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Interesting news from the
United Kingdom regarding the merger of the PRO and the Historic Manuscripts
Commission. The interest shown by the UK Department of Culture, Media and
Sport (equivalent to Canadian Heritage) in archives, through the creation of
the Task Force, is very encouraging.
Marianne McLean, Senior
Policy Officer, National Archives of Canada
London, 12 July 2002 -
Resource: The Council for Museums, Archives and Libraries warmly welcomes the
announcement today by Baroness Blackstone, Minister of State for the Arts, that
the Historic Manuscripts Commission is to merge with the Public Record Office.
Matthew Evans, Resource
chairman, said: "This is excellent news, not only for the archives sector,
but for everyone who uses the rich resources they offer. Archives are the heart
of our recorded heritage. The records they contain, from the Domesday Book to
the present day, span an unbroken chain of over 1000 years of knowledge and
information. They are our public and corporate memory, and provide an
invaluable resource to those investigating their personal histories and roots
and those seeking information about a huge range of human activity and
experience. But the sector has not enjoyed a high public profile and has been
seen by some as rather fragmented. This coming together of two leading
organisations is a welcome move in unifying the sector, and in strengthening
its voice sector, so that the nation's archives enjoy the recognition and
popularity that they so clearly warrant. My Board and colleagues at Resource
look forward to working in partnership with the new National Archives to secure
a sustainable future for UK archives."
Today's announcement
follows a request from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport earlier this
month for Resource to set up an Archives Task Force. The Task Force, which will
include high-profile archives users as well as leading policy-makers,
professionals and academics, will throw a searchlight on archives,
investigating current strengths and weaknesses and identifying ways of ensuring
the nation's archives are better understood, better looked after, and better
used. Membership of the Task Force will be announced later in July.