Author: Natalie Hayton

It is time to say good bye and good luck to our volunteer, Helen, today. We thank you very much for all your hard work and especially your enthusiasm for cataloguing our vast National Art Slide Library!

After a year with us Helen is now off to start the next part of her archive journey at Aberystwyth on the Archives and Records Management Course. Enjoy and keep in touch.

How NOT to store your collections!

Following on from Tales in Archive Stock Taking Part 1, I thought I would counterpoint the beauty of the organised strong room with some horror stories of bad storage that would make any archivist wince.

While going through our Building Studies Collection we discovered many stationery pests in the form of rusty paper-clips and degrading elastic bands that demonstrate the importance of preservation while illustrating the damage that can be done from seemingly benign household items.

The next nuisance to come out of the average stationery cupboard is pressure/sticky tape.

By far the most shocking effect of a lack of preservation and re-packaging came during a spate of de-framing. While a picture frame may appear to be a good way of storing a picture, photograph, or document – it is behind glass and cannot easily become dusty or torn – they do bring their own hazards:

I can thankfully report a happy ending for all our items as many de-framed photographs and pictures have been transferred to Secol sleeves

and rolled and oversized items, where possible, have been stored flat in bespoke folders.

Ahhh, what a relief!

For our final instalment keep a look out for Tales in Archive Stock Taking Part 3: Buried Treasure!

Natalie

 

 

Consolidation and Appraisal

We’ve been a little quiet on the blog of late and this is due to the fact that over the last two weeks we’ve been conducting our first ever stock take! While we counted and listed all the treasures the exercise gave us the opportunity to consolidate, appraise, re-package, re-arrange and in some cases re-discover our wonderful collections.

But before we could create this wonderful vision of archival Utopia we first (of course) had to make more mess. This included the unpacking and appraisal of one of our larger collections we have on a course that used to run at DMU in its poly days: the Building Studies collection was donated by its Head of Department, Janet Wood on her retirement and was in desperate need of some TLC.

And that’s just what it got!!! First of all, having suffered somewhat of a diaspora in the strong room we located all the boxes and set to work: all three of us, plus two volunteers, Ky and Helen, began unpacking, appraising and listing the contents, and then repackaging.

On the day, the process reminded me of the previous night’s TV viewing of Game of Thrones (Season 7 Episode 5, SPOILER WARNING) where Sam and Gilly are steadfastly trawling through the old books and records in search of some vital information on how to defeat the White Walkers. As Gilly recounts how one keen cataloguer makes a note of all of his bowel movements as well as how many stairs and windows there are in the citadel they overlook the importance of the recording of Rhaegar’s annulment. Dun Dun Duhhhh.

While demonstrating that archives might not always be glamorous they are often at the centre of a good narrative, and developing some sifting skills will certainly help sort the collections from the hoardings.

Now much more accessible (because we know what is in it and where it is) the collection  sits beautifully all in one place in the strong room awaiting the next stage – itemisation.

Several collections underwent a similar process of re-organisation, such as some of the university committee minutes and press cuttings:

The press cuttings were a particular challenge as I discovered three different systems of arrangement but I decided that the most obvious was best: Month and Year!!!

While beauty is indeed in the eye of the beholder, for the archivist, beauty really does lie in organisation and orderliness!

Coming soon: Tales in Stock Taking Part 2: how NOT to store your collections.

Natalie

 

Consolidation and Appraisal

We’ve been a little quiet on the blog of late and this is due to the fact that over the last two weeks we’ve been conducting our first ever stock take! While we counted and listed all the treasures the exercise gave us the opportunity to consolidate, appraise, re-package, re-arrange and in some cases re-discover our wonderful collections.

But before we could create this wonderful vision of archival Utopia we first (of course) had to make more mess. This included the unpacking and appraisal of one of our larger collections we have on a course that used to run at DMU in its poly days: the Building Studies collection was donated by its Head of Department, Janet Wood on her retirement and was in desperate need of some TLC.

And that’s just what it got!!! First of all, having suffered somewhat of a diaspora in the strong room we located all the boxes and set to work: all three of us, plus two volunteers, Ky and Helen, began unpacking, appraising and listing the contents, and then repackaging.

On the day, the process reminded me of the previous night’s TV viewing of Game of Thrones (Season 7 Episode 5, SPOILER WARNING) where Sam and Gilly are steadfastly trawling through the old books and records in search of some vital information on how to defeat the White Walkers. As Gilly recounts how one keen cataloguer makes a note of all of his bowel movements as well as how many stairs and windows there are in the citadel they overlook the importance of the recording of Rhaegar’s annulment. Dun Dun Duhhhh.

While demonstrating that archives might not always be glamorous they are often at the centre of a good narrative, and developing some sifting skills will certainly help sort the collections from the hoardings.

