History in Conversation

The impact of digitisation and its implications for the future direction of archives and special collections

Richard Ovenden (Bodleian Library, Oxford)

Until recently Richard Ovenden was keeper of special collections at the Bodleian and it is with that hat on, that he talks about the rise and impact of digitisation at Oxford. Ovenden believes that the Bodleian might well have been the first (or at least one of the first) libraries to own a website which has helped to put them into a position at the forefront of digitisation. Admittedly, a large portion of that success also relates to the fact that the Bodleian has a large and unique collection upon which companies, including Google, wish to digitalise. Digitalisation attempts began at the Bodleian in the 1990s with what at the time seemed liked large digital project, but which now look relatively small. Expectations have changed and this brings with it changes in scholarly trends and some major implications for special collections and archives. It is these subjects that Ovenden talks about in this session of the Archives and Society seminar. Working with Google the Bodleian collections, alongside an initial 4 other libraries have had large portions of their collections digitalised and made freely available online. These have all been books that are in the public domain and out of copyright. It would seem that after the initial approach by Google that caused outrage from authors, their lawyers proved more cautious in identifying out of copyright material, than Bodleian’s own librarians. Other projects have involved Proquest amongst others, plus of course EEBO and ECHO, from which the Bodleian has a large representation. They are now also part of the EEBO Text Partnership project that is trying to semantically mark-up these early published texts using accurate encoding techniques. Another in-house project for the Bodleian is to try and draw together various digitalisation projects that they have undertaken in the past and now look quite tired, under one updated interface. When Ovenden moves on to look at changes in scholarly trends he looks at expectation, and of how digital copies of journals are now always expected, and monographs, other books and even original MSS are not that far behind. Nevertheless, the Bodleian’s physical collection is still well utilised. The library floors are still busy. Digital has not yet taken away from the physical. Ovenden also discusses born-digital archiving and the changes in technical knowledge and expertise that is required to be successful in this regard. There is also a warning here over the use of commercial social media and cloud computing services – the licences may well one day lead to issues over the ownership of data. This is certainly something that we should be careful about. To conclude Ovenden notes the following about what digital archiving needs to consider: How do you add value to the research process? What purpose is there for digitalising? Should scholars be involved at an early stage (i.e. should archives be approaching successful academics for their digital and traditional archives before they have finished using them)? Issues of costs and funding Marketing – justifying existence of archives

Anna Sexton (UCL)

23 October 2012

Marie Owens (Archives and Records Association)

Marie Owens has a long standing knowledge of publicity, communications and PR related to libraries and archives. Owens strongly believes that the archive sector needs to speak out and explain more strongly what it is that it does. In this talk Owens discusses the changes over the last few decades in communications emphasis and the tools that are now available to do so. Owens talks about strategy but also advocacy. Advocacy, Owens argues, sits on top of good communication and is a call to action. Often made to influential people, advocacy allows institutions and professions to rehabilitate themselves or promote themselves in a particular light through ‘champions’ who will discuss and further their call. Owens notes the case of the new British Library off Euston road. In 1992 the work was behind schedule and popular opinion saw the venture as a failure. However, by its opening some five years later advocacy and a clear communication strategy had turn this opinion around and it is now a successful hub of scholarly work. Owens makes a case for the use of advocacy in the archives sector; what that might look like; and what they might want to say.

From classification to network analysis: the Burlington Magazine Online Index

Barbara Pezzini

The Burlington magazine is a leading monthly publication devoted to the fine and decorative arts and first published in March 1903. Its website states that it is ‘both an enduring work of reference and a running commentary on the art world of today’. Barbara Pezzini agrees, and sees the extensive and wide ranging index to the magazine as a prime target for network analysis. Pezzini wishes to understand more about past and present relationships between artists, curators, academics and others connected to the art world. Network analysis allows her to do this via the index that is now available online via JSTOR and made freely available through a simple registration on the Burlington magazine website. In this talk Pezzini also discusses the history of art magazines in general and their relationship to academic research as well as archives and museums. The paper is broken down into three sections: the history of the Burlington magazine; its index being placed online; and managing data through network analysis.

