New ALES Committee Members

We have two new ALES committee members, Sarah Chapman and Lynsey McNab. Sarah and Lynsey both work as Learning and Outreach Officers at the University of Aberdeen.

Sarah and Lynesy  would  both like to introduce themselves.


Sarah Chapman

I have worked in archives education for over five years now. Prior to moving to Aberdeen in 2011, I was Education and Outreach Assistant at the Heritage Hub in Hawick, the home of Scottish Borders Council Archive Service. Before that I worked at Tweeddale Museum and Art Gallery on a variety of projects in different areas including museum education and collections care.

I studied History of Art at the University of Edinburgh, and worked for The National Trust for Scotland at Newhailes after graduating as a tour guide and conservation volunteer. This gave me a taste for working in the heritage sector and I went on to do my Masters in Art Museum and Gallery Studies at Newcastle University, part of which was a two-month placement at the Bowes Museum, Co. Durham.

Lynsey McNab

My background is in visual arts. I studied Illustration at Edinburgh College of Art, and while there worked on a range of community art projects working with schools, families and the elderly. My summer job was working at a local after school care club which gave me a fabulous education in childcare! I studied for my Masters in Art Museum and Gallery Education at Newcastle University and as part of my course I did a two-month placement with the education team at the Shipley Art Gallery, Gateshead, working with Tyne and Wear Archives and Museums. I went on to volunteer and intern at a number of venues including a six month internship at the Geffrye Museum of the Home in London as part of the Cultural Olympiad youth project, Stories of the World. In September 2011 I moved to Aberdeen to start work at the Special Collections Centre. 

Watch the blog over the next few months as we introduce the rest of the ALES team (probably minus the costumes!!)

Education Workshops for Scottish Archives (7 & 19 November 2013)

The Scottish Council on Archives is holding two one-day education workshops. Each workshop explores a method of creating simple and effective education resources for primary or secondary-age students using archive records.

Both workshops are led by our Education Development Officer Douglas Roberts, with input from other archives education professionals. Using existing tried-and-tested resources as examples, you will learn how to select suitable archive records, and how to create your own learning materials based on those records for school students.

The resources we create together on the days will be written up and made available for you to use.

The workshops are each standalone and deal with different approaches (Enquiry-based and Drama-based), so you will benefit from attending one or both of them. Space is very restricted on these free sessions so please register early. Lunch will be provided.

Click on the following links for more details and to book.

·         7 November 2013 - Workshop One (Glasgow): Click here for information

*Book before 9am on Monday 28 October 2013*

·         19 November 2013 - Workshop Two (Edinburgh): Click here for information

*Book before 9am on Monday 11 November 2013*

Best wishes,

Ben

Benjamin Bennett

Communication and Operations Officer

SCOTTISH COUNCIL ON ARCHIVES

General Register House  2 Princes Street  Edinburgh  EH1 3YY

W  www.scottisharchives.org.uk  E  b.bennett@scottisharchives.org.uk  T  +44 (0)131 535 1362  M  +44 (0)787 520 0694

Follow us @ScotsArchives

A Mark in Time: A Journey through East Lothian

The John Gray Centre is continuing its collaboration with illustrator Lucy Roscoe to bring stories our archive and local history to life. Our Development Officer, Caroline Mathers attended an art fair in Edinburgh with an idea for creating visual interpretations of our collections. Caroline met Lucy and knew straight away that she as the artist for the job. Lucy’s style compliments the historic nature of archive collections perfectly and her love of all things paper really sealed the deal. One pot of tea later, The Illustrated Archive was born. After a few days buried in our archive Lucy found something she loved and produced 25 original illustrations based on entries from the Haddington Criminal Record (1894-1901). The outcome was a fun and witty cartoon newspaper bringing some of the characters from the register to life.

Not content with this, Lucy then decided to explore East Lothian with her sketchbook, capturing some of her favourite scenes as she went entwining them with stories she came across while researching our local history resources. The result was a new piece of work called A Mark in time: An Illustrated Journey through East Lothian. This is a beautiful representation of Lucy’s travels; from Haddington High Street to Dunbar Harbour and the Strawberry pickers of Ormiston to Cockenzie Power Station, Lucy has worked her magic, creating a beautiful set of illustrations for us to enjoy in our new publication.

