Agenda and minutes

www.swansea.gov.uk/disclosuresofinterests

In accordance with the Code of Conduct adopted by both Authorities, the following interest was declared:

 

Mr D Michael – Personal – Member of the Neath Antiquarian Society

 

The Chair welcomed Sarah Perons, the new representative from  the Diocese of Llandaff to her first meeting of the Committee.

The Chair thanked all the Local Authority Members of the Committee, particularly those who were not seeking re-election for their contribution to the work of the Committee over the years.

To approve & sign the Minutes of the previous meeting(s) as a correct record.

 

RESOLVED that the Minutes of the West Glamorgan Archives Committee Meeting held on 16 December 2016 be approved as a correct record.

 

The Chair reported that following the March meeting he had written to Professor Iwan Davies, Pro-Vice Chancellor Swansea University, seeking clarification on any progress in discussions regarding the West Wales Archives Partnership.. He indicated that unfortunately there was very little to report at this stage.

 

He indicated that the appointment of an independent consultant to look at building location options could prove beneficial. There may be grant funding available for this exercise.

 

The County Archivist reported that the previous independent consultant had identified the size of the building required but the scope of project had changed to include the South Wales Miners Library and exclude the holdings of Carmarthenshire Archives Service.

 

Kim Collis presented the report of the Director of Place which gave details of the Joint Archive Service Revenue Budget for 2017/2018 and the reserves held by the Joint Archive Service, which was submitted for information only. The detailed original budget was shown in Appendix A.

 

He detailed the savings/reduction from the Archives budget linked to the reallocation of his role within the Sustainable Swansea project.

 

The table in the report showed the estimated position of the Archive Reserves as at 31 March 2017.

 

RESOLVED that the report be noted.

 

The County Archivist presented a report which outlined the work of the Joint Archive Service during the period December 2016 – February 2017.

 

Table of Charges 2017/18

He outlined the proposed revised Charges for 2017/18 and detailed the rationale behind the fee increases.

 

RESOLVED that the revised charges be approved.

 

Use of the Service - Statistics for December 2016 – March 2017

He reported on the use of the Service for the quarter and detailed the background and rationale behind the quarterly statistics.

 

He reported that a number of Archive Service collections would go live on the Ancestry website in the coming days.  For the first time, this website will be able to provide an accurate statistic for digital use of the collections, whereas the use of West Glamorgan’s parish registers online was not quantifiable.

 

He referred to certain issues identified with school visits where the school had either forgotten that the member of Archives staff was coming or else was using the Service in the role of supply teacher. The Service needs to monitor and deal with these issues in future should further problems arise.

 

Service Outreach

 

He referred to the Service’s participation in an all-Wales project for an online aggregated catalogue of collections to be placed on the Archives Hub.

 

He detailed the exhibitions, talks and school visits held during the quarter.

 

Staff

 

He referred to new responsibilities taken on with regard to information governance, as mentioned in the Budget report previously discussed.

 

He outlined that Rebecca Shields, Archives Reception Assistant, was named Archives Marketing Champion of the Year at the Marketing Excellence Awards for Museums, Archives & Libraries in Wales at a ceremony in February. The award was relating to her work on promoting the Archive Service via social media.

 

The Committee congratulated Rebecca on her award and the Chair stated he would write to her congratulating her on her success.

 

He outlined the Service’s involvement with an ongoing all-Wales Digital Preservation Project and referred to the issue around the long-term preservation of electronic records.

 

Professional Meetings and Partnership Working

 

The County Archivist referred to the professional meetings and training

attended by staff during the last quarter.

 

Archive Collections

 

The County Archivist reported on the comprehensive list of archives received during the period December 2016 to February 2017.

 

He reported that conservation work has been completed on the Neath Abbey Ironworks collection following a grant of £16,600 from the National Manuscripts Conservation Trust.

 

He indicated that informal discussions have taken place regarding the issue of temporary storage should the Civic Centre redevelopment progress.