General Election Special 2: Political leaders in the Archives

In the previous post prompted by the upcoming general election we concentrated on the collections held by Archive Services containing information about some of the people who were MPs for Dundee. In this post, the second of our election specials, we’re going to focus on political leaders that you wouldn’t necessarily associate with the Dundee including William Gladstone, Keir Hardie, George Robertson and Margaret Thatcher.

Although born in Liverpool, Gladstone had strong Scottish connections. As well as representing Midlothian in Parliament he was the son of a Scot; Sir John Gladstone, who would own the Fasque Estate in Kincardineshire. The ‘Grand Old Man’, as Gladstone was known, maintained his links with Scotland. As a staunch Anglican he was interested in the affairs of the Scottish Episcopal Church and in particular the Diocese of Brechin in which Fasque was to be found. Gladstone corresponded with Bishop of Brechin, Alexander Penrose Forbes, on religious matters on a number of occasions in the 1850s and 1860s and some of these letters, such as this one, can be found in Forbes’ correspondence (Br MS 1) which is part of the Brechin Diocesan Manuscripts.

Dundee soldier, artist and author Joseph Lee is now best known for his account of his time a prisoner of war and his war poetry. However, he also had a strong interest in politics and in his work as a journalist encountered many political figures. In the early twentieth century, Lee, already becoming well known for his contributions to local periodicals like The Piper O’Dundee, became involved with the labour movement. In 1909 he established a monthly Labour Periodical in the city called The Tocsin. Following its launch, Lee received letters of congratulation and commendation from several leading figures in the labour movement. Perhaps the most interesting letter he received came from James Keir Hardie, the father of the modern Labour Party. Hardie congratulated Lee on The Tocsin and told him that ‘we cannot have too much in the way of high class journalism in connection with our Socialist & Labour Movement'. Hardie’s and other letters were kept by Lee in a bound volume of The Tocsin which is now part of our collections (MS 88/11/5).

Hardie is not the only senior Labour politician to be found in the holdings of Archive Services. George Robertson, who became Secretary of State for Defence and Secretary General of NATO, began his political career as a student at Queen’s College, University of St Andrews, becoming a student of the independent University of Dundee in 1967 when Queens College Dundee and the University of St Andrews separated. In 1968 Robertson was one of the University of Dundee's first graduates. He was actively involved in student life in Dundee and was regular contributor to the student magazine Annasach. He was also involved in student protests memorably leading a 24-hour work-in in the Library in 1968 as part of a campaign against cuts to student grants. Copies of Annasach are held by Archive Services (RU 357). Lord Robertson is also featured in the Turner-McKinlay Photographic Collection (CMS).

Britain’s first female Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, paid a visit to Don and Low’s textile works in Forfar in September 1982 as part of a well-publicised and, at times, turbulent visit to Scotland. Many Scots felt that Mrs Thatcher’s government was doing little to improve the troubled Scottish economy and she encountered protests and demonstrations at several of the places she visited on this trip. However, she seemed to enjoy her time in Forfar and Don and Low’s management seemed pleased with their famous guest. The company kept a photograph album of her visit (MS 100/17/2/8), which is now part of the Don and Low collection. This picture is taken from the album. The Don and Low collection also contains a file that includes a letter to William Low (Chairman and Chief Executive of the Don And Low Group) from Mrs Thatcher to thank him for the gift of a silver box and to state how interesting she found her visit and how impressed she was with all that she saw (MS 100/17/2/7). The letter from Mrs Thatcher sits alongside a handwritten letter to Low from her husband, Denis, who described the visit as ‘interesting and encouraging’. Denis Thatcher also thanked Mr Low for his gift of whiskey which he promised to use to toast the firm’s success.

