We have asked for membership of the Task Force.
Marika
----- Original Message -----
From: "Saltus-Blackwood R (SoCS)" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wednesday, July 17, 2002 12:09 PM
Subject: Task force for UK Archives


> New Task Force for UK Archives
>
> London, 16 July 2002 - Resource: The Council for Museums, Archives and
> Libraries has been invited by the Department for Culture, Media and
> Sport (DCMS) to carry out an in-depth analysis and review of the state
> of the UK's unique and diverse archives.
>
> The DCMS has asked Resource to undertake a close and detailed
> investigation of UK archives, demonstrating how this unrivalled but
> often neglected national legacy can be turned more fully to advantage as
> a rich learning resource accessible to all, a means of reinforcing our
> sense of local and national community and the nation's personal,
> corporate and public memory.
>
> Archives provide the bedrock for our understanding of the past, showing
> us, and future generations, how we came to be what we are as a nation, a
> community or an individual. Vic Gray, Director of the Rothschild
> Archive, and a Resource Board member described archives as "a window
> into the experiences that shaped the lives of our forebears. They are
> an invaluable national asset of manuscripts, books, photographs, maps,
> plans, sound and moving images, and digital records, the primary record
> of our past, the very essence of our heritage. The huge popularity of
> genealogy, community and local history research, and biographical
> research have led to a constant rise in use over at least three decades.
> But archives still remain for many a little understood resource, with a
> predominately white user profile, and few users under the age of 50."
>
>
> Resource Chairman, Matthew Evans, commented: "The UK holds an unrivalled
> wealth of exceptionally rich archival material: the love letters of
> Elizabeth I and the Earl of Essex; the war diaries of regiments and
> squadrons; film footage of the 1966 World Cup Final or the fall of the
> Berlin wall. The work of the Task Force will be a catalyst for a
> fundamental and far-reaching programme of change for UK archives,
> enabling them to be better understood, better looked after, and better
> used."
>
>
> Stuart Davies, Resource's Director of Strategy and Planning
> will act as Project Director. He said: "The work of the Task Force will
> centre on wide consultation with archive users, potential users and
> archive professionals, to ensure that the full range of views from the
> archives world will be considered. We are currently undertaking ground
> clearing research which will be used to underpin a comprehensive
> consultation programme, which will begin this autumn."
>
>
> Membership of the Archives Task Force will be announced at the end of
> July, together with full details of the work programme, and details of
> how archive professionals and users can get involved. The Task Force
> expects to report its initial findings to the Secretary of State by
> April 2003.
>
> Notes to editors:
>
>
> For further information or an interview, please contact Emma Wright,
> Resource's Media and Events Manager, on 020 7273 1459 or email
> [log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]> . =20
>
>
> Resource provides the strategic leadership, advocacy and advice to
> enable museums, archives and libraries to touch people's lives and
> inspire their imagination, learning and creativity. =20
>
> The Resource website can be viewed at http://www.resource.gov.uk
> <http://www.resource.gov.uk/> .=20
>