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Over a year ago we sent an email (text below) to all contractors making it clear we are not an archive, for similar reasons to Peter pointed out. It is worth noting that HER Audits refer to HER Collections rather than Archives, and I think very few HER's, if any, consider their collections to be Archives. With this in mind, we have plans to identify unique material in our collection and get it dealt with appropriately. This is a slightly different issue in regard to PDF/A. I think even if you're not an archive, getting PDF/A's makes sense to make management of your digital collection easier. The whole point is that PDF/A's are for long term storage, making it (probably) easier to ensure they can be accessed in the future, and therefore data management of the digital collection will be (hopefully) simpler. Email text below: Whilst carrying out HER enhancement the HER Officer has found various files have been sent to the HER which more properly should be part of the site archive. These include folders of photos not in the report, the original Negatives, but also digital files on CD including e.g. location files for grids in geophysical surveys, the original CAD drawings etc. It needs to be understood by contractors that the HER is not an archive, and depositing such material with the HER does not constitute appropriate deposition of archival material. The HER accepts material for updating of its records and to aid decision making and research, and will keep information in a format appropriate to achieve these aims. This means that if it is decided to (for example) digitise material, then originals may subsequently be disposed of. Whilst the HER would dispose of material appropriately, it makes no guarantee that this will be to an archive, and it is not our role to ensure the long term preservation of site archives - this is the responsibility of the contractor and should be costed as part of the project budget. If the items sent to the HER are in addition to those appropriately archived this should be communicated to the HER with the material. The HER will deal with material it currently has in its possession, but in future it will return such material to contractors and seek to recoup the costs of doing so. Repeat offenders may be reported to the IFA. Best wishes Nick Boldrini Historic Environment Record Officer Ext 267008 From: Issues related to Historic Environment Records [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Peter Insole Sent: 20 January 2014 10:42 To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: PDF/A reports Dear all, Just picking this up again because we have just put all our archaeological reports on Know Your Place in pdf/a format. http://maps.bristol.gov.uk/knowyourplace/?service=HER&maptype=js&layer=Archaeological+reports&extent=633.8106426212471&x=358726.83039116073&y=172536.98882397762 We will no longer be taking hard copies, but have deposited our entire collection at Bristol Record Office. We now only accept pdf/a reports and advise contractors that a hard copy should be sent to the record office and for all fieldwork a hard copy should form part of the project archive deposited at Bristol City Museum. We are actually in the process of moving our entire physical archive to the record office in readiness for an expected office move that will occur in the next 12-18 months. At our new location we will not have any storage space. This has raised the question about our role as an archive with our conclusion being that we are not well equipped to store material (photos, plans, paperwork etc) partly because of the storage capacity but also because we can't ensure an optimal storage environment for material such photos, but also arguably paper reports. The same can also be argued for digital archives so we are working in partnership with the record office to create a city digital archive. This raises other questions along the lines of 'that's all very well for Bristol who still has a record office and a museum that takes archaeological archives but what about an authority without such benefits?' which just demonstrates the difficulties in having standard approaches in a very varied heritage sector. As authorities move more and more to a private sector model of office space provision (where storage space is a luxury because every square foot or server space has a monetary value) our assessments about how safe our archives are and how we deal with them will become increasingly important. Best wishes, Pete ________________________________ Help protect our environment by only printing this email if absolutely necessary. The information it contains and any files transmitted with it are confidential and are only intended for the person or organisation to whom it is addressed. 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