The following list highlights some of our holdings that include material relating to major British political figures:

• MS 84 Association of Jute Spinners and Manufacturers, includes a 1948 report of proceedings at a meeting of the British Jute Trade Federal Council addressed by the then President of the Board of Trade, Harold Wilson
• MS 88 Joseph Lee’s papers include his bound volume of The Tocsin, which contains letters from Keir Hardie, Phillip Snowden and other early Labour luminaries
• MS 100/17 Low Family Business and Personal Papers, include the material relating to Margaret Thatcher, as well as letters from Malcolm Rifkind and John McKay M.P, and photographs of Jennie Lee
• MS 149 Miss Elizabeth McGill Clark Collection, includes a wide range of rare books by and about Labour politicians. This collection also includes a programme commemorating the Presentation of the Freedom of the City of Dundee to The Rt. Hon George M. Thomson, one of Britain’s first European Commissioners
• MS 270 The Dundee Conservative and Unionist Association Collection, includes material relating to Britain’s first female Conservative cabinet minister, Florence Horsbrugh
• THB 29 Murray Royal Asylum, includes photographs of Sir Alec Douglas Home
• THB 31 Bridge of Earn Hospital, includes typed letters from Winston Churchill and Clement Attlee thanking all of the Department of Health for Scotland for their work during the Second World War
• BrMS 1 Correspondence of Alexander Penrose Forbes, Bishop of Brechin, and George Frederick Boyle, contains letters from William Gladstone
• RU 293 Records relating to University of Dundee Rectors, includes material relating to Rectors such as Clement Freud, Lord Mackie of Benshie and Gordon Wilson, all of whom served in Parliament
• RU 769 University of Dundee Press Office Photographic collection, includes images of several MPs including Tony Benn, Alex Salmond, John Reid, and Donald Dewar

The University’s records also contain material concerning alumni of the University who went on to become MPs including George Robertson, Brian Wilson, Malcolm Bruce and Christopher Chope. The University’s student newspapers such as Annasach (RU 357) and the earlier Aien (Recs A/820) are particularly useful when researching the early political lives of the University’s alumni.

In our final election special next week we’ll take a look at some of the political figures to be found in the Michael Peto Photographic Collection.

Dr Kenneth Baxter

A weekend of celebration for D'Arcy

The 150th anniversary of the birth of D'Arcy Thompson falls this weekend during Show Scotland, the annual celebration of museums & galleries, so Museum Services is taking the opportunity to celebrate D'Arcy with a range of special events.

On Saturday 1st May, the D'Arcy Thompson Zoology Museum will be open from 2pm for an afternoon of music and talks. Zoology curator Cathy Caudwell will talk about D'Arcy's collections and connections around the world. Museum curator Matthew Jarron will be discussing the role D'Arcy's various assistants played in Dundee, many of whom went on to great success elsewhere - one even went on the Farthest South expedition with Shackleton. Mike Taylor of Museums Galleries Scotland will be discussing one of D'Arcy's assistants, Alexander Rodger, and the extraordinary Bering Sea expedition that Rodger and D'Arcy went on in 1897. Finally, Patrick Randolph-Quinney of the University's Centre for Anatomy & Human Identification will be talking about D'Arcy's masterpiece On Growth & Form and its role in the foundations of Virtual Anthropology. Interspersed with these will be zoology-themed music from the University Chamber Choir. The museum will remain open until 4.30pm.

At 6pm on the Saturday in the Dalhousie Building, Prof Lewis Wolpert of University College London will be giving the Saturday Evening Lecture on The Development of Pattern & Form, exploring the legacy of D'Arcy's work and looking at how physical forces shape growth within the embryo in amazingly complex ways. To accompany the talk, Duncan of Jordanstone College researchers Paul Harrison and Gavin Renwick will be exhibiting work in progress from their current D'Arcy-inspired project Transformations: the Architecture of Life. (NB - the lecture is free but tickets should be booked via the website)

On Sunday 2nd (D'Arcy's 150th birthday), the Zoology Museum will be open to the public 2pm-4.30pm and at 2.30pm we'll be bringing D'Arcy (and friends) back to life for a special outdoor theatre performance by the Walking Theatre Company, organised by students from the Museum &  Gallery Studies course at the University of St Andrews. It'll be starting in front of the Tower so meet there or in the museum - dress for the weather and be prepared to walk!

On Monday 3rd at 6pm in the Zoology Museum, Kirsty Gunn, professor of creative writing, will introduce an evening of poetry and prose inspired by D’Arcy and his museum, performed by students from the University's creative writing programme. The evening will also feature the premiere performance of a new epic D’Arcy poem by tutor and poet Jim Stewart. Refreshments will be served from 5.30pm.

Our major exhibition in the Lamb Gallery, D'Arcy Thompson: Growth & Form will be open on the Saturday (9.30am-4.30pm) and Monday (9.30am-8.30pm). You can also see special D'Arcy mini-exhibitions at Discovery Point and Sensation: Dundee Science Centre.

