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The Endangered Archives Programme (EAP) at the British Library

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Title: The Endangered Archives Programme (EAP) at the British Library


1
The Endangered Archives Programme(EAP)at the
British Library
  • Graham Shaw
  • Head of Asia, Pacific Africa Collections, BL
  • JISC/CNI 6th International Conference
  • York, 6 July 2006

2
Background to EAP
  • The Endangered Archives Programme is modest in
    conception and rooted in practicality it is not
    aimed at promoting theoretical advances in
    archival management or cutting-edge technology in
    digital preservation it is about achieving
    quick results on the ground
  • (Thanks to Tetra Pak) It is sponsored by the
    Lisbet Rausing Charitable Fund (see
    www.lisbetrausingcharitablefund.org) NB LRCF
    does not invite bids for funding it initiates
    its own projects
  • LRCF has also sponsored the Endangered Languages
    Project at the School of Oriental African
    Studies, University of London (see www.hrelp.org)
    the two projects complement each other
  • LRCF is providing 10 million to the BL over the
    next 8-10 years

3
Objectives of EAP
  • To contribute to the preservation of mankinds
    documentary heritage, particularly in those
    regions of the emerging world where collections
    may be more at risk and where the availability of
    funding may be limited (i.e. principally not
    Western Europe and North America)
  • To heighten awareness of the problem of
    endangered archives and so encourage other
    initiatives both public and private - to combat
    their loss and destruction
  • To help foster professional standards in the
    cataloguing, preservation, etc. of archives and
    so assist in safeguarding the longer-term
    availability and accessibility of heritage
    collections world-wide

4
Why Endangered Archives? (1)
  • Documentary heritage reflects the diversity of
    languages, peoples and cultures. It is the
    mirror of the world and its memory. But this
    memory is fragile. Every day, irreplaceable
    parts of this memory disappear for ever. UNESCO
    Memory of the World Programme
  • While the appreciation of the importance of
    archives may never have been greater, there is a
    growing awareness that archives around the globe
    are in danger. At the 2004 ICA Congress, 2,000
    delegates from 116 countries discussed how better
    to preserve the worlds documentary heritage
  • Archives are endangered both by the actions of
    mankind and by the forces of nature fire,
    flood, earthquake, hurricane, etc.
  • War may have catastrophic consequences for
    archives as we saw on TV in documents scattered
    on the ground from the burnt-out National Library
    and Archives building in Baghdad

5
Why Endangered Archives? (2)
  • There are problems of fragility and in-built
    obsolescence associated with the physical formats
    to which we have entrusted our documentary
    heritage
  • Archives not kept under a proper legal system may
    be susceptible to neglect or destruction
    political ideology can impact directly on
    archives Archives are fundamental to ensuring
    the survival of truth, memory and justice. (ICA)
  • Lack of professional training coupled with lack
    of resources can often pose a threat the
    unintentional can be the most damaging sheer
    neglect of documentary heritage for want of
    awareness of its significance
  • And lastly perhaps the most insidious threat
    gradual cultural homogenisation, aka the
    McDonaldisation of world culture

6
Not All Doom and Gloom
  • At Timbuktu in Mali various projects have
    combined to preserve a large part of its
    important medieval Islamic heritage
  • At the Great Mosque of Sanaa (Yemen) some of the
    earliest known vellum and paper Quran fragments
    have been recovered
  • At the monastery of Tabo on the India-China
    border, an Austrian-led project has been piecing
    together manuscripts from an otherwise lost
    tradition of Western Tibetan Buddhism
  • The Nepal German Manuscript Preservation Project
    has concentrated on the Sanskrit heritage of the
    country
  • In Bangkok the Fragile Palm Leaves Project to
    preserve Buddhist manuscripts has been underway
    for a decade

7
What is EAPs Particular Scope?
  • Preserving the worlds documentary heritage is an
    enormous and long-term task EAP can only make a
    small contribution
  • It therefore focuses on archives relating
    primarily but not exclusively to
    pre-modern/pre-industrial societies - the
    relevant time period will vary from society to
    society
  • Any theme will be considered across arts and
    humanities, social sciences, and traditional
    sciences, technology and medicine
  • Any regional interest will be considered, but
    particularly relating to non-Western societies
    Asia, Africa, Latin America, etc.
  • Private collections are a particular focus as at
    even more risk than those already in publicly
    accessible archives but even national archives
    are being supported

8
How Does EAP Define Archives?
  • EAP has taken the broadest possible
    interpretation of the term to embrace
  • Rare printed sources (books, serials, newspapers,
    ephemera)
  • Manuscripts (in any language)
  • Visual materials (drawings, paintings, prints,
    posters, photographs)
  • Audio or video recordings and film
  • Digital data
  • Other objects and artefacts - but NB only where
    they are found in close association with a
    documentary archive

9
How Does EAP Achieve Its Objectives?
  • Primarily by annual awards of research grants (up
    to a guideline of 50K p.a.) to individual
    researchers or librarians/archivists to locate
    significant collections, arrange their transfer
    to a suitable local archival home, make surrogate
    copies (microfilm or digital), and deliver those
    copies to the British Library
  • Grants (up to 10K usually) are also available
    for pilot projects to investigate the survival
    of archival collections in a discrete region, on
    a specific subject, or in a particular format,
    and to assess the feasibility of their recovery
  • Initially also by annual awards of bursaries to
    enable overseas archivists and librarians (4
    p.a.) to take up short-term work attachments at
    the BL (up to 6 months) in their area(s) of
    professional interest

