hello! Plus find below second draft of our response to 
the HLF strategic plan. Thank you to all those who 
have read it and sent their comments, I hope I have 
interpretated them properly! This needs to go out on 
Monday, so any further comments before then


Dear Mr Olding,

Towards a strategic plan for lottery funding for the 
heritage

On behalf of Scottish Universities Special Collections 
and Archives Group (SUSCAG) I am writing with comments 
about the above consultation document. SUSCAG would like 
to congratulate the HLF on its successes so far, and to 
thank the Directors for the chance to comment on the 
proposed HLF strategic document. 

Firstly, we will comment on the areas you specifically 
mention:

Assessment of Need
SUSCAG agrees that this Strategic Plan is a positive 
step towards the development of an understanding of 
‘need’ across the sectors. This development will also be 
helped by the initiative of the Historical Manuscripts 
Commission, the Public Record Office and the Scottish 
Record Office in commissioning a Lottery Mapping 
Exercise. We welcome the opportunity to be involved in 
other surveys to identify needs.

Objectives
SUSCAG agrees with the framework of objectives, 
especially with the HLF’s priorities for facilitating 
access for education. However, flexibility must be 
maintained. Although HEI’s are responsible for these 
aspects as part of their main function, HLF funds could 
allow greater exploitation of the diverse and exciting 
collections in our care. For example projects which work 
with schools, museums, galleries, local groups etc. 
could develop links between the HEI’s and local 
communities, and allow the greater exploitation of our 
collections to a wider audience outwith the academic 
remit of the HEI’s.

Strategic Priorities
SUSCAG welcomes the decision that the HLF will not look 
back to previous applications to determine the pattern 
of support, as Archives and Libraries have been 
seriously neglected in the past. We are also pleased 
that although the actual amount of funding available 
through the HLF has reduced, the strategic document sets 
out figures for Archives and Libraries which increase 
the previous allocation of £10m to £18 m  1998 - 2001, 
£19m in 2000/1, and £20 m in 2001/2. We are aware of the 
need to justify this budget by ensuring a consistent 
flow of high quality applications, and look forward to 
this challenge.

We are concerned that HEI Archives and Libraries fall 
between two sources of possible funding allocation: 
education and culture. Again, we ask that the HLF 
retains its flexibility when assessing applications, and 
asks that it ensures that HEI applications are not left 
to fall between the two possible allocations.

New Initiatives
SUSCAG agrees with the value of the Archives on-line 
project, however, would like to stress that this project 
should not be seen as the solution to all problems. The 
recent Follet funding has allowed some HEI’s to improve 
cataloguing, standards and access but further funding is 
required. Preservation and conservation requirements are 
still considerable. 

The recent report commissioned by JISC, undertaken by 
TFPL ‘Study of the Archival Records of British 
Universities’ Oct. 1997, paints a sorry picture of the 
conservation and preservation needs in Archives and 
Special Collections. I would suggest that the HLF 
incorporates this document’s findings in its strategic 
plan.

We ask that the Archives On - Line project is viewed 
with these on-going needs in mind, and that further 
projects  - like the one suggested above - are 
established to allow HEI’s to continue the good work 
started through the Follet funding.

Regional and Country Strategies
SUSCAG is very pleased to note that there will soon be 
an opening of a local office for Scotland, to be 
situated in Edinburgh, which will eventually be staffed 
by Country Committees. The production by these staff of 
a  separate strategic plan for Scotland is a very 
positive step.

Additionally, SUSCAG would like to submit the following 
comments.

We agree with the HLF for the need to raise the general 
awareness of heritage issues. The strategic document 
states that the HLF will “ work in partnership with 
heritage bodies and others, including Local Government 
and Higher Education Departments, in this task of 
facilitating or stimulating debate at where possible the 
cutting edge...” pg. 20. SUSCAG welcomes the opportunity 
to contribute to any debate, and to collaborate with 
others to create a framework to make all institutions 
take steps to ensure the survival and accessibility of 
their heritage.

We agree with the HLF of the need to work in partnership 
with other grant funding bodies. An ideal opportunity 
would be to work alongside the new bids for funding from 
the second round of Follet funding. However, we 
understand that the timetabling does not mean that this 
is practicable. SUSCAG would welcome the opportunity to 
apply to such partnerships in the future.

The diversity and richness of the material held in 
archives and special collections throughout Scottish 
HEI’s feature in the recent JISC publication ‘Accessing 
our Cultural Heritage’ plus our own publication 
‘Ensuring Scotland’s Cultural Heritage’. We hope that in 
the future, as our collections become more widely known 
about and appreciated,  SUSCAG will be successful in 
bidding for lottery funding, in order to enable access 
to the wider education community.

Yours sincerely,

--
Pamela J. McIntyre      
Archivist                
Heriot-Watt University
Edinburgh EH14 4AS
tel: 0131 451 3638
fax: 0131 451 3164
http://www.hw.ac.uk/archive/
http://www.scot.ac.uk/archive/archive.html




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