Yes, Gillian, you're right - which is why I said we should be doing our jobs
properly - marketing our services effectively, insisting that members of the
media follow the same handling guidelines that we expect the public to use,
being prepared to appear in the media so that our responses to media
enquiries are consistent no matter which member of staff deals with them -
and then the media would represent us better. The courses that Susan
Bradshaw arranged last year with a media consultant are a good way of us
training ourselves to do this (increasingly important) job better. I'd like
the Regions of the Society to consider hosting such events for their local
members, and possibly the Society subsidising the costs.
If we have a higher profile in the media, that will be half the battle won
in making more of the public aware of us. Or am I being naively hopeful
here?
Jan Hargreaves
Lancashire Record Office
-----Original Message-----
From: Fred Whichelo [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Thursday, April 11, 2002 5:20 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Public perceptions of Archives
I have been reading these Emails with interest and they are all very amusing
However
I was a bit concerned to watch a local tv programme on BBC Northern Ireland
on Monday evening. It was all about finding the history of of one's street
and hearing the views of the people on camera. I do not know whether the
archivists in N. Ireland would like to comment.
The programme is all about 2 people on a street finding out about their area
within 3 hours. They were asked to find out about a person who lived on
their street and so had to look up the relevant baptismal records. One of
the contestants said that they did not know where the Archive was located
and the other said that they did know where PRONI was located but they said
that there was not much point going there as it would take them hours to
find out the information and it would be much better to visit the local
church.
I would argue that this view of the archive as time-consuming and difficult
to locate is much more problematic that discussing whether or not we should
wear cardigans and NHS glasses.
Gillian Whichelo
----- Original Message -----
From: Beverly A. Marvin <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, April 11, 2002 2:57 PM
Subject: 'In a hole in the ground there lived an archivist...'
> Well, down here in my homely 'cage' I'm wearing a saucy
> little canvas-and-latex number (that is, lab coat and
> gloves), but I admit my 'inner self' is pure
> rumpled-cardies-and-sensible-shoes. And very happily, too!
>
> We can always 'spin' our alleged universal style as
> 'Brainy-grunge'-- trendy because anti-trend?
>
>
> Mandy Marvin
>
> Medical Records Archivist
> University of Exeter
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