Our new lavishly illustrated publication telling the story of D'Arcy's life and work in Dundee is available now for £3 and will be on sale at these events, which are part of the year-long D'Arcy 150 celebrations organised by the University of Dundee Museum Services in collaboration with the College of Life Sciences and the University of St Andrews Museum Collections, with funding from the Royal Society's Local Heroes programme.

For more information on any of the events please contact Matthew Jarron at museum@dundee.ac.uk.

Congratulations Chris

We're delighted to see that our colleague Chris Prom has been named as one of the winners in the 2010 Movers & Shakers in Archives awards. The winners were announced yesterday on the Archives Next blog and the following is taken from the post there:

Chris Prom’s name is probably familiar to everyone because of his extensive work on the EAD and EAC working groups, his role in developing Archon, and his many presentations and publications, including co-editing College and University Archives: Readings in Theory and Practice. That would certainly be enough to justify a nomination, but Chris was nominated this year for something entirely different – the work he has been pursuing as Fulbright Distinguished Scholar and Research Fellow in the Centre for Archive and Information Studies at the University of Dundee...[T]he judges agreed that Chris’ contributions to the profession, as well as the dedication and diversity of his efforts, made him stand out as one of this year’s Movers and Shakers in Archives.

There's lots of information on the research that Chris has undertaken whilst at Dundee on his Practical E-Records blog and Chris and other distinguished speakers will be examining e-records issues at the seminar Practical Approaches to Electronic Records which is being held in Dundee 21 May. There's more information on the seminar here and you can download a registration form here (which should be returned to our colleague Jennifer at j.v.johnstone@dundee.ac.uk).

Once again, our congratulations to Chris and to the other winners of an award this year.

Who are you?

If you've been reading our blog, but haven't followed the links through to our departmental pages we thought you might like to know who we are and what we do. You can see profiles for most of the staff of the University's Archive, Records Management and Museum Services and the Centre for Archive and Information Studies on our website here.

We'd love to know who you are and what you think of our blog too. If you've any observations please drop us a line at archives@dundee.ac.uk or leave us a comment.

General Election Special 1: Parliamentary Elections in Dundee 1910-2010

With the furore surrounding the current election campaign in full swing we thought it might be interesting to pause for a moment and look at some of the items from the collections held by Archive Services that document previous general elections.

A hundred years ago Dundee was represented in Parliament by Alexander Wilkie, who in 1906 had been elected as Scotland’s first Labour MP and Winston Churchill, then a leading member of the Liberal Government. Both men were comfortably re-elected in the two general elections in 1910, overcoming opposition from Conservative and Liberal Unionist candidates and the Prohibitionist Edwin Scrymgeour. Churchill was initially popular with much of the traditionally radical Dundee electorate, although his conservative background and his lack of support for the suffragette movement attracted some vocal criticism from Labour supporters, as this cartoon from Dundee periodical The Tocsin shows. Despite signs their popularity among Dundonians was diminishing as his views moved further to the right, Churchill and Wilkie were re-elected in 1918. Their victories saw them greatly increase their majorities, although this was largely due to the fact that the local Unionist Association (as the now merged Conservatives and Liberal Unionists were known), opted to endorse them rather than field any candidates of their own.

In 1922 Wilkie retired, but Churchill (who was ill with appendicitis) again contested the seat with Liberal running mate D. J. MacDonald (who owned a local engineering company). Although the Unionists backed Churchill and MacDonald, a number of local Liberals, including local businessman and future Lord Provost Garnet Wilson, did not and instead backed the Asquithite Liberal R. R. Pilkington. In the end however all three men lost and Dundee’s new MPs were E D Morel (Labour) and Edwin Scrymgeour, who became Britain’s only ever prohibitionist MP. Scyrmgeour’s election was ironic given the reputation of Dundee’s population as heavy drinkers and the fact that his previous election campaigns had not been taken seriously by many in the political establishment.

Scrymgeour would represent Dundee until 1931, when he and the sitting Labour MP Michael Marcus were unseated by the Liberal Dingle Foot and the Unionist Florence Horsbrugh. Miss Horsbrugh was notable as the first and, to date, only woman to represent Dundee at Westminster and was the first Unionist or Conservative to be elected to represent the city since the Dundee consistency was created in 1832. Both Foot and Horsbrugh were re-elected in 1935, and each went on to hold ministerial office in the wartime Government. However, the Labour Party’s landslide win in the 1945 general election saw both being defeated and the return of Labour’s Tom Cook and John Strachey.

