The BAC is proud to announce that the winner of the 2018 Wadsworth Prize for Business History is Marie Hicks for her book Programmed Inequality.

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The Henley Business School at Reading University is holding a workshop 28 February - 1 March 2019 on the subject of how organisations use and value their archives. Get more details here

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The winner of the John Armstrong Award for Transport Archives has been announced. The worthy winner is the Motorway Archive Trust held by Glamorgan Archives.  Read more about it! 

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The Business Archives Council's journals can be found online. Scanned and placed in a web interface by the SDS Heritage the pages have been refreshed. Take a look and browse content from the 1960s onwards.

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This year's AGM will be held on 14 November at The National Archives, Kew, London. The notification, nominations, minutes of last year's AGM and the 2017 annual report can be found on the AGM page.

The annual reports will also now be published on the website.

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Institutional Investors. The history of professional fund management is a conference organised by eabh in cooperation with Schroders and Banque Lombard Odier to be held on Friday 26 October 2018 in London.

Take a look at the programme and book your ticket.

 

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With World Digital Preservation Day (WDPD2018) on 29th November fast approaching, the Digital Preservation Coalition (DPC) invites the sharing of stories from your 'Digital Preservation Day.' 

Organized by the DPC and supported by digital preservation networks around the globe, World Digital Preservation Day is open to participation across all sectors, from anyone interested in securing digital legacy - members and non-members alike - and will showcase the daily activities of those involved with or contemplating digital preservation.

Suggestions are:

• Share a typical 'digital preservation day' on social media.
  
• Blog about digital preservation and send a link to be added to the WDPD2018 page.
  
• Hold and publicise a live event. Submit details to sarah.middleton@dpconline.org by 9 November and visit the What's On section of the DPC website.
  
• Submit case studies to the BitList by contacting sarah.middleton@dpconline.org by Friday 9 November.
  

This year's events will culminate in the Digital Preservation Awards 2018 in a spectacular awards ceremony in Amsterdam. This event will take place as part of the International ‘Teaching and Training in Digital Preservation’ Conference on 29^th and 30^th November, hosted by the Dutch Digital Heritage Network and the Amsterdam Museum. Registration for this event is now open.

Find out more on the DPC website or email sarah.middleton@dpconline.org

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Walgreens Boots Alliance archives have launched the second phase of their online catalogue. Launched in 2017 it has been supported by Wellcome through their Research Resources programme.

The catalogue currently comprises around two fifths of the total archive holdings with over 27,000 entries and 4,500 images. Over the next three years further additions will be made until the entire collection is incorporated. The majority of the catalogue relates to the Boots UK collection and the material charts the development of the business into large scale manufacturing, product development, research and healthcare and beauty retailing.

Also included within the collections are business records of Walgreens, Dollond and Aitchison, Optrex td, Timothy Whites and Taylors Ltd, Unichema nd E Moss Ltd.

Take a look for yourself.

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BAC are delighted to announce that the winner of the 2018 Grant for Business Archives related to the Arts is Iniva (Institute of International Visual Arts) for the cataloguing of its institutional archive collection.

Iniva (Institute of International Visual Arts) is an evolving, radical visual arts organisation dedicated to developing an artistic programme that reflects on the social and political impact of globalisation. Iniva was established with significant investment by Arts Council England in 1994, in response to years of campaigning for better representation of Black and Asian artists in British arts institutions.

As Iniva prepares to establish a dedicated archive space, as part of the Stuart Hall Library, it is a timely moment to catalogue its collection and make it available to the public. The archive collection comprises artist, exhibition and publication files as well as foundation documents, mission, strategy and policy records.

Find out more.

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On 29 November 2018 World Digital Preservation Day 2018 will bring together individuals and institutions from across the globe in celebration of their work in the field of digital preservation.

Organized by the Digital Preservation Coalition (DPC) and supported by digital preservation networks in all five continents, World Digital Preservation Day is open to participation across all sectors, from anyone interested in securing our digital legacy. 

