Dear All, 

There seems to be mis-information going round in the UK archive world that there is a shortage of archive/ paper conservators for paper conservation roles in archives. 

I have seen this is also being mentioned by Lottery consultants in recent evaluation reports to the National Lottery Heritage fund on county archive projects without any consultation with ICON (The Institute of Conservation) or even possibly the conservation side of ARA. 

ICON have a register of accredited UK paper conservators and can show that there is infact no shortage of qualified paper conservators even those to be able work in archives. ICON has worked closely with the Lottery now and in the past. There appears to be no cross communication happening between the various professional bodies, instead this mis-information of a shortage of archive conservators is continuing to go round.
  
One needs to consider if an archive conservation role is not applied for and left unfilled for a long period then there will be reason for that role not being filled. It's not because there is a shortage of trained conservators, it may possibly be to do with what website/journal the job was advertised in and for how long it was advertised for, the type of contract being offered, the level of salary and if the salary is actually enough to be able to afford to live in an area close to the archives - to pay rent/ mortgage or bills or even the cost of travelling by car or public transport to the archives building etc. 

There are many highly trained accredited conservators in the UK that need recognition for the job they do and to be included in such discussions about a possible shortage of conservators within their profession, if it indeed does indeed exist. If there is a shortage of trained archive conservators in the UK then there should be an urgent article in ARA about this and it should be top of the agenda for the National Archives to address.

If there isn't a shortage of archive conservators in the UK then there should be a correction and Heritage lottery archive evaluation consultants should be made aware of this and to stop writing this in their reports without factual supporting information.

If conservators indeed are such are a rarity, then they should be supported in all they do, such as in CPD and acknowledged for the professionals they are and what skills they bring to the archives to help generate public support for archives and income generation. 

Conservators are highly trained and keep up their regular continuous professinal development as part of being accredited, they are able to offer large amounts of knowledge to the archives profession. 

I can't believe that in 2022 that there is still so much silo working in the archives between conservators and the rest of the archives world when conservators do so much to raise awareness for archives and outreach and raise the archives profession to the outside world from their research, articles and talks.  

Can anyone confirm where this mis-information has come from? Can it also be corrected within the UK archives world so that it is still not being spread around the archives community or by Lottery consultants writing evaluation reports for Lottery funded county archive projects.


Lisa Psarianos ACR
Paper Conservator

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