Now much more accessible (because we know what is in it and where it is) the collection  sits beautifully all in one place in the strong room awaiting the next stage – itemisation.

Several collections underwent a similar process of re-organisation, such as some of the university committee minutes and press cuttings:

The press cuttings were a particular challenge as I discovered three different systems of arrangement but I decided that the most obvious was best: Month and Year!!!

While beauty is indeed in the eye of the beholder, for the archivist, beauty really does lie in organisation and orderliness!

Coming soon: Tales in Stock Taking Part 2: how NOT to store your collections.

Natalie

 

Today marks the bicentenary of Jane Austen’s death and 200 years on her novels continue to be lauded among the best in the English language. Like Shakespeare and Dickens, even if you’ve never read one of her works you are sure to have heard of her and her novels as they have come to exist in the cultural collective imagination. Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility and Emma are undoubtedly the most well-known and evoke images of rolling English countryside, stately homes, drawing-room drama, Regency frocks, and Colin Firth in a wet shirt – no wait, that’s Andrew Davies’ 1995 television version!

Moving on… so to celebrate the occasion, I thought I would showcase a few treasures from our collections that are either related to her works or provide a window into her times.

Jane Austen  (1775 – 1817) was born in Hampshire and although a popular author in her day (the Prince Regent was a huge fan and asked for Emma to be dedicated to him) she did not receive recognition as a great novelist until long after her death. All her novels were published anonymously, by “A Lady”, but all offer a beguiling glimpse into Regency life in rural England. The images below, taken from The Lady’s Monthly Museum, aka Polite Repository of Amusement and Instruction, 1801,  and La Belle Assemble, 1817, depict Regency fashion, and could almost be illustrations:

You can easily project your fave Austen character onto these figures: the lady on the far-left bears a striking resemblance to Jeniffer Ehle as Elizabeth Bennet in BBC’s 1995 Pride & Prejudice. And the figures on the far-right could be the Dashwood sisters, Elinor and Marianne, in Sense and Sensibility.

From Regency fashion to furniture: some books from our Art Design and Architecture collection show a typical room layout and some furnishings and decorations from the day.

While the the elegance of the Regency drawing room and the accomplishments of young ladies are often the topics of conversation in Austen’s novels, they are not without their social commentary and contextual references. One should always remember that Austen was writing during the height of the Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815) and a militia presence can be felt throughout her novels, reflecting the stationing of thousands of British Army troops along the South Coast of England in the early 19th Century as Napoleon continued his expansion across Europe and readied for an invasion of Britain.

While the naval Captain Wentworth in Austen’s final novel, Persuasion, cuts a rather dashing romantic figure whose love for Anne does not falter while he is away at war, the Redcoats (the army troops) do not always turn out so favourably, such as the dastardly Wickham in Pride and Prejudice. Again, this depiction reflects concerns of the time that not all the troops behaved in a moral and gentlemanly way while stationed in areas where no one knew them or their histories.

While all of this offers some wonderful insight into the construction of Austen’s novels, to round up my Austenmania trip I will finish by including some materials that relate to the adaptations of her works and their link with DMU. We are fortunate in the archive to be the custodians of the Papers of Andrew Davies, one of Britains most well-known television and film screenwriters who is considered an auteur in the field of classic novel adaptation. His most famous is of course the 1995 Pride and Prejudice but for something different I thought I’d dig out Northanger Abbey, as its journey from inception to production, taking nearly a decade, would make a fascinating case study.

As an an honorary graduate and visiting Professor of the university, Andrew Davies has been involved with many events at DMU, such as Cultural Exchanges week, and last year he gave a public Q&A and interview. DMU is also home to the Centre for Adaptations and Jane Austen and her works have long been the focus of many an interesting study day, such as this one from 1996:

Austen biopics and adaptations of her work have been plentiful in recent years and soon she will be more ubiquitous than ever – given her image is to feature on the reverse of the new Polymer £10 note that goes into circulation today. While there are many events across the UK celebrating Austen’s achievements, if you can’t get to one you can always have a marathon Davies DVD fest, come and see the scripts in the archive, or settle down to read one of her novels; perfect summer reading…

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today marks the bicentenary of Jane Austen’s death and 200 years on her novels continue to be lauded among the best in the English language. Like Shakespeare and Dickens, even if you’ve never read one of her works you are sure to have heard of her and her novels as they have come to exist in the cultural collective imagination. Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility and Emma are undoubtedly the most well-known and evoke images of rolling English countryside, stately homes, drawing-room drama, Regency frocks, and Colin Firth in a wet shirt – no wait, that’s Andrew Davies’ 1995 television version!

Moving on… so to celebrate the occasion, I thought I would showcase a few treasures from our collections that are either related to her works or provide a window into her times.

