I am finally able to post a shortened summary of the responses to my
straw poll/questionnaire, which appeared on this list a few weeks ago.
Thank you very much once again to everyone who replied: I will be sending
a more detailed summary, including some anonymised extra quotations, to
those of you who specifically requested it (and also to anybody else out
there who might still like a copy).

Basically I received full (or almost full) responses from nine traditional
county or local authority record offices and also from five more specialist
repositories.  Five further respondents  sent useful additional
comments, although they opted not to complete the whole questionnaire.

Some respondents chose not to answer one or more of the answers, whilst
others ticked more than one answer, even when expressing a preference.  This
means that the totals for each answer may vary and they do not generally
correspond with the fourteen full replies.  However, I think there are
sufficient replies (indicated by the number of ticks) to form a general
impression of current opinion.

One respondent's schoolteacher-spouse was also persuaded to offer some
comments.  Since I thought it might be particularly helpful to read a
teacher's perspective, I will begin by quoting these in full:

· "MAKING SCHOOLS AWARE OF YOUR RESOURCES: This is difficult as schools tend
to be bombarded with information about resources.  A lot of these
letters/flyers go straight in the bin, especially if they're not addressed
to a named individual.  Try and build a relationship with local schools:
perhaps go and meet particular teachers who might be interested in using
your resources, so they can put a face to a name
· OFFER RESOURCES LINKED TO THE NATIONAL CURRICULUM.  Teachers really don't
have time to go looking for the information, so if you can present them with
a ready-made resource pack or suggestions of things to look at when they
come and visit, they will find this far more useful.
· IN TERMS OF PRIMARY SCHOOLS, a useful thing to offer would be a local
history pack about your town.  Teachers are expected to teach children about
the history of the local area, but many of them don't know anything about it
themselves and don't have much time to find out about it.  A pack containing
basic facts about the town's history and the stories behind local
buildings/landmarks, plus some old photos, would be ideal.
· THINK LATERALLY.  Ofsted encourages schools to have a cross-curricular
approach to their work, so don't assume that your archive collections will
only relate to History units.  Many other subjects could involve the use of
archive resources, e.g. Geography, Citizenship
· HOSTING VISITS BY SCHOOLS IS GREAT, but if you can offer to go out and
give talks in schools, preferably with some supporting materials, this can
be far more helpful.  Organising school trips is notoriously difficult these
days, what with risk assessments, limited budgets etc.


With regard to the specific questions in my original straw poll:

VISITS TO REPOSITORIES
* On average, our repository normally receives several organised group
visits from school or college pupils during the course of each month.  FOUR
TICKS
* We receive occasional visits from individual school or college parties,
but probably less frequently than one per month.  NINE TICKS
* We feel that our repository is too specialised in nature to be likely to
appeal to very many school or student groups.  ONE TICK FROM A SPECIALIST
REPOSITORY.  (ANOTHER SPECIALIST REPOSITORY INDICATED THAT THEY DID NOT
CURRENTLY RECEIVE ANY SCHOOL VISITS, BUT THEY WERE ACTIVELY INVESTIGATING
THE POSSIBILITIES.)
QUOTE: "I find that visits in and out of the record office come in peaks and
troughs throughout the year."


THE MAIN REASON WE DON'T RECEIVE MORE PARTY VISITS IS:
* Insufficient specialist staff and resources for the promotion of such a
service TEN TICKS
* Lack of space to accommodate more groups  TEN TICKS
* The nature of much of our material is too specialised  NO TICKS
* The practical difficulties now experienced by many schools and colleges in
organising such visits  SIX TICKS
* The disappointing attitude shown by many lecturers and teachers - despite
their generous holidays  NO TICKS.  [Although if I'd never once heard that
suggestion being made in the past, I wouldn't have included it!]
QUOTE: "The high cost of coach hire and the H&S implications and paperwork
involved in taking classes out of school are the two most common reasons
cited."

 GIVEN OUR PERCEIVED OBJECTIVES AND THE PROBABLE OR HOPED-FOR FOLLOW UP
[i.e.?], THE OPTIMUM AGE FOR INTRODUCING STUDENTS TO ARCHIVES IS GENERALLY:
* Infants TWO TICKS . "Catch them young!"
* Juniors TEN TICKS - THE RUNAWAY WINNER!   (Actually, this response
surprised me a bit.)
* Early years at senior school (even though some people might say they are
too apathetic)  ONE TICK
* Sixth form (even though some people might say they are too preoccupied)
NO TICKS
* Undergraduate: TWO TICKS
* Postgraduate: NO TICKS
* Other age groups: NO TICKS

