A National Strategy for Business Archives in Scotland: encouraging new kinds of engagement

Kiara King, Ballast Trust Archivist

Vision

Business archives in Scotland will become even more valuable, representative of economic activity and innovation,

accessible to all and supported and developed by strong networks and partnerships

Business Archives in Scotland

• Scotland has rich business archive collections

• Status of business archives stronger than elsewhere in the UK? Is this true and why?

• A holistic approach to collecting business archives

• Role of the Surveying Officer since 1977 (recently re-established in 2014)

• Tradition of strong sector support and partnership working led by BACS, National Records of Scotland, the National Register of Archives for Scotland and the University of Glasgow and recently Scottish Council on Archives

• Advantages of being a small country

What does our engagement look like?

Online Presence

www.scottisharchives.org.uk/businessarchives

Case Studies

Guidance & Training

• Meet the Archivists• BACS/ARA Training Days

• Financial records• Technical records• Photographic records

• Training for museum colleagues on archives management

• Sessions with HATII and CAIS students

The Working Archive

The Working Archive campaign aimed to encourage archives, their users and the public at large to celebrate the heritage of

Scotland’s businesses; the records of the products and services they delivered; and the legacy of working Scots of all kinds - whether in business, farming, healthcare, education,

the church or government.

• 62,000 website views• c. 60% of archives participated• Visit from Cabinet Secretary for

Culture and External Affairs to exhibit at National Records of Scotland

• 150 images of working lives submitted

• Participation in awareness day at Scottish Parliament

Social Media: Twitter & Blogging

@workingarchivewww/workingarchive.wordpress.com

Explore Your Archives

Repurposed case study content and images using ‘explore’ templates

Allowed us to easily participate in UK national awareness campaign

Gave case studies a second life

Events & Exhibitions

Scots at Work, May 2013

SCA’s Business Archive Day at the Scottish Parliament

Reporting: Year 2 Review

Implementation Group

• Essential to engage with our own implementers and wider stakeholders

• Active and dynamic group keeps strategy moving forward into our 4th year

Challenges

• Implementing a strategy without a dedicated strategy officer

• Securing buy-in from archives

• Engaging with the right audiences…

• Connecting with business

• Digital records

Plans & Priorities

• Records at Risk & targeting Insolvency Practitioners

• Toolkit for engaging with academics

• Joint working with English & Welsh strategy

• Chambers of Commerce

• Corporate responsibility indices

5 year strategy

Thanks

www.scottisharchives.org.uk/businessarchives

@workingarchive