Jane Austen  (1775 – 1817) was born in Hampshire and although a popular author in her day (the Prince Regent was a huge fan and asked for Emma to be dedicated to him) she did not receive recognition as a great novelist until long after her death. All her novels were published anonymously, by “A Lady”, but all offer a beguiling glimpse into Regency life in rural England. The images below, taken from The Lady’s Monthly Museum, aka Polite Repository of Amusement and Instruction, 1801,  and La Belle Assemble, 1817, depict Regency fashion, and could almost be illustrations:

You can easily project your fave Austen character onto these figures: the lady on the far-left bears a striking resemblance to Jeniffer Ehle as Elizabeth Bennet in BBC’s 1995 Pride & Prejudice. And the figures on the far-right could be the Dashwood sisters, Elinor and Marianne, in Sense and Sensibility.

From Regency fashion to furniture: some books from our Art Design and Architecture collection show a typical room layout and some furnishings and decorations from the day.

While the the elegance of the Regency drawing room and the accomplishments of young ladies are often the topics of conversation in Austen’s novels, they are not without their social commentary and contextual references. One should always remember that Austen was writing during the height of the Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815) and a militia presence can be felt throughout her novels, reflecting the stationing of thousands of British Army troops along the South Coast of England in the early 19th Century as Napoleon continued his expansion across Europe and readied for an invasion of Britain.

While the naval Captain Wentworth in Austen’s final novel, Persuasion, cuts a rather dashing romantic figure whose love for Anne does not falter while he is away at war, the Redcoats (the army troops) do not always turn out so favourably, such as the dastardly Wickham in Pride and Prejudice. Again, this depiction reflects concerns of the time that not all the troops behaved in a moral and gentlemanly way while stationed in areas where no one knew them or their histories.

While all of this offers some wonderful insight into the construction of Austen’s novels, to round up my Austenmania trip I will finish by including some materials that relate to the adaptations of her works and their link with DMU. We are fortunate in the archive to be the custodians of the Papers of Andrew Davies, one of Britains most well-known television and film screenwriters who is considered an auteur in the field of classic novel adaptation. His most famous is of course the 1995 Pride and Prejudice but for something different I thought I’d dig out Northanger Abbey, as its journey from inception to production, taking nearly a decade, would make a fascinating case study.

As an an honorary graduate and visiting Professor of the university, Andrew Davies has been involved with many events at DMU, such as Cultural Exchanges week, and last year he gave a public Q&A and interview. DMU is also home to the Centre for Adaptations and Jane Austen and her works have long been the focus of many an interesting study day, such as this one from 1996:

Austen biopics and adaptations of her work have been plentiful in recent years and soon she will be more ubiquitous than ever – given her image is to feature on the reverse of the new Polymer £10 note that goes into circulation today. While there are many events across the UK celebrating Austen’s achievements, if you can’t get to one you can always have a marathon Davies DVD fest, come and see the scripts in the archive, or settle down to read one of her novels; perfect summer reading…

 

 

 

 

 

 

So today is International Archives Day 2017 #IAD17 and what better way to celebrate this year’s theme of citizenship and interculturalism by looking at DMU’s historical tourism — I mean research visits —  to other countries to encourage dialogue and knowledge exchange.

First up, DMU’s Cuba Study Tours which took place between 1997-1999 in association with HDRA, the Henry Doubleday Research Association to engage in horticultural study.

The collection includes 3 photograph albums and it is clear to see those who went on the study tour did not miss the opportunity to soak up Cuban culture.

 

Next up is a report on a tour of  academic and design institutions of the People’s Republic of China. The document was compiled by Professor Theo Matoff, Head of School of Architecture at Leicester Polytechnic, 1986.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The tour of China was for scholastic purposes as was the return visit to the UK and both institutions highlighted the importance of immersing into each others cultures with guided tours of local architecture.

I particularly like the mention in point 2.2d, of “At least one overwhelming banquet in each city.” Banquets are a popular way to strengthen the bonds between cultures and would have been an enjoyable way for the delegates of both institutions to build connections. Other documents like these can be found in study trips to Moscow and the US.

These are just two examples of the many study tours and research collaborations that have taken place that reveal something of our collective identity. Since then, the value of study trips for students and academics in terms of pushing research boundaries and providing unique life and learning experiences has become an award-winning feature of the institution through #DMUglobal

So whatever your culture, religion, language or nationality we hope that your have the chance to enjoy Archives and their rich collections everyday! In the mean time, Happy International Archives Day 2017!

 

For those wishing the visit the archive in person, our reading room is open Monday to Friday 9am-5pm. If you would like to pursue a particular research interest, please contact archives@dmu.ac.uk to book a visit.