10
EAP and Preservation versus Access
  • Ultimately EAPs emphasis is on access rather
    than preservation
  • EAP does not fund the physical conservation of
    original materials on any large scale (except the
    minimum necessary for good-quality copying to be
    achieved whether that be microfilming or
    digital photography)
  • If we funded original conservation then our grant
    (though generous) would not stretch very far
    EAP would fail to achieve the sponsors declared
    aim of raising awareness re the dangers to mans
    cultural diversity world-wide
  • We set minimum technical standards of copying
    most of it is done in the field by academics
    not by trained digitisers from a library or
    archives background we take a pragmatic
    approach

11
What Are the British Librarys Responsibilities
under EAP?
  • To administer EAP on a day-to-day basis to
    introduce modifications as appropriate - and to
    oversee its future development
  • To receive and retain the surrogate copies of all
    the collections rescued under EAP our operating
    principle is that no original archival material
    should leave its home country
  • To document those collections and make them
    freely accessible to researchers (on-site
    initially, selectively through the web possibly
    later)
  • To seek partnerships with library and archival
    consortia world-wide to facilitate the
    dissemination of those collections into the
    international research domain

12
What Has Been Achieved So Far?
  • EAP was successfully launched in October 2004
  • An International Advisory Panel of academics and
    archivists was established to evaluate proposals
    and award research grants
  • 4 criteria set against which research proposals
    judged urgency of the archival situation /
    vulnerability of materials / research
    significance of collection(s) / feasibility of
    what is proposed
  • Bursary programme also set up 4 bursary holders
    (2 from India, 1 from Turkey, 1 from Poland)
    completed their attachments in BL
  • Project pages set up on the BL web-site
    explaining what grants are available and how to
    apply following the guidelines provided and using
    on-line forms

13
Analysis of Grant Applications Received in Year 2
  • 63 preliminary grant applications received, 27
    rejected and 36 invited to submit full proposals
    (year 1 figures were 51 / 17 / 34)
  • Region of applicant 7 based in North America, 12
    UK and Western Europe, 4 in Asia, 4 in South
    America, 1 in Australia and Micronesia, 2 from
    Africa, 4 from Eastern Europe and Russia, and 2
    from Middle East, 0 from Central America
    Caribbean (year 1 figures were 11 / 11 / 4 / 2 /
    2 / 2 / 1 / 1 / 0)
  • 10 proposals focussed on collections in Asia, 11
    in Africa, 1 in UK and Western Europe, 4 in South
    America, 4 in Eastern Europe, 1 in Micronesia, 2
    in Central America Caribbean, 3 in Middle East
    (year 1 figures were 12 / 8 / 6 / 4 / 2 / 2 / 0 /
    0)
  • Most applications are based around manuscript and
    archives collections but photographs and sound
    are also featuring well

14
What Kind of Collections is EAP Helping to
Preserve?
  • Archives of minority peoples in China Chile
  • 20th-century political papers in Liberia, East
    Timor Yap
  • Photographic collections in Iran, Laos, Siberia
    Argentina
  • Newspapers and periodicals in Urdu Nepali
  • Sound archives in the Balkans, Russia Iran
  • Church archives in Tanzania Ecuador
  • Manuscripts in Marathi (India), Tibetan (Bhutan
    China) Indonesian
  • Official records in National Archives of Georgia,
    Tuvalu St Nevis

15
What Changes Have We Made?
  • The web-pages have been enhanced with details
    and images of projects supported also summaries
    of EAP provided in French, German, Spanish,
    Russian and Arabic
  • All documentation guidelines, terms and
    conditions, application forms - revised in light
    of the first years administrative experience
  • Biggest change the separate bursary strand has
    been scrapped due to difficulties encountered
    both in processing non-EU bursary holders and in
    securing placements within BL
  • BUT the aim of assisting professional
    capacity-building has not been abandoned now to
    be incorporated into the research grant strand to
    encourage the employment and training of local
    staff

16
What Do We Need To Do Next?
  • Improve the balance within EAPs world-wide reach
    with more targeted promotional activities
    certain academic constituencies are well aware of
    EAP (e.g., Sub-Saharan Africanists, South
    Americanists, Tibetologists) others are not yet
    (e.g. Middle East and Caribbean specialists)
  • Develop the EAP web-pages further listing the
    collections received at BL once the projects
    supported send in their results and possibly
    mounting some material on the web
  • Build up EAPs institutional links so that access
    is internationalised already preliminary
    negotiations with the Center for Research
    Libraries, Chicago Link with UNESCOs Memory of
    the World now established through the
    International Advisory Panel membership

17
How You Can Help
  • Principally by spreading the word about the
    Programmes existence to all your academic
    contacts, web discussion lists, library users,
    enquirers, and librarian/archivist contacts and
    putting them in touch (endangeredarchives_at_bl.uk)
  • By letting us know of any collections that are
    endangered for whatever reason both those in
    public institutions but particularly those in
    private ownership AND
  • By watching EAPs web-pages at www.bl.uk/endangere
    darchives for news of award timetables and any
    changes in scope as EAP develops
  • The call for the third round of research grant
    applications will be made in September 2006
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