9 October 2012

Private Minds, Public Collections: Exploring the Public Use of Mental Health Records

Julian Pooley (Surrey History Centre)

What happens when an archive receives a freedom of information request from the BBC concerning a sensitive subject such as institutional records dealing with mental health patients? Julian Pooley discusses this and other stories concerning the Surrey History Centre’s mental health records and documents. The archives contain a wealth of documentation from before institutions were closed down in preference to care in the community. Pooley looks at the reactions to mental health both then and now, and to stories of the patients themselves from the early eighteenth century right through to the present day. In conclusion, Pooley looks at ways to improve communication with the public and to promote an archival collection for better public understanding.

7 February 2012

Nine and a half years: The impact of London Metropolitan Archives LGBT History and Archives Conference.

Jan Pimblett (London Metropolitan Archive)

For almost 10 years now the London Metropolitan Archive has hosted an annual conference on LGBT History and Archives. It originated through a desire to engage people with the archive in new ways; to unearth hidden histories and rediscover the lost past of specific communities within the metropolis. Jan Pimblett reflects on how successful this approach has proven to be and on how interest and considerations in LGBT history and culture has changed over the course of a decade. As with many under-represented communities archiving of LGBT history is largely made up of negative representations as revealed through criminal records, popular reporting and uninformed discourses. However, look far enough into the archive then other pictures begin to emerge such as materials produced through activism and via campaign literature. Pimblett also discusses attempts to ‘fill in the gaps’ through gaining co-operation and aid from people in some way involved in LGBT history. However, this is not an easy job. Much of LGBT history is invisible or highly personal. There is also a hurdle over ‘trust’ to overcome. Due to continued social tensions there is concern, whether fair or not, that an archive might turn against the ‘community’ and the material hidden again from view.

Julia Thomas (Notre Dame). Professor Thomas teaches Japanese history at the University of Notre Dame. Her book on Japanese Concepts of Nature, Reconfiguring Modernity, won the John Fairbanks Prize. She is at work on a book on the history of Japanese Photography.

Presented by the Institute of Historical Research, the University of Notre Dame and the History Department of the University of Warwick.

Lisa Pine speaks to Richard Overy about his life in history and the history of his life.

Richard Overy was educated at Caius College, Cambridge. He taught at Cambridge from 1972 to 1979 at Queens' College and from 1976-79 as a University Assistant Lecturer. From 1980 to 2004 he taught at King's College, London where he was made professor of Modern History in 1994. He is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society (1977), Fellow of the British Academy (2000) and Fellow of King's College (2003). In 2001 he was awarded the Samuel Elliot Morison Prize of the Society for Military History for his contribution to the history of warfare. In September 2004 he took up appointment as Professor of History at the University of Exeter.

Richard specializes in the history of the Hitler and Stalin dictatorships, the Second World War, air power in the twentieth century, German history from c 1900. He has published extensively on the history of World War II and Nazi Germany. 'The Dictators: Hitler's Germany, Stalin's Russia' (Penguin 2005), won the 2004 Wolfson History Prize and the 2005 Hessell-Tiltman Prize.

The host of A Historian's Life, Lisa Pine, is an Associate Fellow of the Institute of Historical Research, University of London and Fellow of the Royal Historical Society. Her main research interests are the history of Nazi Germany and the Holocaust. She was educated at the London School of Economics and was awarded her PhD from the University of London in 1996. She is the author of 'Nazi Family Policy, 1933-1945' (1997), 'Hitler’s “National Community”: Society and Culture in Nazi Germany' (2007, 2017), 'Education in Nazi Germany' (2010), 'Debating Genocide' (2018) and (with Kees Boterbloem) 'Soviet and Nazi Posters: Propaganda and Policies' (2025). She is the editor of 'Life and Times in Nazi Germany' (2016), 'The Family in Modern Germany' (2020) and 'Dictatorship and Daily Life in Twentieth-Century Europe' (2022). She has also published numerous journal articles and chapters in books on her areas of expertise. She is currently editing a new book, 'Food and Food Policies in European Dictatorships,' for publication by Bloomsbury Academic. She is co-editor (with Peter C. Caldwell) of the book series 'German History in Focus' (Bloomsbury Academic).