World Digital Preservation Day aims to showcase the daily activities of those involved with or contemplating digital preservation. Data creators, curators and consumers from around the world will be invited to share their own ‘Digital Preservation Day’ through blog posts on the DPC website, tweets and instagrams using the hashtag #WDPD2018. 

This year, an exciting addition to the World Digital Preservation Day program will see the culmination of the Digital Preservation Awards in a spectacular awards ceremony in Amsterdam. This event will take place as part of an International Conference for World Digital Preservation Day hosted by the Dutch Digital Heritage Network and the Amsterdam Museum.

First published by the DPC on International Digital Preservation Day 2017, the Bit List of Digitally Endangered Species will also make a return this year with an updated edition containing the latest information on at risk digital materials.

To get involved visit the World Digital Preservation Day page on the DPC website, follow the hashtag #WDPD2018 on Twitter for updates or contact sarah.middleton@dpconline.org for more details.

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‘Can you believe it…? Business Archives and trust’

This year the Business Archives Council (BAC) conference will be a joint two day event with the Section on Business Archives of the International Council on Archives (SBA ICA).

It will be held at The National Archives in Kew on the 14 and 15 November and will be on the critical theme of ‘Trust’:

Over the two days we will explore trust in the record, both paper and digital; trust in the information service and how to operate a trustworthy service; trust in the business, in light of the many recent corporate scandals; and whether trust is different across borders?

We are delighted to announce that the BAC will be providing five bursaries for aspiring archives and records management professionals.

In order to apply you:

•             Do not need to be a member of the BAC

•             Must not be in full-time employment

•             Must be interested in pursuing a career in archives and records management

Find out more.

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‘Can you believe it…? Business Archives and trust’

This year the Business Archives Council (BAC) conference will be a joint two day event with the Section on Business Archives of the International Council on Archives (SBA ICA).

It will be held at The National Archives in Kew on the 14 and 15 November and will be on the critical theme of ‘Trust’.

Over the two days we will explore trust in the record, both paper and digital; trust in the information service and how to operate a trustworthy service; trust in the business, in light of the many recent corporate scandals; and whether trust is different across borders?

Find out more and how to book.

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The BAC is pleased to announce the winner of this year's Cataloguing Grant - the Clevedon Pier and Heritage Trust Ltd (CP&H Trust Ltd). The Clevedon Pier Archive is a good example of a complex business archive collection, reflecting the Pier having been owned by several businesses and other organisations, both private and public over the course of its existence since its beginnings in 1864.

Find out more.

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The Digital Preservation Coalition has launched its prospectus for the coming year. The program contains a range of new and returning publications, webinars, specialist briefing days, as well as other activities on a range of priority topics within digital preservation. 

The activities respond to real and current issues experienced by the digital preservation community, and aim provide the information and skills to respond positively and effectively.

Responding directly to the call for greater advocacy support, 2018-2019 sees the return of a training event on the subject. While a working party of members will develop a new advocacy resource with the support of UNESCO and the PERSIST project; the Executive Guide on Digital Preservation is due for completion and launch in January 2019.

The program retains the ever-popular ‘Getting Started with …’ and ‘Making Progress with Digital Preservation’ roadshows, with a European stop planned within the 12 months. And this year the student conference ‘What I Wish I Knew Before I Started’ will also take to the road, with plans to call at three locations in the UK and Ireland.

DPC members receive free-of-charge priority access to events and publications.

Read more: https://dpconline.org/news/dpc-prospectus-2018-2019  and more information about joining the DPC

 

 

 

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The Museums Association Annual Conference and Exhibition will take place in Belfast on 8-10 November 2018. This year's theme is Dissent: Inspiring Hope, Embracing Change - having the courage to challenge traditional thining to transform museums and society.

Early bird booking ends on 20 August. For more information and to book a place see www.museumsassociation.org/conference

 

 

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The Business Archives Council (BAC) is delighted to announce that a special, one-off cataloguing grant, The John Armstrong Award for Transport Archives, is OPEN for applications. 

