Groot Onderhoud IV, 14 oktober 2014 | Rachael Corver, First World War 100
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Rachael Corver Head of Marketing & Communications The National Archives (UK)
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In 2014 stond de vierde editie van het Groot Onderhoud, het jaarlijke ontmoetingsmoment van de cultureel-erfgoedsector, in het teken van 'beeldvorming over cultureel erfgoed in de media’. Op 14 oktober kwamen honderden erfgoedwerkers samen in Flagey, Brussel. Een volledig verslag vindt u op www.hetgrootonderhoud.be
Transcript of Groot Onderhoud IV, 14 oktober 2014 | Rachael Corver, First World War 100
Rachael CorverHead of Marketing & CommunicationsThe National Archives (UK)
First World War, the media and the National Archives
• About us and our First World War programme
• What we can offer the media
• What we seek from the media
• What we’ve learned from the centenary so far
Q: What do these people have in common?
A: They all have records in the National Archives
11 million ‘records’Based in Kew, South West LondonThe official archives of the UK state
1,000 years of public recordsAvailable onsite and online
WWW.nationalarchives.gov.ukOver 2 million visits per month
One of the largest First World War collections in the world
Our First World War collection: from War Office to western front
‘The Big Four’ in 1919 British ‘Tommies’ eat their rations
Generals survey the trenches
Technology: designs, policy and early use
‘British’ records cover more than the UK
Battle of Tanga, Africa, November 1914
1.5 million Indians served
Sykes-Picot map of Middle East, 1916
Belgian First World War refugees in Richmond
(L) Pelabon munitions factory in Twickenham, Richmond upon Thames(R)First World War era Belgian shops in St Margaret's, Richmond upon Thames
Our MH8 series covers hundreds of thousands of refugees who spent the war in Britain then returned to Belgium
First World War 100: 2014-2019
• Opening up the records – digitisation, cataloguing, online
• Unit War diaries (1.5 million pages)
• Operation War Diary
• Partnerships
• Volunteer projects
• Public talks and events
• Schools programme
• Web resources
• Media
Our media objectives
• Raise awareness of our collection and of our institution• Increase understanding of the value of archives • Market our First World War 100 programme• Encourage new archive users• Attract international users online• Recruit volunteers for archive projects especially crowdsourcing• Build new partnerships especially with media
Quotes and personal passages helped bring them to life- radio and tv dramatise them
An ‘official’ rather than a personal historyBut we still found plenty of ‘human interest’
War Diaries launch: January 2014
Launching First World War 100: unit war diaries
Most successful media launch in our historyBeginning of our busiest ever six months
•447 media clips•BBC Breakfast, BBC News 24•BBC World Service •Channel 4 News•ITV News•Sky News•BBC Radio 4 •ITV Good Morning Britain
Our website and call centre under pressure
It helps if you are first with a topic.
Archive projects with personal stories worked well for the media
Images can make the story…
…but finding and digitising them takes time and effort
Quirky stories kept our war diaries in the media
International media
Tailored stories to international mediaEurope: Irish TimesUS: New York Times, Huffington Post, Harpers Bazaar, NPR Radio
ABC World NewsAsia: Times of India, Japan Times, Asian Age, South China Morning
PostMiddle East: Gulf News, Arab News, Al JazeeraAustralasia: New Zealand Herald, Sydney Morning Herald, The Age
“The archivists found the case of John Gordon Shallis, a 19-year-old carpenter, particularly moving. His mother had broken her leg in a fall soon after learning that her first and second sons had died in the war; she was in hospital when she learned that the third son was dead too. By the time the tribunal sat a fourth had died. Shallis's appeal was allowed.”
Personal stories: so what happened next?
Lessons learned
Not used to the media spotlight – media training, senior buy-in, coordination between departmentsIdentify the right content – research is steady, meticulous workLimited capacity– can’t always say ‘yes’, let the collection leadPersonal vs official record – manage expectationsLinks between then and now –very important in the mediaHandle with care – families of soldiers still aliveGet the message right – neither commemoration nor celebration Media and fragile documents don’t mix – limit access and create dedicated filming spaceIncreased media = increased enquiries about everything - consider effects of a successful programme on wider institution
Beyond First World War
• Increased media across the board – press cuttings bill have tripled• New archive users and visitors – records broken for document downloads• Media has supported volunteer recruitment• Partnerships - higher profile means more open doors• New media relationships - good foundation to build on
