Co-operation is the Key [poster/contribution]

Author: Elizabeth Melrose,  North Yorkshire County Council. Business & Community Services (Information), United Kingdom

Fulltexts

Abstract

In times of limited resources, staff, finance and expertise in local heritage organisations are all at a premium. It makes sense for cultural institutions to collaborate in promoting their collections and, thereby, to foster public interest in the local history of their communities.

One of the most exciting ways of giving access to local history source material is through digitisation, both on CD-Roms and on the internet. Digitisation projects can be overwhelming to any one organisation, but not if supported by a team of partners. In North Yorkshire (England) a library service joined up with an archives service, a museum and other neighbouring library authorities to publish a website of digitised photos www.northyorks.gov.uk/unnetie, a CD-Rom and other publicity material.

With another project in progress, the archives and the library service is working together with representatives of the teachers in North Yorkshire (England) to produce a CD-Rom with a case study, that will inform schools and the education department as to what local studies information is held in libraries and the archives.

Lastly, the library service has linked with a commercial company to produce a website of digitised photographs of a North Yorkshire town and its area www.rowleycollection.co.uk collected over many years by a local historian.

Individually no one institution could be totally successful with any of these projects. The co-operating partners bring together their individual source material and discuss the projects from their differing historical backgrounds and disciplines. Everyone gains in experience. Digitisation has given the public new access to collections. The combination of co-operation and digitisation has been of advantage to everyone.

About the author

Elizabeth Anne Melrose, MA (Hons), Dip.Lib (Sheffield), MCLIP

Project Officer: Local Studies and Information North Yorkshire County Business and Community Services (Information), also: Recipient of the LA Royal Charter Centenary medal and the Medallion award of the Association of Hungarian Librarians for work in international Local Studies librarianship

Member of UK CILIP Council representing the CILIP Local Studies Group

National Chairman, UK and Ireland NEWSPLAN Committee member of IFLA Genealogy and Local History Section and editor of the Section Newsletter

Contributor to IFLA 2002 & 2003. Contributing author to journals (New Review of Information and Library Research 2003/New Library World 2004/Local Studies Librarian). Contributing author: Dewe, M.(ed): Local Studies Collections: a Manual 1991, Dewe, M.(ed): Local Studies Collection Management 2002