Hi Martin

 

there are a few issues about this worth pondering,

 

1) Most HER's aren't archives, so anyone who gives us stuff expecting us to keep the originals intact forever needs to be aware of this. We might end up scanning the items and getting rid of the originals. In most cases I think HER Officers would probably offer the originals to the CRO (I would) but anyone giving HER's stuff needs to be clear on that. This isn't a problem, as long as everyone is clear

 

2) Yes we want it, or at least I do, I cant speak for all HER officers.  That said, some times non-vocational archaeologists record things that the HER may not be very interested in. I can think of examples from my former posts where groups had given a record for each field boundary. Whilst this is interesting and is part of the historic environment, there is a bit of a danger of wood and trees, in that there are so many records, its difficult to identify the most important ones. I don't have an answer to this, but again its to make you aware. Depositors shouldn't assume that because they gave us all their records, all of them will end up on the HER, there may be some selection involved. Again, this shouldn't be a problem as long as everything is made clear.

 

3) In terms of actual data format, well we had IRIS forms here and they seemed to have worked (though the work was all before time and I haven't done a detailed trawl to check through). I think this might be a good format to start from. It might also deal with some of the above issues. If we're only getting index forms, then the originals can be archived elsewhere. There may be a lot of work involved though, getting information from the original format onto a form

 

4) The other issue here is that paper format needs manual entering, which takes time, so the issue of how much time the inputting into the HER would take, and how big a priority that is against other HER work would come in to play. That applies whether we just get forms or original archives, though using forms should speed up data entry, as you don't have to trawl through to find the information.

 

5) The ideal solution, would be some sort of digital format that could be imported into the HER database. This would have to have agreed fields, but it should be possible to come up with a standard format database which could be used nationally, and was MIDAS Heritage compliant http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/professional/archives-and-collections/nmr/heritage-data/midas-heritage/  . There are ongoing attempts at this. (eg ASPIRE http://www.aspire-resource.info/ ) and though it may take more set up time, it should ease things for individual HER's

 

6) Accompanying the Database, some sort of GIS mapping would be great, but this potentially gets more complex, and expensive, but means instead of point data we could get polygons.

 

7) Bear in mind each HER is going to deal with this slightly differently, the best you can probably hope for is some guidelines to help point people in the right direction, but if at the beginning of a project someone is thinking of giving it to the HER at some point, then the key thing is contact the relevant ones ASAP to discuss the issues.

 

hope that helps

 

best wishes

 

Nick Boldrini

 

Historic Environment Record Officer

Durham County Council

Tel: 0191 3708840

Fax: 0191 3708897

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VPN 7777 8840

 

 

 

We had lively and helpful debate at the Mining Archaeology Framework Seminar at Caphouse on Saturday. One theme which has been raised at the seminar and elsewhere, is the policy of individual HERs towards receiving data from the independent/non-professional/amateur/enthusiast sector. Mining/ quarrying archaeology and industrial archaeology generally are well served by such people, many of whom are extremely knowledgeable and are capable of carrying out historical research and fieldwork to a good standard. Many are keen that their knowledge and accumulated data could be put to good use in HERs and we would like to encourage others to contribute.

So to my question: do HERs welcome such input and what are the mechanisms required for such material to be usefully integrated into your systems? The types of material we are talking about would be typescript field reports, surveyed and annotated maps and plans including subterranean,  selected record photographs. What concerns would you have over quality control and verification?  I assume, given the current death grip on resources, that any material input would need to be in a required format so as not to greatly increase your workload.  For those of you who can remember the IRIS project run by AIA, did that work for you?

If you could spare a little of you time to contact me on this topic, off list if you prefer, I’d be very grateful for your views and information on procedures from individual HERs.

Thanks and best wishes

Phil Newman(NAMHO Project Officer)
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