The grant for £4,000 is jointly funded by a bequest from the late John Armstrong and the BAC, and is for the cataloguing of transport-related business archives.  

Find out more.

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The London Tea History Association was formed to commemorate the importance of the history of tea in London. Visit the website to find out more about their activities, and news including their second newsletter, and how you can get involved.

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After providing over £12,000 of support for UK cultural heritage institutions and business archives to digitise their holdings in its first two years, the TownsWeb Archiving Digitisation Grant has returned once more in 2018, for its third year.

The Grant has funding awards of up to £5000 available to help archives, museums, libraries and galleries digitise and open up access to their collections. Any UK heritage organisation is welcome to apply for the funding, simply by completing and submitting the Grant application form. As in previous years, each bid will be scored across three core criteria: heritage need, social and community impact, and research impact. 

As in previous years, applications will be assessed by a three-strong judging panel made up of John Chambers, chief executive of the Archives & Records Association; Claire Adler, independent HLF mentor and heritage consultant; and Paul Sugden, lead digitisation consultant at TownsWeb Archiving. 

The deadline for TWA Digitisation Grant applications is 12th July 2018. Find out how to apply and read more details at: https://www.townswebarchiving.com/twa-digitisation-grant/

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With just over a month left to submit nominations, do not miss the opportunity for recognition at the most prominent celebration of achievement for those people and organizations who have made significant and innovative contributions to securing the digital legacy!

Send your Digital Preservation Awards nominations by 09:00 am (BST) on Monday 30^th July to be in with a chance of being named the best in your field of expertise.

Entry to the Digital Preservation Awards is free and open to all, apply now!

In 2018, five awards categories are offered as follows, alongside the Digital Preservation Coalition (DPC) Fellowship Award:

• Award for Research and Innovation which recognizes excellence in practical research and innovation activities. The award includes a cash prize of £1000, a trophy and certificates.
• Award for Teaching and Communications, recognizing excellence in outreach, training and advocacy. The award includes a cash prize of £1000, a trophy and certificates.
• Award for the Most Distinguished Student Work in Digital Preservation, encouraging and recognizing student work in digital preservation. The prize includes attendance at an international conference, a trophy and a certificate.
• Award for Safeguarding the Digital Legacy, which celebrates the practical application of preservation tools to protect at-risk digital objects. The award includes a cash prize of £1000, a trophy and certificates.
• Award for the Most Outstanding Digital Preservation Initiative in Commerce, Industry and the Third sector, encouraging and recognizing the adoption of digital preservation tools and approaches in institutions which are not explicitly memory institutions. The award includes a cash prize of £1000, a trophy and certificates.

Please check the criteria for each of the categories and the rules of entry carefully before submitting your nomination to one of these categories.

This year the exciting process will culminate in a spectacular awards ceremony in Amsterdam, as part of an International Conference hosted by the Dutch Digital Heritage Network and the Amsterdam Museum on World Digital Preservation Day (previously International Digital Preservation Day) on Thursday 29th November 2018.

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Thanks to the support of Art Fund, Sporting Heritage are able to offer organisations and community groups the opportunity to access funding as part of our annual celebration of sporting heritage - National Sporting Heritage Day 2018 (30th September).  

This programme will support increased engagement with local sporting heritage collections which tell the story and stories of sporting activity, heroes, and endeavour.  

Deadline for applications is 29th June 2018. For more information visit the website here: https://www.sportingheritage.org.uk/content/news/national-sporting-heritage-day/community-grants

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In a 2-year partnership starting in August 2018 the Digital Preservation Coalition (DPC) has begun a new project which will establish a program of work for digital preservation at the Nuclear Decommissioning Agency (NDA) in the UK, enabling also a significant expansion of the DPC’s capacity to deliver for members

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The DPC invites Members and the wider community to So Long, and Thanks for All the Bits: Migrating Your Data Between Repositories on 3 July in York. This briefing day explores the journey of migrating content to a new preservation repository system – from choosing an application with a robust exit strategy to extracting valuable data from legacy systems. The day will feature speakers from various institutions, as well as demonstrations by a selection of repository vendors. In the afternoon, participants will join in a workshop session to explore and exchange approaches with other practitioners. 