Lisa Pine talks to Margot Finn about her life in history and the history of her life.

Margot Finn is Professor of Modern British History at UCL and President of the Royal Historical Society. Previously editor of the Journal of British Studies, she is a co-editor of Cambridge University Press’s Modern British Histories monograph series and serves on the Executive Board of UCL Press. Finn’s early publications focused on nineteenth-century British radical culture and politics in a broader European context. Her second major monograph explored the intersections of literary, legal, social and cultural developments in the history of debt and credit in eighteenth- and nineteenth-Britain, with particular attention to the histories of courts, prisons and women. A collaborative project which she led, funded by the Leverhulme Trust and entitled ‘The East Company at Home’, examined English, Scottish and Welsh country houses as both global and imperial artefacts and national icons. Many of the outputs resulting from this project were co-produced with local and family historians, heritage professionals, archivists and curators.

The host of A Historian's Life, Lisa Pine, is an Associate Fellow of the Institute of Historical Research, University of London and Fellow of the Royal Historical Society. Her main research interests are the history of Nazi Germany and the Holocaust. She was educated at the London School of Economics and was awarded her PhD from the University of London in 1996. She is the author of 'Nazi Family Policy, 1933-1945' (1997), 'Hitler’s “National Community”: Society and Culture in Nazi Germany' (2007, 2017), 'Education in Nazi Germany' (2010), 'Debating Genocide' (2018) and (with Kees Boterbloem) 'Soviet and Nazi Posters: Propaganda and Policies' (2025). She is the editor of 'Life and Times in Nazi Germany' (2016), 'The Family in Modern Germany' (2020) and 'Dictatorship and Daily Life in Twentieth-Century Europe' (2022). She has also published numerous journal articles and chapters in books on her areas of expertise. She is currently editing a new book, 'Food and Food Policies in European Dictatorships,' for publication by Bloomsbury Academic. She is co-editor (with Peter C. Caldwell) of the book series 'German History in Focus' (Bloomsbury Academic).

Lisa Pine talks to Rana Mitter about his life in history and the history of his life.

Professor Mitter studies the emergence of nationalism in modern China, both in the early twentieth century and in the contemporary era. He is particularly interested in the impact of China's war with Japan in the 1930s and 1940s on the development of Chinese politics, society, and culture. His publications include China's War with Japan, 1937-45: The Struggle for Survival (2013), Modern China: A Very Short Introduction (2008), and A Bitter Revolution: China's Struggle with the Modern World (2004, 2005).

The host of A Historian's Life, Lisa Pine, is an Associate Fellow of the Institute of Historical Research, University of London and Fellow of the Royal Historical Society. Her main research interests are the history of Nazi Germany and the Holocaust. She was educated at the London School of Economics and was awarded her PhD from the University of London in 1996. She is the author of 'Nazi Family Policy, 1933-1945' (1997), 'Hitler’s “National Community”: Society and Culture in Nazi Germany' (2007, 2017), 'Education in Nazi Germany' (2010), 'Debating Genocide' (2018) and (with Kees Boterbloem) 'Soviet and Nazi Posters: Propaganda and Policies' (2025). She is the editor of 'Life and Times in Nazi Germany' (2016), 'The Family in Modern Germany' (2020) and 'Dictatorship and Daily Life in Twentieth-Century Europe' (2022). She has also published numerous journal articles and chapters in books on her areas of expertise. She is currently editing a new book, 'Food and Food Policies in European Dictatorships,' for publication by Bloomsbury Academic. She is co-editor (with Peter C. Caldwell) of the book series 'German History in Focus' (Bloomsbury Academic).