I think this raises a lot of unresolved issues, as Harry Goulbourne says.
But there must be some sort of resolution as with the Race Relations
Amendment Act, libraries et al will have to show that they do cater for the
EM population. All I can suggest is that numbers of 'visible' EM
visiting/using should be recorded. Does the CRE have anything to say?
Marika
----- Original Message -----
From: "Saltus-Blackwood R (SoCS)" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Monday, July 15, 2002 10:36 AM
Subject: Ethnic monitoring
> Dear Members,
>
> I have posted below part of a discussion re.Ethnic monitoring taken from
> the archives-nra listserv. What's your take? I can post any replies
from
> this listserv back to archives nra. Roiyah
>
>
>
>
> Date: Fri, 12 Jul 2002 01:01:15 -0700
> From: "Boardman, Carl - Cultural Services"
> <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: Ethnic monitoring
>
> In Oxfordshire we are being asked to show the relevance of our services to
> ethnic minorities by (inter al) reference to the number of ethnic minority
> users who visit the Record Office. This is leaving us with a problem on
how
> we measure such a thing. To ask everyone who enters the Office to tell us
> their ethnic group is potentially insulting, and at best sounds like
> something out of the darker days of the European dictatorships - we might
> have the best of intentions, but I could understand anyone from a
background
> which has experienced racial harassment getting very edgy about it. If we
> make it voluntary, any statistics will be meaningless. There are even Data
> Protection issues involved - for what practical purpose do we need this
> information, how are we going to use it, and when are we going to destroy
> it?
>
> Has anyone else faced this question, and if so how did they tackle it?
>
> Incidentally, I have suggested that different cultures have different
> attitudes towards history, and to expect a culture to conform to the
> intellectual justifications behind a record office network is in itself
> suspect - you can make available, as we have tried to do by printing
> leaflets in various languages, but have to be careful this doesn't spill
> into pressurising. Certain self-proclaimed proponents of racial equality
> seem to have difficulty with this one.
>
> Carl Boardman
> Oxfordshire Record Office
>
> Oxfordshire Record Office is a section of Cultural Services in Oxfordshire
> County Council. This message is intended only for the addressee, and OCC
can
> take no responsibility for the accuracy of the information contained
> therein, nor should the message be held as having any legal validity.
>
>
>
> Date: Fri, 12 Jul 2002 11:02:59 +0100
> From: Leonard Mcdonald <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: Re: Ethnic monitoring
>
> Be careful of this one. Hospitals use a set of questions like this. I
enjoy
> confusing them by describing myself as White, African, 'cos that's where I
> was born and grew up. I think I faced a similar quandary in the Census
> question.
> Len McDonald
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Fri, 12 Jul 2002 08:32:49 -0700
> From: "Boardman, Carl - Cultural Services"
> <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: Ethnic Monitoring: the summary
>
> Thanks to those who replied to my query this morning - further responses
are
> still welcomed.
>
> This is an issue which is causing concern; others have been told to do
> something similar and have identical problems with it. Two respondents
> pointed out that the PSQG survey picks up on the ethnic issue, but not too
> systematically - covering a very short period, being voluntary, and
seeking
> information on what everyone seems agreed is a very small user group, all
it
> needs is to be based on the wrong fortnight and it could easily miss every
> ethnic minority user in an Office. It was suggested I flag up the issue to
> the Data Protection list for feedback in that area, which I have done, but
> without result so far. But a strong viewpoint was that the whole business
is
> getting out of hand; that it is not acceptable to ask people that sort of
> question, that you couldn't guarantee they wouldn't amuse themselves at
your
> expense anyway, and that record office users are going to be those people
> for whom the contents of the Office have some meaning - which in our case
is
> neither a recent immigrant from the Middle East, nor yet a family
historian
> whose family for the past three centuries have all lived in Lancashire.
> True, there are issues surrounding the acquisition of sources reflecting
the
> changing ethnic makeup of the county, and the matter of ensuring that no
one
> is actively excluded from use of the service, but neither of these is
> addressed by simple "bean-counting".
>
> The problem remains that we and others are being asked to do something
which
> is (a) largely impossible in itself, and (b) unsuitable for purpose -
> assuming the purpose is to prevent discrimination - in that the number of
> people of any type walking through the door is not going to reflect how
much
> the Office welcomes them but how far the Office can provide what they
> require. First acquire the material of interest, then ask whether people
are
> coming to use it - but of course that requires much greater resources
which
> our employers are not always willing to provide than simply counting
heads.
>
> Carl Boardman
> Oxfordshire Record Office
>
> Oxfordshire Record Office is a section of Cultural Services in Oxfordshire
> County Council. This message is intended only for the addressee, and OCC
can
> take no responsibility for the accuracy of the information contained
> therein, nor should the message be held as having any legal validity.
>
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