Some recollections from me :)
I remember my very first HER Forum meeting as being quite scary. I'd
been in my new post a day or two (it was certainly my first week!) and talk of
OASIS and other projects had me scratching my head somewhat! Its hard to
remember a time when I didn't know what all the lingo means. The meeting was a
themed one on Archaeological Science so I felt especially out of my depth and
assumed everyone recorded archaeological science data as a matter of course. I
felt so behind! Turns out I was quite wrong about everyone
recording archaeological science data!
My first post
to the HER Forum list was not long after that meeting and looking back on it I
cringe slightly as it seems a bit of a basic question! I did get some replies on
and off list so I can definitely attest to how helpful you can all be to the
relatively new and inexperienced!
I do find HER
Forum e-mail list a different experience now that I do this job as opposed
to my HER Officer days. I spend much more time working with the list than I did
- a fact attested to by the number of posts I made to the list last
year!
What I enjoy
most about the list is the wealth of knowledge you can tap into. You don't
always get a response but when you do there are usually some useful information
in there. It is an opportunity to see ideas/problems from different angles,
something which is hard to do on your own.
all the
best
Sarah
Sarah MacLean
Heritage Information Partnerships
Supervisor
English Heritage
Dear
all,
This week marks the 15th
birthday of the HER Forum e-mail list.
The list was originally
hosted by Mailbase and called SMR Forum. The first e-mail to the list was on the
11th June and detailed a memorandum of understanding between ADS and ALGAO. The
welcome to the list wasn't posted until 14th June! Have a delve through the
archives at https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/webadmin?A0=herforum to
find out more.
The original purpose of the
list was to work towards creating an SMR Manual. This of course eventually
became Informing the Future of the Past. The list grew over time to encompass
all HER related discussions.
In November 2000 the e-mail
list transferred over to Jiscmail where it has been hosted ever since. All the
archives from the period when Mailbase hosted the list did transfer over so you
are able to browse through e-mails from the very start of the list onwards. All
those who were subscribers to the list by November 2000 had their sign up date
reset so we can't tell which of you were the very first members back in June
1999! Of those that were transferred in November 2000, 43 are still on the HER
Forum e-mail list.
The list has steadily grown
since 1999. We now have 391 subscribers (we hope to break the 400 barrier this
year) and have hundreds of posts each year. Last year we had over 900 posts
altogether and this e-mail is the 555th post this year! The list is very active
and last year well over 100 different people posted to the list. The range of
discussions and the amount of knowledge pooled from the membership of
this list is quite astounding!
Today and tomorrow I hope
you will join in with reminiscing about the last 15 years of the list. When did
you join? What have you enjoyed? Can you work out who has been on the list the
longest?
I hope many of you will
post over the next week and join in in saying 'happy birthday HER
Forum'
all the
best
Sarah
Sarah MacLean MA MIfA
Heritage Information Partnerships
Supervisor
English Heritage
Designations Department
Engine House
Firefly Avenue
Swindon
SN2 2EH
Telephone: 01793 414880
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Heritage unless specifically stated. If you have received it in error, please
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or disclose the information in any way nor act in reliance on it. Any
information sent to English Heritage may become publicly
available.
Portico: your gateway to information on sites in the National
Heritage Collection; have a look and tell us what you think.
http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/professional/archives-and-collections/portico/
This e-mail (and any attachments) is confidential and may contain personal views which are not the views of English Heritage unless specifically stated. If you have received it in error, please delete it from your system and notify the sender immediately. Do not use, copy or disclose the information in any way nor act in reliance on it. Any information sent to English Heritage may become publicly available.
Portico: your gateway to information on sites in the National Heritage Collection; have a look and tell us what you think.
http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/professional/archives-and-collections/portico/