Dundee was divided into East and West constituencies in 1950. Dundee West has been represented by Labour MPs since its foundation, but Dundee East has had a more varied history. Although it initially seemed the safer seat for Labour, the Scottish National Party’s candidate Gordon Wilson (seen here in the image on the right) came remarkably close to capturing it in a 1973 by-election, sending shock waves through the Scottish political landscape. Wilson built on this momentum and captured the seat the general election of February 1974 and retained it with an increased majority that October. He would go on to hold the seat until 1987 when John McAllion recaptured it for Labour. However, in 2005 Dundee East (now expanded to include parts of Angus) was narrowly won by Stewart Hosie of the SNP.

Archive Services hold a number of useful sources on Dundee’s MPs and elections:

• MS 88 Joseph Lee’s papers includes copies of The Tocsin, a Labour monthly which Lee edited and Wilkie contributed to. The same collection also contains copies of The City Echo and The Piper of Dundee which make frequent reference to Winston Churchill and Edwin Scrymgeour
• MS 93 D J MacDonald Ltd, Engineers, Dundee (which includes D. J MacDonald’s papers from the 1922 election)
• MS 217 Notes concerning Dundee Elections by Sir Garnet Wilson (these include particular reference to Winston Churchill’s time as MP for Dundee)
• MS 270 The Dundee Conservative and Unionist Association (which include records relating to Conservative and Unionist involvement in general elections since 1910 and photographs of Florence Horsbrugh)
• The Dundee Free Press includes some articles written by Scrymgour himself and the Labour MPs Tom Johnston and Michael Marcus
• Recently, Gordon Wilson, who is also a former Rector of the University of Dundee, has kindly deposited a number of his papers with us and we are sure that these will prove to be of great value to researchers interested in twentieth century Scottish politics

Dr Kenneth Baxter

Conference - Jacobites and Anti-Jacobites: Culture and Diaspora

Many of the historians who will be in Dundee 7-8 May for the next conference of the Economic and Social History Society of Scotland, 'New Perspectives on Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century Scotland', are also involved in the conference 'Jacobites and Anti-Jacobites: Culture and Diaspora' taking place at the University of Strathclyde 24-26 June 2010.

The conference, presented by the Jacobite Studies Trust, is organised by Professors Allan Macinnes (University of Strathclyde), Murray Pittock (Glasgow University) and Daniel Szechi (University of Manchester). It will feature current research from academics from Britain, Europe, North American and Australia. The first JST conference was held at the British Academy in July 2008 and resulted in the volume Loyalty and Identity: Jacobites at home and abroad, edited by Paul Monod, Murray Pittock and Daniel Szechi (PalgraveMacMillan, 2009).

Contacting D'Arcy

The latest issue of Contact, the magazine published by the University of Dundee, has just been released and contains an article on the events organised by Museum Services to mark the 150th anniversary of the birth of Professor Sir D’Arcy Thompson. Many of the items in the University's Zoology Museum were collected by D’Arcy Thompson, who was appointed to the first Chair of Biology in the new University College Dundee in 1885. The picture on the cover of Contact is of the University's first Zoology Museum, created by D’Arcy Thompson during his time in Dundee. You can read Contact online here.

More information on the D'Arcy 150 celebrations is available on the official website. Information on the current D’Arcy Thompson Zoology Museum at the University of Dundee is available at www.dundee.ac.uk/museum/zoology/welcome.htm and you can find out more about his original museum at www.dundee.ac.uk/museum/zoology/d'arcy.htm.

'Who thought it was a good idea to put an Archive in the basement?'

This remark was made by one of the University's Estates team to a colleague this morning after he visited to Archive Services in response to water running down a riser close to the Archive store. It turns out that some nine floors above the Archive, renovations to a bathroom had required the use of liquid to lubricate a drill. It found its way into the riser and ran down to the lowest point emerging through the ceiling and into a distribution cupboard adjacent to our stack space. We heard the splashing as the liquid ran into the cupboard so took the precautionary step of moving the collections and putting up plastic sheeting over the shelves closest to the leak. As well as the sheeting we had cloths, buckets etc to hand in our disaster kits.

