Agenda item

Report from the Strategic Director of Regeneration and Environment.

Recommendations:

1.    That Cabinet approve the Archives and Local Studies Collections Management Policy 2024 (Appendix 1).

2.    That Cabinet approve the delegation to the Assistant Director of Culture, Sport and Tourism in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Social Inclusion for any future minor or legislative changes to the Collections Policy. Should a full update to the policy be required it will return to Cabinet for approval,

3.    That Cabinet approve an annual closure week in March and September to enable the service to undertake important and necessary administrative collections management work. 

Consideration was given to the report which set out the updated Collections Management and Access Policy for the Rotherham Archives and Local Studies. As a recognised Place of Deposit under the Public Records Act 1958, Rotherham Archives and Local Studies was required to resubmit an application under the Archives Accreditation Scheme. This Scheme was the UK standard for archive services maintained by The National Archives and defined good practice and supported the ongoing development of archive services across the country. A successful Archives Accreditation application was essential not only for members of the public but also for future funders and partners, who could have confidence in the delivery of this Service.

Rotherham Archives and Local Studies was successful with its application for Archives Accreditation in 2019. A mid-term review in 2022 demonstrated the service’s progress on recommendations identified within the application. The Service was due to reapply for Archives Accreditation in March 2025.

The Archives and Local Studies Collection Policies were last approved in 2018 for the last Archives Accreditation application. An interim update was done in 2022 and was approved by the Museums, Arts and Heritage Manager. However, approval by Cabinet was required for the next full Archive Accreditation return. Following January 2023 Cabinet, the policies were published as four individual policies (Collections Development Policy; Collections Information Policy; Care and Conservation Policy; Access Policy) as set out in paragraph 2.1.2.

The new Archives and Local Studies Collections Management and Access Policy rationalised these four polices creating a single Collections Management and Access Policy which covered the above requirements and took on board the areas for improvement recommended in the recent Museum Collection Audit. It would also include a further four policies, which operated previously as procedural guidelines but were more appropriate to become part of the consolidated Collections Management and Access Policy. These included the Cataloguing Policy; the Digital Preservation Policy; the Digitalisation Policy; and the Reprographics Policy, as set out in paragraph 2.1.3.

To implement the Archives Collection Management Policy, the Service required two annual closure weeks spaced throughout the year. The closure weeks enabled the staff team to focus on undertaking important and necessary back of house collections management work including stocktaking and cataloguing. This involved closing the Archives and Local Studies Search Room at Clifton Park Museum to the public and pausing the remote enquiry service for the two weeks. The proposed weeks would be in March and September each year.

Resolved:

That Cabinet:

1.    That Cabinet approve the Archives and Local Studies Collections Management Policy 2024 (Appendix 1).

2.    Approve the delegation to the Assistant Director of Culture, Sport and Tourism in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Social Inclusion for any future minor or legislative changes to the Collections Policy. Should a full update to the Policy be required it will return to Cabinet for approval.

3.    That Cabinet approve an annual closure week in March and September to enable the service to undertake important and necessary administrative collections management work.