As recruitment for The National Archives’ User Advisory Group (UAG) opens, I wanted to share my experiences of being part of it over the past few years…
About five years ago there were murmurings in The National Archives that a group of users would be established, which would be involved with strategic decisions. After some initial discussions it was decided that each member of the group would represent a different type of ‘reader’ (that is, a user of The National Archives).
Having felt for some time that the readers in the Map and Large Document Room (many of whom used to visit the old Public Record Office in Chancery Lane) didn’t have a strong voice in making decisions about The National Archives, I expressed my interest in representing the Map Room. So, four years ago, the UAG was established, and I was very pleased to be chosen as one of the Map Room representatives. Over the years the UAG has developed and has now become a really good communication channel between users and The National Archives’ staff.
I am often asked what the UAG has achieved, and what I have personally done for the Map Room. I think the main achievement over the last four years has been the UAG’s contribution to the development of Discovery, the new catalogue. When the first version appeared, many features available in the old catalogue had been missed from Discovery. After some early conversations, we managed to ensure that the old online catalogue was not disposed of switched off before Discovery was running reasonably efficiently – so that they could run alongside each other during Discovery’s development. More recently, I would like to think that contributions from UAG members have made the incorporation of Access To Archives (A2A) and the Manorial Document Register into Discovery a little better than they might have been.
As far as the Map Room itself is concerned, my contribution is difficult to quantify -and at a physical level probably does not amount to more than a few extra desk lamps – but I would like to think that The National Archives will include Map Room users in any future developments. My refrain ‘what about the Map Room?’ can probably still be heard in the UAG conference room.
Generally I am very proud to spend so much of my time at The National Archives. I am an independent researcher specialising in Chancery records and other records dealing with property and land, particularly in the early modern period, at The National Archives and in archives all over the country. As a working space, I feel that the Map Room is good, mainly because of its flexibility and quiet academic atmosphere. There are suggestions that it might be made more ‘exciting’ but I hope that the next UAG Map Room representative will see that it does not become too exciting.
At a personal level, as with so many committees, the other members – both readers and The National Archives’ staff – are the real benefit of belonging to the group. Contact at a personal level with the Chief Executive and Keeper can only be helpful. I have made some good friends and have thoroughly enjoyed my time as a member of the UAG. It is a role I can thoroughly recommend to any Medieval and Early Modern specialist who spends time in the Map Room and wants to ensure that our needs are not overlooked.