1. Keith Sweetmore Engagement Manager, North The National Archives Archiving the Arts Introduction to the Archive Sector

2. The National Archives – who are we? 2 Based in Kew, South West London UK Government Archive o Government department o Advise ministers on archival and information policy o Keep the record of government National Archive for England and Wales o Over 20 million records, 974 – present day o 600,000 documents consulted in 2011/12 o 127 million documents downloaded in 2011/12 Sector leader for archives in England o Closure of MLA, 2011 o Leadership role for the archives sector Who do we lead? o Over 2,000 archives in England

3. How do we lead the archive sector? 3 1.Regional Engagement: individual support o Here to support archives on a one-to-one level o Visit, support, and advise archives o All of sector – going beyond traditional boundaries! 2.Advice and Guidance: tailored support o Organisational Health Finding Funding; Service Review; Governance o Collections Professional standards; copyright; digitisation o Stakeholders Audience development; Working with volunteers. 3.Events and training: regional support o Practical workshops exploring these issues and accompanying formal guidance online. 4. Programming for the sector: national framework

4. 1. Regional engagement Engagement managers with regional responsibilities: o first point of contact for archives in the region – focusing on local authority and university archives o support, visit, advise, find out what’s happening on the ground o feed into The National Archives’ work for the sector ‘North’ covers North East, North West and Yorkshire and the Humber Priorities include support for: o sustainability o access to funding o partnerships with HE sector

5. How to find archives: ARCHON Directory Search http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/archon by:http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/archon o name of archive o place name o type of archive – business, local, national, special, university Find contact details for: o 459 archives in the North o 179 archives here in the NW!

6. National Register of Archives Search http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/nra by:http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/nra o name of a business or organisation o name of a person o family name o place name Find out where collections are located o Complementary collections Search for poet Norman Nicholson o Papers in Manchester, Newcastle and Hull

7. Resources: things for you? 7 Archive Awareness Campaign Flexible toolkit to promote collections http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/archives-sector/explore- your-archive-toolkit.htm Online support and guidance Practical and theoretical guidance www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/archives-sector Case studies Celebrating excellence and sharing experiences http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/archives-sector/case- studies.htm

8. Stay in touch! 8 Keith Sweetmore Engagement Manager (North) 020 8876 3444 ext 2053 07899 819999