I've come to this quite late but thought to add my two pence worth in.
Not that it hasn't been said before but funding is a real issue and it does
put people off the profession. In my capacity as Deputy Careers Officer I
advise people who approach the Society of Archivists for careers information
and funding is the number one question that comes up once the enquirers find
out about the basics. My usual answer is to highlight the various options
already covered in the many replies Zoe's e-mail has generated (which is
good to see); AHRC, SAAS, Career Development loans, distance learning etc.
In fact I wish there was some concrete and useful information out there that
I could pass on to enquirers or put up on the Careers section of the
Society's website but the time it would take to collate and update means it
has always been on my to-do list.
I do think that the Society could do more for those interested in joining
the profession, even if its more proactive information and lobbying with
funders, strategic bodies and employers to create additional training
positions and funding streams for students - Margaret Procter's point is
extremely pertinent; society needs more record keepers to ensure that in
this information age its number one commodity is better managed and that the
most important resource for that is qualified staff. The current recruitment
(to the profession) situation discourages potential recruits in all sorts of
ways, not just financially (though that is perhaps the biggest). For
instance it is difficult to even become aware of the possibility of a career
in record keeping, with the smallest user group of archives being the under
24s and few university career advisors having any relationship with local
archive services (don't get me started on records management). Studies have
also recently shown that profile of record keeping as a career gets worse
with ethnic minorities.
I know I'm preaching to the converted but where the Society has a paid
Training Officer, who does extremely good work I might add, it can't fill
its voluntary Careers Officer post, a role that has the potential to lobby
and work on this very issue. Recruitment is an issue that is rising on
various bodies' agenda, whether its because of diversity, workforce
development or another reason, and it seems slightly alarming to me where I
stand (admittedly at the periphery of the Society's inner workings) that we
don't have someone whose identifiable role is to represent the Society on
this specific issue. If there is something that a professional body should
be doing it is to certainly have a say in how people join its ranks in the
workplace and not just its own membership. Hopefully with this review of the
Society, such work and role will gain more of the attention it deserves. As
to why I haven't signed up to the Career's Officer role myself, its quite
simple, the job in my view is too big for one person on a voluntary basis
and I had hoped that if I stayed as a deputy I could support whoever took up
the role and see if the two of us could encourage others to help out too. If
any one is interested after this then there was a job advert in the last ARC
Recruitment Plus and for more details you should contact Nicky Sugar at
[log in to unmask]
Apologies to Zoe in turning this post into a job advert but the two are
related and I couldn't resist bringing attention to a vital but vacant role
in the Society.
Just my two pence worth,
Henry Sullivan
----- Original Message -----
From: "Zoe Darani" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Friday, March 30, 2007 11:33 AM
Subject: Finding funds for postgraduate study in Archives Administration
Dear all
I have accepted a place to study an archives administration course; this is
a full time course and will begin in September 2007.
I graduated from University in 2005 with a 2:1 history degree and a £12000
debt, finding some sort of charitable funding would therefore be extremely
helpful to me.
I explored options such as AHRC funding and bursaries at the University that
I am going to study at; competition for these resources are so fierce that
my modest degree qualification prevented me from applying to these.
I have applied to my Local Authority and numerous local and national
charitable organisations for some financial assistance to help pay for the
tuition fees which will be c. £3,100, finding any kind of help is proving
impossible; many organisations are dedicating their financial resources to
first degree study (which I can understand and do have full sympathy for new
undgraduates having to pay for top up fees).
I am currently saving some money to help pay for the course, though I count
my self fortunate to have found paid work experience in an archive, saving
money to do the course on an Archives Assistant salary is not easy.
It seems that it is becoming increasingly difficult to enter the archives
profession.
I wonder what other peoples thoughts are on this matter and whether anyone
can recommend any charities that postgraduates studying the archives course
can apply to.
Many thanks
Zoe
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