CAFED00Ds and CAFEBABEs
Wouldn’t it be cool if every digital file created could be identified with a signature or ‘magic number’ of some kind? This would make preservation, and the concept of knowing what you’ve got in order...
View ArticleBeyond paper: The digital trail
In June, we hosted a discussion between Professor Lisa Jardine CBE and Professor the Lord Hennessy of Nympsfield sub-titled ‘openness and the national collective memory’. The distinguished historians...
View ArticleOpening Up Archives: Introducing Trainee Tuesdays
Opening Up Archives, now in its second year, is a collaborative project supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund, The National Archives, and a number of host organisations across the country. You’ll be...
View ArticleBe Not Afraid: help is at hand for archivists
As a sector, archives are well aware of the impact of the changing way we record and share information. The digital challenge is something that concerns us all. However, it may seem almost too daunting...
View ArticleBeyond paper: The digital trail – updated
On Thursday 30 August, we hosted a Twitter chat @UkNatArchives to talk about issues around digital archives. You can read more about the background to the #digtaltrail in our previous post Beyond...
View ArticleTrainee Tuesday: Tales from the Dark Archive
Checksums, dark archives, OAIS, trusted storage and ingest packages. No, these are not the vital components to some epic science fiction novel – although they are all terms that were completely alien...
View ArticleTrainee Tuesday: Digital Preservation is for everyone!
As part of my Opening Up Archives traineeship at the West Yorkshire Archive Service, I am looking into the world that is Digital Preservation. Similar to a fellow trainee, my knowledge of digital...
View ArticleDastardly Digital Dilemmas: 4) Perfect circle(s)
We have the answer. The answer to how to effectively manage your digital information. And the answer is in the questions. Three questions. It’s that easy. Seriously. OK, bear with me a moment. At its...
View ArticleChristmas in the UK Government Web Archive
A sign in the supermarket yesterday advised me that there were only eight sleeps until Christmas. With that in mind it seemed like a good time to write a post with a festive theme. The image above is...
View ArticleFinding the gold amongst the stones
Dear Information Agony Aunt I need to start appraising my organisation’s digital information. There are several hundred thousand records and I don’t have the time to go through each individual record...
View ArticleTrainee Tuesday: When archivists and technology collide!
In the past few months, I have been spreading awareness of digital preservation via a workshop and the notion that digital material, like a word document or excel spreadsheet, is also an archive via...
View ArticleDastardly Digital Dilemmas: 6) Heresy
OK, let’s get it out there. I don’t want to manage information. I really don’t. And I’m sure many of you out there will agree with me. I support government in managing information and ensuring the...
View ArticleIt’s not just about the technology…
Dear Information Agony Aunt Help! I’ve recently been given the task of managing digital continuity within my organisation. The thing is I haven’t got a clue where to start. My organisation holds 15+...
View ArticleAll by myself?
Dear Information Agony Aunt I’m a newly appointed Information Manager. I’ve only been in my job a short time and already it seems like an insurmountable task. There is so much to do and for some of it...
View ArticleDigital records sensitivity review
The National Archives and The University of Glasgow have recently been successful in applying for funding from The University of Glasgow’s Knowledge Exchange fund. The project will see collaboration...
View ArticleSharing our knowledge far and wide
As Information Management Consultants we often get asked to share the knowledge and experience that we have built up through our work at The National Archives and with government departments. We do...
View ArticleIt’s beginning to feel a lot like…
Last week I popped into a supermarket to pick up some groceries and turned into an aisle looking for bread only to be confronted by a wall of mince pies....
View ArticleA punishment to fit the crime
I recall when I first started working as an Information Management Consultant at The National Archives back in 2005 I was learning about how to appraise records for historical value...
View ArticleCapturing culture in technology
Last week Head of Web Team Emma Allen and I attended a two-day conference at Google on Culture, Technology and Entrepreneurship. We listened to inspirational speakers from across the wide-ranging...
View ArticleBanish the January blues – be brave and get talking
Last week was book-ended for me by two outstanding events that break the mould and provide fresh perspectives on the job I do. Both were broadly about “digital”, but neither...
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