Listening to the Past, Speaking to the Future

Developing Archives and AudiencesThe Bangladeshi Youth and Cultural Shomiti learn how to recordinterviews to chart the history of their community at the East MidlandsOral History Archiveaudiovisual archive forum, to develop funding,communicate best practice and advocate for this sector ofthe archives domain, and work closely with nationalarchive bodies across the UK. In addition a framework forinstitutional provision should be created in which national,regional and local responsibilities are defined in relation toeach other and to ensure comprehensive coverage forsound and moving image archive activity throughoutthe UK.Recording People’s HistoriesThe East Midlands Oral History Archive (EMOHA) is apartnership between the Centre for Urban History at theUniversity of Leicester, Leicestershire County Council andLeicester City Museums and Library Services. Fundedby the Heritage Lottery Fund, the project has establishedthe first large-scale oral history archive for Leicestershire& Rutland. As well as bringing together more than20 existing collections, it has generated new oral historyrecordings through its own programme of interviewing.In October 2003 EMOHA ran an oral history training dayfor a group of 11 to 14 year-olds from the BangladeshiYouth and Cultural Shomiti. The young people wereintroduced to the use of recording equipment and taughthow to structure oral history interviews. “What theywanted to do,” says Research and Outreach Officer ColinHyde, “was to come up with questions they could ask theelders in the Bangladeshi community about how coming toBritain had changed things for them. I was prettyimpressed by their list.”The services provided by EMOHA include advice, trainingand support for community groups, museums andheritage organisations, students and other individuals whoare interested in developing their own projects. Recordingsare deposited in the Record Office for Leicestershire,Leicester & Rutland.Digital ArchivesAt virtually every stage of the Task Force’s investigations,archivists, records managers and users have told of thechallenges of digital preservation to make sure that therecords of today, created in digital form (and often existingonly in digital form), will be preserved for futuregenerations like their paper predecessors. This is achallenge of great importance if we are to be able to call toaccount in the future those who make decisions on ourbehalf or who take actions that affect our own lives andthose of our children. The Task Force welcomes the workof The National Archives, (which is leading the way ondeveloping electronic records management activities), theDigital Preservation Coalition and Regional Agencies formuseums, libraries and archives, which are workingtogether to co-ordinate approaches to address theseissues, including proposals for pilot projects within theEnglish regions. It is clear that archives cannot addressthese alone, and only through partnerships willsustainable solutions be found and implemented.Recommendation SixEncourage the creation and sustainability of movingimage, sound, photographic and digital archives throughsupport for relevant strategies.Action 1Support the implementation the UK Audiovisual ArchivesStrategy developed by the Audiovisual Archive StrategySteering Group.Action 2Encourage regional partnership strategies for thesustainable management and preservation of digitalrecords.47