Libraries & Archives : the Yin and Yang of Research

Cornish Studies Library
strong room

Last week, I visited Cornish Studies Library, with many of my library colleagues. Here they hold a large array of resources, all with a connection to Cornwall or Cornish history. The collection includes more than 30,000 books & pamphlets, over 30 local newspapers on microfilm and a collection of photographs reaching above 160,000 in total.

 

CSL (Cornish Studies Library) was once managed alongside the Cornwall County Council libraries but now works more closely with Cornwall Records Office. I was intrigued by the concept behind this Centre as it bridges the gap between libraries and archives. Their most common enquiries are those regarding family history and the history behind people’s houses, more akin to those we expect to come across in archives, but holds mainly published sources, as a library would.

 

In 2017 CSL will move to a shared site with the Cornwall Records Office and Scilly Historic Environment Records as part of a wider archive and local studies centre, Kresen Kernow. This will allow the user to conduct research into Cornish history using primary and secondary sources, side by side. This seems a very logical and intuitive idea which will simplify the research path for the user, by having everything under one roof available to them, with archive and library staff working alongside one another.

I would be very much interested to see the new arrangement once in place. This concept is arguably not too dissimilar from the position of our Archives situated inside Tremough Library. We often work closely with the campus Academic Liaison Librarians because we find we regularly direct students in their direction when we feel the Librarians may be able to offer suggestions for other resources that are available for the student to develop their research.

Our Special Collections further this relationship as both the Archive service and Library staff members have input into their care. For example, we may promote the collections through displays and Twitter, whilst the library staff will manage the processing and shelf rotation. There may also be a possibility in future that I will be more involved with the processing of these books, working alongside my library colleagues. 

With Archivists and Librarians facing similar challenges, such as working within the boundaries of copyright legislation and promoting access, it is extremely beneficial to keep these lines of communication open between the world of Libraries and the world of Archives. A traineeship in a Higher Education institution has been a perfect opportunity to encounter this and I hope that it will be something I can learn more about in my future career – how can the two professions work with each other to achieve similar goals? What can we learn from one another?

If anyone has worked within both libraries and archives themselves or have come across other centres which bridge this gap then it would be very interesting to hear your thoughts.

Cornish Archives Network (CAN)

Sarah and I recently attended a Cornish Archives Network (CAN) meeting at Trerice House.

Trerice is an Elizabethan manor house on the outskirts of Newquay which is the perfect setting for like-minded heritage enthusiasts. We all gathered around a long table in the Great Hall with a roaring fire and tea and cake - a wonderful experience!

CAN meetings are chaired by Cornwall Records Office and are designed for local Cornish Archives to connect with each other in order to keep one another informed on any collections and projects each other are working on. Most importantly, it also provides training and support for many of the smaller community archives and heritage groups who do not have a qualified Archivist and are seeking guidance on such things as copyright procedure and advisable packaging practices.

Although we do have an Archivist ourselves, I found it very useful to attend to learn more about the different resources locally that I could direct students and the public to when answering enquiries. CAN includes many small, volunteer-led local archives who will often focus their attention on the history of one particular aspect of Cornish history or a specific parish which could be an invaluable resource for specialised local research.

I did not know much about archive networks previously so it has given me a lot to think about how archives can reach out to one other through mutually beneficial connections, particularly between Archivists and volunteers who run archives.

And of course it was a good excuse for a peek round Trerice House!

 

 

Sir Tony Robinson

Sarah Jane, Tony Robinson and I

Archivist Sarah Jane and I were recently lucky enough to attend a talk given by Sir Tony Robinson at Cornwall Records Office in association with ancestry.co.uk about his interest in history and genealogy.

His talk gave an interesting perspective on digitised records and how it has transformed the way many people go about genealogical searches due to the introduction of such websites as ancestry.co.uk.

I especially enjoyed hearing about how he became interested in history through his father who fought in World War II and was fascinated by the subject himself. It is particularly inspiring how Tony did not study the subject further than O levels but he went on to become television’s best loved amateur historian through pure passion and enthusiasm.

His talk was also very amusing and included many anecdotes from his time with Blackadder and Time Team, as well as touching references to Mick Aston.


Tickets for the talk were well oversubscribed and this celebrity endorsement was great promotion for Cornwall Records Office. They are in the planning stages of building a much larger purpose-build history centre in Redruth to relocate to and this allowed staff a chance to have a chat with visitors after the talk about the plans and to gage some informal feedback.

Whist here the visitors were offered the chance for a tour of the strong rooms to see their extensive holdings. CRO holds over four miles of records and it was interesting to see an archive of such a scale. Some particular gems included a beautifully illustrated Elizabethan document and letters that belonged to John Couch Adams, the man who discovered Neptune.


Some of the many holdings at Cornwall Records Office

I really enjoyed my evening and it was interesting to think about how the way people go about genealogy searches is changing and how talks such as these are a great informal way for an archive like CRO to reach out and chat to those interested in new projects.