Inaccurate Advice regarding the Arthur Henderson collection
I'm not sure if anyone else noticed the mistake of the
Antiques Roadshow expert recently when assessing the collection of material
relating to the labour party member Arthur Henderson (or whether I'm the only
one to shout at the telly about these things!!), but I wrote to complain after
he suggested this 'fine ARCHIVE of material' would be better placed in
a museum, rather than sold...
I saw this as a sad reflection on the misconception
that abounds in our society that museums and libraries are the only people who
look after heritage items.
I didn't really expect a reply, but wanted to make my
point anyway, as if we don't stand up for our profession and our services, who
will... But lo and behold I got the response below this
afternoon! It may be a quick reply to shut me up, but I like to see it as
a small victory.
;o)
Morag Fyfe
Hillsborough
Disclosure Project Archivist
Sheffield Archives
52 Shoreham Street
Sheffield
S1 4SP
Tel: 0114 203 9398
Fax: 0114 203 9398
www.sheffield.gov.uk/archives
From: Antiques Roadshow
[mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 14 March 2011
15:51
To: Fyfe Morag
Subject: RE: Inaccurate Advice
regarding the Arthur Henderson collection
Dear Morag
Many thanks for your email and for bringing this matter to our
attention. We agree that an Archive is the correct place for such
documents, rather than a Museum. We shall be mentioning this point to our
specialists when we gather for a briefing ahead of the upcoming filming season.
Thank you again for taking the time to write
in.
Kind regards
Sophie Wogden
Antiques Roadshow
Dear Antiques Roadshow,
I am writing to complain about the inaccurate advice
provided by one of you experts on last night's show (broadcast Sunday 6 March
2011). I am afraid I do not know his name, but the 'expert' appraising the
collection of material relating to Arthur Henderson suggested at the end of the
segment that this 'fine archive of material' is best placed in a
museum.
The correct repository for archive material, I have
to correct him, is in an Archive. Not a museum. Museums are
wonderful repositories for objects, but not appropriate for large collections of
paper or photographs, which have much different preservation and cataloguing
needs to make them accessible to the public.
This is not the first time that Antiques Roadshow
experts have failed to point out the correct repository for paper and
photographic material and I am very disappointed that the BBC continues to
support this inaccurate idea that museums or libraries are the place for such
material to be housed when there are hundreds of local record offices and other
archives across the country who would not only be better placed to look after
such material but better suited, containing experts and professionals on the
preservation and access to such archive material.
I would appreciate it if you could pass this on to
the expert in question so that he does not make this mistake again.
Yours,
Morag Fyfe
Project Archivist
Sheffield Archives
52 Shoreham Street
Sheffield
S1 4SP
Tel: 0114 203 9398
Fax: 0114 203 9398
www.sheffield.gov.uk/archives
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