Report of the monthly Branch Heads meeting, 28 July 2005 ...

REPORT OF BRANCH HEADS’ MEETING
2:30PM, THURSDAY 28 JULY 2005
MEETING ROOM, THOMAS THOMSON HOUSE
Present: George MacKenzie, Peter Anderson, Alan Borthwick, Jane Brown, Dave
Brownlee, Tristram Clarke, Ian Hill, Alison Horsburgh, Rob Mildren, Bob Phillips, Linda
Ramsay and Morag Fyfe (secretary)
Apologies: David Brown, Bruno Longmore, Jim Grady
1. Minutes of Meeting of 11 May 2005 and Matters Arising
The previous minutes were approved.
(4.7 Soldiers Wills) Tristram Clarke updated the meeting, reporting that CLRB have about a
dozen volunteers to record extracts for the Soldiers Wills exhibition. Chris Dunne will do the
recording, using the voice track from a digital camcorder.
2. Reports
2.1 Accommodation
Bob Phillips reported on the latest developments:
Scottish Family History Centre – Work on the Scottish Family History Centre has
now begun. There is also now a small exhibition in the front hall of GRH and a
project update on theOracle.
Amber Alert – The current state of alert across the three buildings is Amber. This is
causing some trouble at TTH where Archive Attendant staff are having to stand near
the front door to be on hand to open the gates. Staff are reminded that the visitor
notification system should be used at all times to minimise disruption to the AA’s
other work.
2.2 Conservation
Linda Ramsay updated the meeting on a number of points:
UCS negatives – CSB are now on the final stage with the UCS glass plate negatives.
Although these records have not been catalogued, CSB have been keeping unique
identifiers for the collection so that negatives can be located.
Staff – 28 July was Johana Langerova’s last day. The new Czech intern arrived on 11
July. 2 new conservation students will be arriving on 1 August for two months to
help with the photographic project.
2.3 FOI
Morag Fyfe informed the meeting that there have been three enquiries since the last
meeting. Jane Brown added that one of these inquiries resulted in a substantial
release of information from our own files in regards to the closure periods applied to
the Dunblane Inquiry records. Some information in regards to this inquiry did also
attract exemptions.
2.4 ICT
Rob Mildren reported on the latest developments:
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Ordering System – Work is progressing on the Ordering System and Keith Dargie
remains confident of an October launch.
Remote Computing – There continue to be problems with remote computing. While
we have had the software working, this appears to cause problems with other areas of
the network. We will delay implementation of the remote computing facility until this
has been satisfactorily resolved.
CALM – Version 6.2 did not work on our system and we are now attempting to go
back to Version 6. DS are on site to help with this. We will try and work with
version 6, but if this still does not work properly, we will have to raise the ongoing
problems with CALM at a senior level in DS. It is not possible for us to go straight to
Version 7 until the problems with Version 6 have been resolved.
RAC project – The RoS management board met on 26 July and have agreed that we
can proceed to the next phase of the project. This means we will be able to go ahead
with the recruitment of a second shift of digitisers at TTH. At the beginning of
August, work will start on converting the abridgements, which means that an
electronic finding aid for the Sasines should be available from the end of February.
This work will be undertaken by RoS’s IT partner, BT, and a third party supplier,
Cendris Ltd. The ‘critical mass’ for the RAC project, by which time the service will
be launched on Registers Direct, is defined as when 98% of all index access and 70%
of Sasine requests can be met electronically. Discussions are also currently under
way with the GSU for the digitisation of the older Sasines.
3. Marketing
A draft report was submitted by Martin Tyson to the recent Management Board. Senior
Management will now meet with Martin and an options paper will be produced. We will
then hold an awayday event to discuss the issues arising out of the options paper. A paper
will be circulated prior to this event.
4. Cultural Commission
A paper prepared by Morag Fyfe has been circulated outlining the main recommendations
from the Cultural Commission in regards to Archives and the NAS. The main issue for us is
the recommendation to move the NAS into the Culture Portfolio. Currently we are in an
administrative portfolio in the Legal and Parliamentary Secretariat. Movement to Culture
would put us close to the National Library,, Museum, etc. and move us away from our
traditional administration profile. Archives do have a dual profile, both heritage and
administration, and we often recommend that local authority archives be located within the
administration section of the authority. This is something that would require further
consideration. With regard to the recommendation to form a National Centre for
Conservation, Linda Ramsay noted that the NAS now has the most accredited conservators in
Scotland and the pros and cons of how a National Centre would work and what it would
mean for us needs to be thought through carefully.
5. Any Other Business
5.1 Seagulls
Alan Borthwick raised the problem of the seagulls at TTH. Bob Phillips will look
into what can be done to sort this out.
5.2 Fringe Show
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Bob Phillips informed the meeting of a fringe production which will be taking place
in New Register House, entitled ‘Don’t Look Back’ from 21-27 August. The Fringe
programme states that this is to take place in GRH, but he assured the meeting that in
view of the refurbishment work now underway, this is no longer the case.
5.3 Attendance Management
Currently we have no recent figures for attendance management as the Gemini system
used by HR is not working. Attendance management will be put on the agenda for
future meetings and it is hoped that figures will be produced soon so that we can
monitor progress at the half year stage.
5.4 Friendly Audit of Edinburgh City Archives
Linda Ramsay reported that she has been in contact with the City Archivist at
Edinburgh City Archives regarding the Conservation section of the friendly audit
being undertaken by NAS staff. This is being co-ordinated by Ian Hill and dates are
currently being firmed up for the different aspects of the audit with the City Archivist.
There will need to be a spread of dates as there is only currently one member of staff
at ECA and Ian Hill will be taking the lead on this.
5.5 Security
An announcement will be made soon to inform staff at TTH and GRH that they will
be able to stay in the buildings until 10pm on weekday evenings. Dave Brownlee also
reported that ICT are looking to develop an online form for letting the side door know
if you will be staying in the office after 5:30pm.
6. Date of Next Meeting
The next meeting will be the Marketing Awayday event at the end of August/ beginning of
September and a date will be fixed nearer the time.
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