DPC Members only are also invited an evening of 2 July in York (evening before the briefing day), for a meeting of Digital Preservationists Anonymous. This will entail an evening of frank discussions about digital preservation challenges among a supportive community of peers at a nearby watering hole.

Both the briefing day and meeting of Digital Preservationists Anonymous are expected to be popular and limited seats are available. Please register as soon as possible to reserve a place. For the briefing day, DPC Members please use the code DPCMEMBER when booking to waive the event fee on Ticket Tailor. For Digital Preservationists Anonymous DPC Members must log in to the DPC website in order to register.

For more information and to register, please go to the DPC Events page.

 

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As a result of the generosity of Sir Peter Thompson, former Chairman of the National Freight Corporation, and the Wellcome Foundation, the BAC has instituted a trust fund, the income from which is used to offer annually a bursary to help an individual to further their research into business history through the study of specific business archives. In 2018 the value of the award will be up to £1000.

Find out how to apply.

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We are thrilled to announce that the annual BAC conference will this year be a joint two day event with the International Council on Archives Section for Business Archives (ICA SBA).

Welcoming the news, Mike Anson, Chair of the BAC said “We have been discussing the possibility of a collaboration between the BAC and SBA for some time and I’m delighted that this is now going ahead. I am looking forward to meeting business archivists from around the world in London in November.”

Alexander Bieri, Chair of SBA said "The Section on Business Archives of the International Council on Archives has profited for many decades from the strong support of its members from the United Kingdom; our colleagues in Britain have pioneered the international collaboration amongst business archives. It makes us particularly happy that we now have the opportunity to join forces with the Business Archives Council for exploiting the theme "trust" which is at the core of all successful business archives."

It will be held at The National Archives in Kew on the 14 and 15 November and will be on the critical theme of ‘Trust’.

More details will be added over the next few months so keep an eye out.

We hope you can join us.

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This year the Business Archives Council is pleased to announce that it has increased its annual cataloguing grant for business archives relating to the arts to £4000.

The grant is now open. The deadline for applications is 26 July 2018.

Find out more.

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The Digital Preservation Oxford and Cambridge (DPOC) project in collaboration with the Digital Preservation Coalition (DPC) has developed a short survey intended to gather information from collecting and research organisations around the world who have a remit to manage digital content. The survey has a particular focus on staffing resources, but also briefly covers policy, strategy, and maturity modelling.

It is recognised that concrete information for benchmarking institutions against their peers - particularly in regards to maturity and staffing resources - is required by those looking to make the case for digital preservation within their organisations. The survey is interested in obtaining figures from institutions around the world, particularly outside of the USA, regardless of an institution’s size or whether any digital preservation effort has already commenced.

To fill in the survey follow the link: 

https://cambridge.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_brWr12R8hMwfIOh

The survey should take between 10-20 minutes to complete. Deadline for survey responses is 31 May 2018. Anonymised raw data will be shared via the DPOC website for all in the digital preservation community to use, in August 2018: http://www.dpoc.ac.uk/

Any questions about the survey can be directed to: digitalpreservation@lib.cam.ac.uk

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Registration is now open for the Digital Preservation Coalition’s 2018 ‘Getting Started with Digital Preservation’ workshop series, which will visit Glasgow, London, and Dublin.

The workshop is designed to equip collection managers, archivists, librarians and conservators with the skills necessary for ‘Getting Started in Digital Preservation. This day-long introduction assumes no prior knowledge except a willingness to engage with digital preservation. Through a series of presentations, case studies and exercises, participants will learn how to apply techniques of assessment, risk management and planning to help secure their digital collections.

