IMPORTANT MESSAGE: This will be the last Current Awareness service until
after Easter, when the service will be provided by CyMAL.  My job will
transfer to CyMAL in April.  I can be contacted using my current contact
details until Tuesday 30 March only.  Once my new contact details become
available I will post them to the List.

Happy Easter.

Eluned

ARCHIVES

'Report on responses to The National Archives' consultation paper CP03/01
('Proposed National Records and Archives Legislation')'
(http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/news/consultation/response_intro.htm)

Message from Ted Ling, submitted to the ICA-L e-mail list on behalf of the
ICA's Buildings Committee.  The Committee wish to keep abreast of recent
construction activity with respect to archive repositories.  To do this,
they would like to hear about those institutions that have built within the
last three years, or currently have a building under construction, or are
seriously considering building in the very near future.  If this is
relevant to your institution, please contact Ted Ling (Ted Ling, Director,
Corporate Projects, National Archives of Australia.  (02) 6212 3936.
[log in to unmask])

'Ministers and MPs Celebrate Museums, Libraries and Archives': 'The work of
 Museums Libraries and Archives was celebrated at a major National
reception on 9th March at the House of Commons.'
(http://www.eemlac.org.uk/news/detail.jsp?ref=150)

'Ministers and MPs celebrate the South East’s Museums, Libraries and
Archives: Museums, libraries and archives in the South East had a unique
opportunity to highlight their work at a major national reception at the
House of Commons, co-hosted by SEMLAC on March 10.'
(http://www.semlac.org.uk/news_semlac.html)

'ICA is pleased to announce the availability of reports on the results of
two ICA surveys of current practices in archival institutions around the
world:'
'Appraisal and Selection of Documents: Report of the International Survey'
'National and Federal Archives: Results of a Survey of Category A Members
of ICA'
For further information see
http://www.ica.org/news.php?pnewsid=126&plangue=eng.

'UKAT questionnaire available': 'Are there things which you like about
UKAT? Are there things which you don't like? Are there things which you
think we could do differently? Now is your chance to tell us, by completing
our Evaluation questionnaire. This will be available on the UKAT website
until after Easter 2004, and is completely anonymous.'
(http://www.ukat.org.uk/news/news.php)


RECORDS MANAGEMENT AND ELECTRONIC RECORDS MANAGEMENT

New book: 'Why Records Management' ('outlining the justifications and
fundamentals of records management') by Mike Pemberton, cost: $10 &
shipping (see http://www.prismintl.org/ and
http://www.prismintl.org/Downloads/WhyRecordsManagementOrderForm.pdf for
further details)


E-GOVERNMENT

'e-Counting at June 2004 Elections - Policy Agreed by Project Board': 'This
paper addresses the procedures to be used for commissioning, evaluating and
determining proposals for e-counting.'
(http://www.odpm.gov.uk/stellent/groups/odpm_localgov/documents/page/odpm_lo
cgov_027813.hcsp)

'LGCL 1.03 released: The latest version of the Local Government Category
List has been released.'  See
http://www.laws-project.org.uk/archives/001208.shtml for further details.


FREEDOM OF INFORMATION

Local Government Association publication: 'Delivering freedom of
information - flyer and order form'
(http://www.lga.gov.uk/Publication.asp?lSection=0&id=SXA0B0-A7820404)

'Downing St forced to reveal secret meetings': 'In a victory for freedom of
information, the parliamentary ombudsman has forced Tony Blair to reveal
his pattern of meetings with commercial lobbyists.'
(http://politics.guardian.co.uk/foi/story/0,9061,1170196,00.html)  (from
Act Now 'Links to stories and sites of interest' -
http://www.actnow.org.uk/index.html)

'Guardian forces government u-turn on freedom of information': 'The
Guardian today won a landmark victory in its campaign for freedom of
information after the government admitted it had been wrong to impose a
blanket gagging order on the parliamentary ombudsman preventing disclosure
of information requested by the paper.'
(http://www.guardian.co.uk/freedom/Story/0,2763,1172578,00.html)

'Ministers' gagging climbdown': 'The government yesterday conceded defeat
and gave up its attempt to stop parliament's watchdog from publishing facts
about ministers' financial affairs in cases of potential conflict of
interest.' (http://www.guardian.co.uk/freedom/Story/0,2763,1173130,00.html)

'Open and shut case': 'Earlier this month the constitutional affairs
secretary Lord Falconer said that "without openness we cannot hope to build
public confidence in the way we are governed".'
(http://www.guardian.co.uk/freedom/Story/0,2763,1173246,00.html)

'Your right to know': 'The Guardian's victory in the high court last week
is a vital blow against the culture of secrecy in Whitehall . . . . A new
set of battles are opening up for the media as the government's Freedom of
Information Act moves towards its implementation at the end of the year.'
(http://www.guardian.co.uk/freedom/Story/0,2763,1174758,00.html)

Links to articles on the Freedom of Information Act Blog website
(http://foia.blogspot.com/):
- website: Freedoinfo.org (covers FOI around the world)
(http://www.freedominfo.org/)
- website: 'Statewatch: Freedom of information in the European Union'
(http://www.statewatch.org/foi.htm)
- 'Press will be primed on FOI warns Campaign for FOI.'  'Taken from
E-government bulletin: The Campaign for Freedom of Information
(http://www.cfoi.org.uk) is to write to every newspaper editor asking them
to test out their local councils, according to the campaign's director
Maurice Frankel.' (http://foia.blogspot.com/)

'Scotland’s new Freedom of Information (FOI) legislation: Research released
today (22 March 2004) by the Scottish Information Commissioner and TSO (The
Stationery Office).'  ('Scottish public authorities are on track to meet
their obligations under Scotland’s new Freedom of Information (FOI)
legislation, according to research released today (22 March 2004) by the
Scottish Information Commissioner and TSO (The Stationery Office).')
(http://www.itspublicknowledge.info/research.htm)


