Data should of course be related to modern local authority boundaries.
Presumably one of the main purposes of the survey was to ensure protection.
How do they expect to achieve this if they do not what authority to
approach? There may be rural counties where the two boundaries are
synonymous but following the trail in the Black Country would an exceedingly
long winded process. Since 1974 we have seen the taking out of portions of
Staffordshire, Worcstershire, Warwickshire etc and their placement into West
Mildands County; the abolition of West Mildands County and its split into
Wolves, Walsall, Dudley, Sandwell, Solihull, Coventry etc; and even since
then there have been minor changes eg a few years ago some rural areas at
the northern end of Walsall were taken out and put back into South
Staffordshire.
Another thought - for the counties they probably ought to record the
districts also because would they not be the responsible body for protecting
them?
----- Original Message -----
From: "Newman, Martin" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, November 26, 2002 1:18 PM
Subject: National Inventory of War Memorials and SMRs
> Last week I had a very useful fact finding meeting with the National
> Inventory of War Memorials (NIWM) at the Imperial War Museum (IWM)
including
> discussion of how this data can be made available to the SMRs. As promised
> I'm now going to feed back the results to the list.
>
> * There are currently about 48,000 memorials recorded including free
> standing structures, plaques on buildings, books of remembrance, gardens,
> windows and even stuffed animals. Data collection in the field is
virtually
> completed and there is a data entry backlog of some 5,000 records which
will
> be complete at some point next year. This total includes Scotland, Wales
and
> Northern Ireland.
> * The NIWM have agreed in principle for there data to be made
> available to the SMRs in digital format. The logical point for this would
be
> when data input backlog has been completed. There would need to be some
sort
> of licence from the IWM for SMRs to hold and incorporate data and SMRs
would
> be expected to acknowledge the NIWM.
> * Data is recorded in a bespoke database built in ORACLE 6. At
present
> it can only be consulted in the reading room of the IWM. Many of the
fields
> are compatible with SMR data, however, others are very specialised and
> unique to war memorial recording. The DSU has offered to carry out MIDAS
and
> INSCRIPTION mappings for the NIWM. The NIWM are providing the data for
this.
> This will give us a better idea of the compatibility.
> * Memorials are recorded against 1974 county boundaries and where
> possible located to 6 figure grid references. I have a current breakdown
by
> county if any SMRs would like to get an idea of how many memorials have
been
> recorded in their area.
> * Names recorded on memorials are not recorded by the NIWM at
present,
> but this is planned as a follow up project.
> * Memorials range in date from the Medieval period to present day
> conflicts with Dupuy and Dupuy used as the primary reference for
conflicts.
> * Locations of memorials which have disappeared are also recorded,
> including First World War Street Shrines.
> * The database acts as an index into a physical archive including
> photos, press cutting, copies of unveiling programmes etc. This material
can
> be consulted at the IWM by appointment.
> * The NIWM would be interested in a two way exchange, with SMRs
> informing them of any errors or omissions they spot in the data for their
> area.
> * There is at present no way of exporting data in digital format,
this
> is something the required by the NIWM and would be needed for
dissemination
> to SMRs. The NIWM are taking this forward with the IT section at the IWM.
>
> Jane Furlong from the IWM has now joined the SMR Forum and will be happy
to
> answer any further queries on list if members would like a discussion on
use
> of NIWM.
>
> Martin
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> Martin Newman
> Heritage Information Partnerships Supervisor
> National Monuments Record
> English Heritage
>
> Phone - 01793 414718
> Fax - 01793 414770
> Email - [log in to unmask]
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