The workshops will be held: Glasgow University Library, Glasgow, 24^th May; Information Technologists’ Hall, London, 1^st June; and Berkeley Library, Trinity College Dublin, 7^th June.

Registration is free for members of the DPC and £50 for non-members.

Find out more about the events and register via the DPC website: http://bit.ly/EventsDPC

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The Managing Business Archives website has had a refresh to make the content easier to read on mobile devices.

Take a look.

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This year the Business Archives Council is pleased to announce that it has increased its annual cataloguing grant for business collections to £4000.

The grant is now open. The deadline for applications is 25 June 2018.

Find out more.

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The Digital Preservation Coalition and the Software Preservation Network are jointly hosting a webinar series on software preservation.

The series will examine several software preservation contexts including collection development, reuse cases, scholarly communication, scaling programs within and across organizations, and software preservation legal challenges.

Starting on 25^th April, running for 6 weeks, each webinar is free and will last 45 minutes. Register and find out more.

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After the success of Sporting Heritage's 2017 conference in Bradford, this year's event takes place at the Merseyside Maritime Museum in Liverpool on the 14th and 15th November 2018. Aiming to better share and understand the role and value of sporting heritage, the conference theme is a celebration and sharing of the impact of sporting heritage across a wide range of agendas.

Sporting Heritage are looking for contributions to the conference which echo this theme and help to generate a wide understanding of the role and value of sporting heritage - this could be in the form of case studies, policy contexts, or discussion papers. For more information please visit the website: https://www.sportingheritage.org.uk/content/new-contributions/call-contributions

To book a place at the conference visit the website: https://www.sportingheritage.org.uk/content/news/sporting-heritage-conference-2018/2018-conference-booking

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BAC Cataloguing Grant Winner 2017, the British Motor Industry Heritage Trust (BMIHT) have now placed the archives of Lucas Industries Company online via The National Archives' Discovery search facility.

Find out more about the collection.

Read the lcoal press coverage in the Stratford-Upon-Avon Herald.

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Call for papers for the London and Middlesex Archaeological Society (LAMAS) Local History Conference “An Emporium for many Nations”: London shaped by trade to be held 17 November 2018.

The aim of this one-day conference is to investigate and explore the history of ‘trade’ in Greater London, in all its various forms, and across different periods in history. LAMAS are seeking proposals from local historians, academics, postgraduate students, and anyone with a scholarly interest in the history of trade in London for engaging and accessible talks or presentations of around 20-25 minutes.

Proposals comprising an abstract of no more than 500 words should be sent, preferably via e-mail, to John Price j.price@gold.ac.uk or via the Department of History, Goldsmiths University of London, New Cross, London, SE14 6NW.

The closing date for proposals is Monday 9 April 2018. Speakers will be selected and contacted by the end of May 2017.

Find out more.

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DHeritage, the University of Hertfordshire's unique Professional Doctorate in Heritage, is now in its fourth year. The programme enables heritage professionals working in the public and private sectors to reflect on the industry, broadly defined, and make an original contribution to knowledge and understanding in the field based on their professional practice.

Applications for the 2018/19 academic year are now being accepted. The deadline is 28 May for a September 2018 start.

Find out more.

 

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The British Records Association is pleased to announce that it is sponsoring a new prize, in memory of archivist Janette Harley (1951-2015). Janette was devoted to the BRA, which was a significant help to her during her early career. She remained a member throughout her life. At her death her family fulfilled her wish to bequeath a substantial sum to BRA. This new prize is intended to generate interest in archives, and raise awareness of research and achievements in the world of archives.

An annual prize of £350 will be awarded to individuals or organisations for the best/most original piece of work published in a monograph, journal or magazine, or otherwise made publicaly available (such as a blog), which has promoted "the preservation, understanding, accessibility or study of archives", the aims of the BRA.

