Samdok - Nordiska museet

connecting collecting: thomlinson
We also run a regular programme of visits to Royal
Mail and Competitor sites (sorting, delivery, sales areas,
Post Offices) to look for possible acquisitions and take
photos of the buildings, people and equipment. This is
especially important when these Post Offices are due to
close so we can collect material before it disappears.
Oral history is a very important part of contemporary
collecting. We must collect the social aspect of the
postal service by capturing the lives and stories of those
who work for the postal service. We have an active oral
history project going on that looks at the many different
aspects of the postal service at work.
The BPMA Collections Review fits in with contemporary
collecting. A strategy has been produced for reviewing
the collection, whereby the collection has been split
into subject groups and a timetable produced for the next
few years covering all these groups. The reviews identify
gaps and duplicates in the collection so that we can target
contemporary collecting around these strengths and
weaknesses. We often involve external experts in the
subject areas to identify types and importance of objects
and help decide what’s missing.
The curatorial team works with our Access and
Learning Department to develop projects that involve
community groups and schools in collecting their lives
today, especially groups that are underrepresented in the
collection.
‘Snapshot collecting’ means capturing a ‘snapshot’
of the postal service at a given point in time. As well as
oral history snapshot projects, the BMPA runs projects to
regularly collect a sample of mail from private individuals
and businesses around the country during a specified
period of time, especially to reflect changes in the
delivery of mail. We also annually collect a ‘snapshot’ of
Post Office products and services by collecting a sample
of leaflets on display from a specific Post Office on a predetermined
date.
The BPMA tries to keep up to date with changes and
developments in the industry by regularly reading relevant
national newspapers, business/staff magazines and
newsletters.
The BPMA uses the Internet to collect the contemporary
through discussion sites, chat rooms and photo and
video websites. This is a good way of showing the social
impact of postal service, for example there was a lot on
chat rooms, Flickr and You-Tube relating to the strikes
that occurred in 2007.
Unfortunately museums can’t collect everything due
to size, expense, availability or security issues. However,
the BPMA wants to record the things that they can not
collect in some form, so film or photographs are taken
of these objects.
BPMA staff visit trade shows, fairs, conferences, auctions
on a regular basis to purchase new acquisitions and
make new contacts. I recently visited ‘The Mail Show
Conference and Exhibition’ and made many new contacts
through this. We also try to keep an eye on Internet
auctions and companies.
Case Study 1
With the Government’s plans to close 2 500 Post Offices
in the country in the next few years, the BPMA were keen
to capture a snapshot of the situation as it is now. An
oral history project in 2006 visited a rural location already
affected by Post Office closures and with more imminent.
Bringsty Common Post Office covers a scattered
community and the BPMA aimed to record how this Post
Office interacts with its community. My colleague Julian
Stray and a volunteer spent a week there undertaking interviews
and doing location recordings.
The interviews included recordings with the
Postmistress, Sue Buckley, whose husband built a new
building on their land to incorporate the Post Office.
They also interviewed all the other staff of this small Post
Office, including two whilst on their delivery rounds, one
by van and one by foot. Rob Jones, who does the walking
duty across the common, covers nine miles a day. He
knows just about every inch of the common, all the short
cuts and where to walk in rougher weather. He was unwilling
to be interviewed at first but eventually agreed
to let Julian accompany him on his walk. Interviews also
included those with the local users of the Post Office to
see what impact the Post Office has on their lives and to
get their views on Post Office closures and see how they
would cope without their local Post Office.
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