at 17:30 on Monday, November 11, 2019
in Quantum 101
1051 Nádor u. 15.
The lecture will explore how collaboration between archives and communities benefits the development of the collection and increases mutual understanding. Archive staff value the access to the community’s specialist knowledge, while the community can record and secure its heritage for the future. In this context, community engagement with archives is crucial and Glamorgan Archives have developed a well targeted policy in this respect.
The lecture will also consider how archive research and collection management can combine with popular activities to attract users and depositors. The Archive facilitates access by all people within the community, including disadvantaged groups, and works to remove barriers perceived by the community in using archival services. These aspects of the work of Glamorgan Archives reflect the core values of the institution and its commitment to the Welsh Government’s Changing Cultures agenda which aims to improve life for local people through cultural engagement.
Educated at the University of Wales, Susan Edwards began her archive career in Gwynedd before moving to the English midlands where she worked at Warwick University's Modern Records Centre and the county record office. Since 1996 she has led Glamorgan Archives, taking the service through local government reorganisation and into purpose built accommodation while weathering budget restrictions and staff cuts. She is a founder member of Women's Archive Wales, a Churchill Fellow, former chair of Archives and Records Council Wales, and Wales representative on the UK Archive Accreditation Committee. Her work on the Welsh origins of the Ukrainian city of Donetsk has reclaimed this aspect of Welsh history with the associated archive collection underpinning several publications and supporting partnership projects both in the UK and with Ukraine.