Applications are welcomed from individuals, on their own behalf or on behalf of others, and from representatives of organisations. The prize will be available to anyone, including archivists, local historians, academics, genealogists and conservators.

Applicants must submit for consideration a specific peice of work which has been published or is available in the public domain (such as a blog), during the past three years (i.e. from 2015 onwards).

The deadline for applications for the inaugural prize is 30 June 2018. The prize will be awarded in October 2018.

Please visit the British Records Association website at the following link for further details on submitting an application:

http://www.britishrecordsassociation.org.uk/the-janette-harley-prize/

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The BAC has announced that it has increased its annual cataloguing grant for business collections to £4000 in 2018. The aim of the grant is to fund the cataloguing of a business collection in either the private or public sector, and to reach collections that have not yet been prioritised but have potential academic or socio-historical value.

The grant opens on 03 April 2018 and the deadline for applications is 25 June 2018.

Previous applicants are welcome to re-apply.  Please note that the BAC will not award a grant to the same institution within three years. This grant is administrated separately from the BAC cataloguing grant for business archives related to the Arts, which will be announced in due course.

Find out more about the grant criteria and how to apply here

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The Digital Preservation Coalition (DPC) welcomes RBS Archives as its newest Associate Member this week. 

RBS Archives manages the archive holdings of RBS and around 250 constituent and predecessor companies dating from the 1660s to the present day. In 2015 RBS Archives was the first business archive in Scotland to be awarded UK-wide Archive Service Accreditation status, and two of their collections are inscribed in UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register, in recognition of their national, international and cultural significance.

“We have been acquiring born-digital records for permanent preservation for over a decade and the team are looking to enhance, widen and develop our digital preservation programme in line with best practice,” explains RBS Head of Archives and Art, Ruth Reed.

“Through membership of the DPC and collaboration with other DPC members we hope to significantly improve our own professional and institutional knowledge, expertise and practice in the field of digital curation and to share our experience with other members.”

“We are delighted that RBS Archives has joined the DPC,” says Chair of the DPC Board and Head of Data Division for STFC, Juan Bicarregui. “RBS have always been active in the business archives community, so we are very pleased to have an opportunity collaborate with them on their preservation activities and to gain a new perspective on managing digital assets within a corporate environment.”

More about RBS Archives

More about DPC

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Sponsored by Jisc, the Digital Preservation Coalition has organized a free event ‘Shared Service and Common Purpose: Digital Preservation as Infrastructure’ a briefing day in London on 20 March 2018.

With volumes of data increasing, and budgets to manage these data unable to keep pace, investments in digital preservation must be strategic and targeted to ensure the best value for money more than ever before. To help organisations develop sustainable and cost-effective solutions that meet particular and distinct needs, they will first need to understand what is driving their investment and where it will have the most impact.

One solution for optimising the impact of such investments in digital preservation may be through sharing infrastructure, resources and effort among complementary institutions.

This open event is designed to share lessons learned about shared services in the context of research data management, and how these may be applied to groups of complementary organisations of every type, in every sector.

Find out more and Register

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Eabh in cooperation with Fondazione 1563 per l’Arte e la Cultura della Compagnia di SanPaolo and Compagnia di San Paolo 13 June 2018, Torino, Italy Financial History Review invites submissions of research papers from advanced PhD students and recent postdoctoral researchers (with less than five years from completing their PhD) in banking, financial and monetary history for a New Scholars Fast-Track Workshop to be held in Turin, Italy, on June 13, 2018. Papers on any topic and period are welcome. Co-authored papers are also eligible, provided that one of the authors meets the “new scholar” requirements.

Find out more.

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The 2017 BAC conference Change the Record took place on 21st November. Hosted by Harper Collins in their amazing office, The News Building, near London Bridge the day considered some of the changes affecting archives. Through speakers and discussion sessions attendees explored how the records themselves have developed, how this has affected their management, and finally how the use of records has changed. On the conference pages, the bursary winners, whose help ensured the smooth running of the conference, reflect on different parts of the day.

 

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