DATA PROTECTION

'Commission’s passenger data policy attacked again': 'A European
Parliamentary civil rights committee yesterday slammed the Commission’s
policy on air passenger data transfer to the US, and threatened to take the
Commission to court if it persisted in ignoring Parliamentary demands for
change.'
(http://www.out-law.com/php/page.php?page_id=commissionspasseng1079703509&ar
ea=news)


PRESERVATION AND DIGITAL PRESERVATION

'Breaking point': 'As the government saves more and more records in
electronic format, long-term archiving becomes a puzzle. Paper has lasted
for centuries. Can optical disks really last for the 100-year life span
envisioned for them?' (http://www.gcn.com/23_5/news/25166-1.html)

'Another not-so-permanent archive': 'So what is the likely life of your
CD-R, CD-RW and DVD-RW disks today — especially those that now hold your
company's critical records, photos of your children, or the great
Australian novel you haven't quite finished?   The US National Institute of
Standards and Technology has a Data Preservation Laboratory looking at
these problems, and it has come to the conclusion that the scientific
answer to all these questions is: "not very long".'
(http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,8836696%5E15418%5E%5Enbv%5E
15309,00.html)
From RLG News and Discussion: Shelflife
(http://lists2.rlg.org/cgi-bin/lyris.pl?visit=shelflife-from-rlg&id=238440840)

'Archivists praise PDF/A': 'An emerging PDF standard for archiving is a
bright spot on the horizon for federal records managers, who said here this
week that it could become an international standard by early next year.'
(http://www.fcw.com/fcw/articles/2004/0308/web-pdf-03-10-04.asp)


EDUCATION, LIFELONG LEARNING AND E-LEARNING

'Hands up if you hate maths!': 'With backing from the Adult Basic Skills
Strategy Unit (Department for Education and Skills) and the European Social
Fund, NIACE is running a new Numbers in Everything campaign, which aims to
help adults improve their number skills.'
(http://www.niace.org.uk/ALW/2004/News/Default.htm)

The JISC/CNI Meeting 2004: 'The future of scholarship in the digital age',
The De Vere Grand Hotel, Brighton
8-9 July 2004, see http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/events/jisc-cni-2004/ for further
details.


ACCESS & SOCIAL INCLUSION

Website: 'Cymryd Rhan/Getting In On The Act!' (http://www.cronfa.com/)


DIGITISATION & ICT

The Archives Network Wales website has been recently updated
(http://www.archivesnetworkwales.info/).

'Acas updates internet and e-mail policy guide': 'An updated guide to
internet and e-mail policies was published yesterday by Acas, the UK
Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service. The guide explains why
employers should have these policies, what they should cover and the legal
and management issues.'
(http://www.out-law.com/php/page.php?page_id=acasupdatesinterne1079703466&ar
ea=news)

'Ten basic tests to check your web site's accessibility': 'The Disability
Discrimination Act says that web sites must be made accessible to disabled
people. In this article, accessibility and usability experts Webcredible
suggest ten simple guidelines that provide a good start in increasing
accessibility to disabled people.'
(http://www.out-law.com/php/page.php?page_id=tenbasicteststoc1079436303&area
=news)

'The ICA Committee on Information Technology (ICA/CIT) is compiling a
clearinghouse of technical and functional requirements documents relating
to archival management software. The goal is to provide model documents
that other archives can use in the selection and development of archival
software.' (http://www.ica.org/news.php?pnewsid=125&plangue=eng)

Website: 'Evidenceincamera has been created by The Aerial Reconnaissance
Archives (TARA) at Keele University. Our aim is to make the aerial
reconnaissance photographs, deposited by the UK Ministry of Defence at
TARA, accessible via the internet. For the first time you can access 5.5
million photographs taken over occupied Western Europe, by the Allies
during World War II.' (http://www.evidenceincamera.co.uk/) 

'New Gutenberg Bible Website Opens up the West's Earliest Printed Book': 'A
website allowing scholars, historians and anyone interested in the history
and significance of printing to explore in detail the British Library's
rare copies of the Gutenberg Bible - the oldest surviving printed book
produced in the Western World - is launched today at
www.bl.uk/treasures/gutenberg/homepage.html.'
(http://www.bl.uk/cgi-bin/press.cgi?story=1414)

'100 Welsh Heroes – The Book': for further details or to order a copy go to
http://www.100welshheroes.com/book.asp.


FUNDING

'Questions and answers about the creation of a new lottery distributor'
(http://tinyurl.com/267rk)


MISCELLANEOUS

Regional Agencies:

- 'EEMLAC [East of England Museums Libraries Archives Council] Announces
2004-5 Round of Grants': 'Application forms and guidelines for the 2004-5
round of EEMLAC grants will be mailed to all museums, libraries and
archives in the region in late April.'
(http://www.eemlac.org.uk/news/detail.jsp?ref=141)

- SEMLAC (South East Museum, Library and Archive Council):
'South East Audiovisual Archives Mapping and Strategy Project: The
ground-breaking South East Audiovisual Archives Mapping and Strategy and
Executive Summary has now been approved by the SEMLAC Board and is
available on the SEMLAC website at www.semlac.org.uk/archives7.html.'
(http://www.semlac.org.uk/news_archive.html)


Eluned Jones
Swyddog Datblygu Archifau i Gymru /
Archives Development Officer for Wales
Department of Information Studies
University of Wales, Aberystwyth
Llanbadarn Fawr
ABERYSTWYTH
Ceredigion
SY23 3AS

Ffôn/Phone: 01970 622437