This has been a hugely successful collaboration and highlights how imaginative and creative archive learning projects can be.

You can see The Illustrated Archive and illustrations from A Mark in Time on our web site www.johngraycentre.org

If you would like a copy of the Illustrated Archive (free) or A Mark in time (£10) please contact:

Caroline Mathers

John Gray Centre Development Officer

cmathers@eastlothian.gov.uk

Life is for Livingston - Art Inspired by Archives

West Lothian Archives and Records Centre has been working with partners in Arts Services to deliver an education based art project which takes its inspiration from archives. Arts Officer, Len McCaffer, gives an overview of the project. 

In October 2011 I had several conversations with community group that I work with and they were interested in doing a project around Livingston’s forthcoming 50^th Anniversary.  In partnership with West Lothian Archives and along with support from the Community groups we were successful in an £49,800 application to the Heritage Lottery Fund.

The archive is already home to the records of the Livingston Development Corporation which capture the history of the town from a corporate perspective.  This collection would prove to be the catalyst in discovering the community history and stories that are integral in making Livingston what it is today.  We aimed to allow the residents of Livingston to express, through different art and heritage projects, their stories and feelings.  What was it like coming to a ‘New Town’?  What was it like to grow up in Livingston?  How has it developed over the 50 years?

The Arts strand of the project had four main programmes; a visual art project where seven community groups and schools worked with artist Tessa Dunlop by looking at the archives and then expressing what Livingston meant to them.  These would become huge mock stain-glass windows that became a semi-permanent exhibition at the Howden Park Centre.  There was also a photography project that began by looking at archive photographs as inspiration to create new images.  Participants, superimposed themselves into old photographs, created plates, t-shirts and even skateboards.  Award winning filmmaker Thomas Sheridan worked with residents to create a documentary film that not only took the participants to the Archive department but uses footage as part of the film, this will be screened and entered into film festivals nationally and globally.  Lastly, a Livingston Art App that records all of Livingstons 29 pieces of public art and directs the user to the art and tells them about it, this will be an online archive. 

Over 360 people aged between 8-89 have been involved and over eleven community groups.  The groups all came together for the launch of the windows and photography exhibition and through the arts project they have helped to illuminate their own history and stories and preserve them for future generations to enjoy.

English National curriculum review: Consultation closes on Thursday, 8th August.

English National curriculum review: new programmes of study and attainment targets from September 2014. Please note that the consultation period closes on 8 August 2013.

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/national-curriculum-review-new-programmes-of-study-and-attainment-targets-from-september-2014

________________________________________________________________________

People Power: realising the potential of volunteers, communities and partners

The GEM (Group for Education in Museums) conference this year is based in Leeds from Tuesday 3 to Thursday 5 September, and is on the theme of People Power: realising the potential of volunteers, communities and partners.  Over three days, it will explore themes including understanding and appreciating the value of volunteering; how to engage with local communities, organisations and other sectors; and new possibilities and technologies for engaging with new audiences.An up-to-date version of the programme, with more information about the great sessions which will be running at the event, is available at http://www.gem.org.uk/cpd/conf/conference.html.  With over 30 fantastic sessions and presentations planned, there are plenty of opportunities for delegates to debate key themes, learn new practical skills, take inspiration from the successes of their peers, and network and build partnerships with others in the sector.

Booking closes on 16 August 2013.

Report from ALES Annual Conference at PRONI - Bridging the Gap: Archives for HE/FE Students

Conference delegates and speakers © The Public Record of Northern Ireland

This year’s ALES annual conference and AGM was held at the Public Record of Northern Ireland on 24^th June. The day brought together delegates and speakers from across the UK. The main theme was how archivists can work more closely with university and college students, and in so doing bridge the gap between this traditional user group and the archive as a space for learning, discovery and the acquisition of new transferable skills.

Presentations included a mixture of case studies based on a wide range of experiences from university and national archives to specialist and local authority repositories. Some of the key concepts that emerged through the day were ‘skills’, ‘collaboration’ and ‘creativity’. A combination of the three underpins the planning and delivery of successful initiatives and hopefully will allow professionals to address challenges and turn them into opportunities for the future.

We hope to place the presentation in the ALES webpage soon, so watch this space!