring for small groups of family papers, more illustrations to
illustrate the text, to promote events such as Local History week and be a
central point for on-line teaching resources which use archives.
We'd be pleased to receive any comments on the site, and also to hear from any
repositories which have events coming up which they would like to be publicised
in the Noticeboard section.
Rob Baker
Historical Manuscripts Commission
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