Good morning all,
I am currently writing my PhD thesis on archives in the context of digital heritage– specifically those relating to Historic Environment related data and how to add value from a public perspective – and I
wondered if I could ask you all for some information.
Before starting my PhD, I worked for Hampshire HER and it was my observation that in general the primary users were situated within the planning system (local government, archaeology units/ organisations,
heritage consultants, etc.) followed by academics and researchers; it seemed only a small percentage of the total users were members of the public, and those that did inquire mostly had queries related to property ownership and listed buildings. This observation
is corroborated by the statistics in Hampshire’s 2014 HER audit, and the pattern is somewhat similar in Sweden through their national databases. My suspicion is that this probably the same through the UK but I need a few more numbers to support this.
I’ve spoken to the people at the Heritage Gateway and unfortunately, they have currently hold no national user statistics. For those of you who do survey your users or have enquiry logs, is it possible to
share some of the relevant statistics with me?
Best regards,
William
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William Illsley PCIfA
CHEurope Early Stage Researcher
Marie Skłodowska-Curie ITN Action
Room H310
University of Gothenburg
Dept. of Literature, History of Ideas, and Religion (LIR)
Box 200
405 30 Göteborg, Sweden