It’s fair to say I didn’t expect my first three months at Dorset History Centre to turn out quite like this…
I’m Owen and I’m the new Collections Archivist at Dorset History Centre. I joined the team at the end of January, having previously worked as a Records Manager at the European Central Bank in Frankfurt, Germany.
Whilst this first three months has been unusual to say the least, I’ve been enjoying getting to grips with my new role, getting to know the team and our volunteers, and also discovering what parts of my job I can do from home!
My job is to look after our archive collections here at DHC, ensure they’re well looked after, placed on our catalogue to be discovered and made available to the public (barring any data protection issues). I also develop our collections by appraising and taking in new accessions (new deposits of archive material). An early highlight for me was a recent accession that had been rescued from a skip many moons ago and had clearly been left in a damp place (probably a shed or garage) since, and so when it came in was damp and mouldy, and in some very rusted ring binders. Having dried the documents, cleaned off the mould, and repackaged them, they are now stored in our repository and will be preserved for many years to come.
Some other particular highlights so far have been rescuing the Beale’s archive which involved an urgent trip in a van down to Bournemouth to collect the archive, as their last day of trading was brought forward due to the coronavirus. Thankfully the archives are now in our custody and the records of this important business in Dorset’s history will be preserved for future generations – more about Beales and the acquisition of the archive can be read here.
Another notable moment was a huge delivery of 1,500 archive boxes in March. It took a great team effort in getting them unloaded from the lorry, off the pallets and onto the shelves in our repository. These archive boxes ensure that the documents we hold are kept in their own acid-free environment, safe and protected from any damage. We all certainly got a workout that day!
Whilst the lowlight has to be the Covid-19 pandemic and the History Centre having to close meaning I can’t work directly with the archives or process any accessions, the limitations of working remotely has provided me with an opportunity to examine our catalogues, and make some improvements to them. This has included adding records back into catalogues that somehow became separated when we changed our catalogue database many years ago, linking records of uncatalogued accessions to their parent catalogues, and removing access restrictions on records that are over 100 years old. All this means that there are more records on our online catalogue and that they are more easily available to be searched for, ready to order for your research when the time comes that we can reopen the History Centre.
Additionally, this is an extraordinary moment in our lifetimes and we are asking for you to help us document this period, creating an archive of everyday life during this unique time in Dorset that will be looked at and studied by researchers in years to come, and it is exciting to be involved in its creation.
I’ve really enjoyed my first three months here and am looking forward to getting back to History Centre whenever that may be!