ORIGINAL RECORDS
* We find it very easy to find plenty of examples which are likely to appeal
to most groups    ELEVEN TICKS.
* We don't always find it easy to find suitable examples to show to all
groups, although we can usually just about manage to produce something for
the majority of them.   THREE TICKS.
* We (would) find it extremely difficult - or even impossible - to find many
examples likely to appeal to school or college groups.   NO TICKS
* We are happy to place original archives out on display and to allow
visitors in groups to handle them.  NINE TICKS
* We might put facsimiles out on display, or show examples on a screen or in
a showcase, but we would not normally allow group visitors to handle the
originals.  ONE TICK.   (However, other respondents nevertheless made the
point that they would be very selective in permitting originals to be
handled.  Or as one officer expressed it: "I would use some 'sacrificial'
items with younger age groups."
QUOTE: "We find blood and gore is appealing for all ages of young people and
children!"

TALKING TO VISITING GROUPS
* Most groups receive basically the same standard talk about the work of our
 repository (even though we might offer the audience an opportunity to ask
individual questions at some point in the proceedings)  FOUR TICKS (although
even these indicated that they might make certain adaptations).
* For every visit, we almost always attempt to design the talk and select
any exhibits according to the particular needs of each individual group.
NINE TICKS
* We normally lead guided parties more briefly around the premises - rather
than have parties sitting down in any one single room.   FOUR TICKS

RESOURCES AND FACILITIES
* We have adequate facilities for accommodating groups - at least one room
is generally available for group use without disrupting the other work of
the repository.    SIX TICKS
* Our facilities for accommodating groups are more limited - it can be/would
be quite difficult to accommodate groups without disrupting the routine work
of the office in some degree.   FIVE TICKS

AN INTRODUCTION TO RECORD REPOSITORIES LIKE OURS SHOULD BE SEEN AS:
* An absolutely essential element in the education of every pupil in the
country  SIX TICKS
* Just one possible option amongst quite a number of others - it cannot
realistically be expected to be appropriate for every single student  FIVE
TICKS
* Valuable - but only to a quite small number of specialists, rather than to
the majority of local pupils.   NO TICKS
[Hence a certain measure of caution there.  As one office reported: "Our
opinions varied on this one".]

FROM MY PERSPECTIVE, NATIONAL INITIATIVES SUCH AS
www.inspiringlearningforall.gov.uk SEEMS LIKE:
* A vital framework of major importance, which should underpin everything we
try to do within Archives and Education  SEVEN TICKS
* An idea quite likely to appeal to a number of senior managers, but more
difficult to identify with for the supporting staff, who are daily at the
sharp end in the public searchroom. THREE TICKS
* Something I've never heard much about (so no particular views either way)
ONE TICK
 QUOTE: "Initiatives such as these are well-intentioned and if they can
assist us all to get funding for educational activities then so much the
better, but there is always that feeling of 'not another strategy imposed
from above!' "

IN FUTURE YEARS, THE AREAS OF ARCHIVE EDUCATIONAL WORK WE EXPECT ARE MOST
LIKELY TO GROW FROM THEIR CURRENT LEVELS ARE:
* Talks to organised groups either inside or outside the repository  THREE
TICKS
* Exhibitions, together with published material, e.g. manuals and source
packs, based on the traditional paper format
NO TICKS!  [Does this mean that traditional source packs are now on the way
out?]
* Online sources - which students will frequently be able to use without
necessarily ever needing to visit the repository.   EIGHT TICKS
[However, other respondents suggested "All of these".]

 EXTERNAL FINANCIAL SUPPORT FOR ARCHIVE EDUCATIONAL WORK
* Do you know of any which might be available?

SOME QUOTATIONS RE FINANCE IN RESPONSE TO THE ABOVE:
"I have applied for and been successful in receiving external grants for
partnership and 'trend' projects. These have included funding from MLA, Arts
Council, Big Lottery and Heritage Lottery Fund."

"One strand of funding that is available to archives is 'Learning Links'
funded through Strategic Commissioning. We have completed one learning links
reciprocal placement with a Secondary School piloting the new hybrid history
GCSE. We now have two other programmes on the go. Although Learning Links is
finishing as a programme in Feb 2008, MLA may offer something new like this
next year."

"Most funding bodies e.g. HLF insist that there should be an educational
element to any project - and will fund it. The problem is that this is
short-term - need to have full-time Archive Education Officer. MLA 'Learning
Links' programme funds teachers to develop educational resources with
archives"

*******************************************

Thanks again to everybody who responded - I certainly found some very
helpful pointers in your replies, and we too have made some useful contacts
via the Learning Links project.   As stated above, I can send a rather more
detailed summary of the responses to anyone who would like one.

Aidan Jones,
Cumbria Record Office & Local Studies Library, Barrow.