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In August, Max Parkin, an archivist based in our Collections Management Team, had the opportunity to attend the ARA [Archives and Records Association] Conference held at the Delta Hotels, Bristol. This annual event is a great way for archivists, conservators and records managers to converge, share knowledge and network with one another. In a jam packed 3 days, Max attended countless talks, met an abundance of colleagues from across the profession and attended two wonderful social events in the evenings.
The opening keynote speech set the tone for what was to come, with an inspirational talk on the importance of gathering the records from underrepresented and ethnic minority groups. The day proceeded well, with talks on ARA Strategy, new ways of working with inter-generational practices and trauma informed approaches to working with archives.
Day Two kicked off with highly topical talks on managing cataloguing backlogs, new approaches to appraisal and cataloguing ethics. Our Head of Service, Heather Forbes, delivered a talk on the importance of outreach, and our conservator Ann Attwood, provided a session on current practice in archive conservation. Both were very well received. An eye-opening talk on the environmental effects of digital storage closed the day, talks wise, but then there was the Gala Dinner at which we discovered that Gloucestershire Archives had won 'Record Keeping Service of the Year' as voted by the public. A great honour indeed!
Heather Forbes and Max Parkin with the award at the Gala Dinner: Photo credit to ARA.
And just to prove it came home, the rest of the staff with the award!
At this point we need to say a BIG THANK YOU to everyone who voted for us. It means a great deal to the staff that this award was decided by both professional colleagues and the public. If you somehow missed all this excitement, voting is now closed but you can read our nomination here
Back to the Conference, the final day was a case of last but not least, as Max attended a talk about emotions in archives. Record keepers regularly have to process traumatic archives, and it is important to find ways to deal with the knock-on effects of dealing with sensitive material or triggering content.
To conclude, Max felt that attending the conference had been both interesting and pertinent to his job, and he was really grateful for the opportunity to attend, thanks to an ARA Bursary.