Listening to the Past, Speaking to the Future

Developing Archives and AudiencesConnected Earth is managed by BT’s corporate memoryteam, which also has responsibility for the company’sarchive collections. BT continues to maintain its archivesin-house, and BT Archives has begun the major task ofintegrating the former BT Museum’s documentarycollections. By investing in the maintenance of its artefactcollection within national museums, while retainingresponsibility for the company’s important archivalinformation assets in-house, BT believes Connected Earthrepresents a model for the responsible management andfuture preservation of a corporate heritage collection withina secure, sustainable framework.45Children at Brampton Manor School, East London, try the EducationCentre on BT’s Connected Earth for themselves. Photo: BT Archivesarchival and museum displays with the new possibilitiesopened up by information technology.The project was developed following the closure of theformer BT Museum at Blackfriars, London – whichattracted only 26,000 visitors each year. Under ConnectedEarth, the Museum’s 40,000 artefacts were distributedamong nine museums around the UK with existing‘communications’ collections, to widen access beyondthose able to visit London. BT is funding new galleries atseven of these sites.A parallel major strand of BT’s £6 million investment inConnected Earth is the creation of a web-based virtualmuseum (www.connected-earth.com), which containsthousands of images with accompanying information.www.connected-earth.com showcases BT’s archive andartefact collections, arranging them in themes or‘journeys’, through which users can follow the story ofhuman communications from the earliest times to thedigital age. The website provides multimedia resourcesincluding film clips, oral history interviews, games andeducational projects linked to the different nationalcurriculum key stages. Most importantly, it is availableat any time to anyone anywhere in the world who hasinternet access.“Connected Earth represents an unrivalled opportunity tosupport the government drive to increase access to ourheritage collections, combining two of BT’s greateststrengths – our long history with our technical innovationand excellence.”David Hay, Head of Corporate Memory, BTThe Task Force supports the development of inclusivestrategies for specialist, business and private archives topromote access, ensure effective stewardship ofcollections, and ensure that all archives are engaged inarchive domain initiatives where appropriate. Thestrategies must be developed collaboratively with thestrong engagement of the owners of the private archives.The Task Force endorses the creation of environments(such as informal fora and e-networks) for owners andcustodians of publicly-accessible specialist archives toempower such archives and to share experience. Thisapproach could inform the development of strategies forbusiness, private and specialist archives.Preserving and DevelopingPrivate CollectionsThere are many smaller archives which have come intobeing for a variety of reasons. Many of these collectionsreceive high standards of care and remain in-situ preciselybecause their owners regard them as being worthy of