No harm came to any of the items from our collections and the water has been cleaned up. We've a dehumidifier running to help dry out some damp patches of concrete and things are getting back to normal after this little incident. However, this has been a useful reminder of the requirement to be aware of any construction work going on in and around the building in which your repository is housed, no matter how remote that seems. It also highlights the benefits of having recovery materials to hand.

It has also been interesting to hear the different perspectives of people unfamiliar with the nature of archives. When asked how much liquid had been used one of the construction workers replied that we shouldn't worry as it wasn't very much; 'only three gallons or so'! Thankfully only a small amount of that found its way into the riser and down to the distribution cupboard. Rather ironically, tomorrow is the final day of the current semester for students taking the CAIS course 'Disaster Management for Information Professionals'.

dot COM

We've been doing some work behind the scenes with the blog, the most visible of which is that we've bought the domain name 'archives-records-artefacts.com'. This shouldn't cause any problems for those of you that read the blog, but you might
want to update any links or bookmarks you have to www.archives-records-artefacts.com. If you spot any problems please let us know. As always, if you've any comments on the blog or its content we would be happy to hear them.

Featured Courses

If you look at the homepage of the University of Dundee at the moment you'll see that the courses in Archives, Records Management, Digital Preservation and Information rights offered

by the Centre for Archive and Information Studies (CAIS) are being featured in one of the banners at the top of the page. If you click on the purple banner you will be taken to a page with information on the Masters degrees and CPD courses we offer, all delivered by flexible online distance learning.

You can also find lots of information about the courses offered by CAIS on our webpages and if you have any questions we are happy to answer them. Please email ARMTraining@dundee.ac.uk or call us on +44 (0)1382 385543.

A celebration of the 'founder' of the University of Dundee

This year marks the centenary of the birth of James Drever, the first Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Dundee and one of the most pivotal figures in the University's history. Principal Drever was the son of an Edinburgh academic and was educated at the Universities of Edinburgh and Cambridge. After completing his education he remained in academia for the rest of his working life, apart from a spell of service in the Royal Navy during the Second World War. Originally a philosopher, he developed an interest in psychology and in 1944 he was appointed as Professor of Psychology at Edinburgh, in succession to his father, also James Drever (1873-1950). Under the younger Drever's leadership the Psychology Department at Edinburgh grew greatly in strength and stature and Drever himself became a widely respected figure. In 1961 his interest in the theory and practice of higher education led to his appointment to the Robbins Committee which reviewed the provision of higher education in the UK and recommended the expansion of the sector and the creation of new universities.


One result of the Committee's work was the decision that Queen's College, Dundee, should leave the University of St. Andrews and became a University in its own right. Drever was an obvious choice to be the first Principal of the new University and arrived in Dundee in the summer of 1966 to assume the Mastership of Queen's and oversee its transition into a fully-fledged university. Thanks to his hard work the College was well prepared to make the transition to being an independent university in 1967.


After 1967 Drever worked hard in an effort to make the University of Dundee a success. His task was made harder by the fact that within a few years changes in government policy meant that planned expansions had to be abandoned and the University had to operate in an uncertain financial climate. This put pressure on resources and meant that spending had to be cut to a minimum. At the same time the late 1960s and early 1970s was a time of student unrest and protests. Despite this Drever managed to steer the University through the storm and maintained a solid level of popularity among both staff and students. He finally retired in 1978 after eleven years service as Principal, a record that is yet to be beaten by any of his five successors in the post. After his retirement Drever continued to attend University events and was a faithful supporter of the institution he had done so much to make a success until his death in 1991.

James Drever's papers are now deposited in the University Archives. They include copies of various speeches he made while Principal, reprints of several of his important papers on psychology and various items of correspondence. More information on Drever can also be found in the various collections of university records held in the Archives as well as in the papers of some of his colleagues.

Economic and Social History Society of Scotland - Conference

The artwork for the flier to advertise the next conference of the Economic and Social History Society of Scotland in Dundee has been completed today. There's information about the conference and how to register in this post. You can also find lots of information about the event on the conference website.

Courses in Family and Local History

We've just finished a new advert for CAIS' courses in family and local history by online distance learning. This image will appear in the family history magazine Your Family History when it launches later this month.

As well as courses in family and local history CAIS also offers Masters Degrees in Archives, Records Management, Information Rights and Digital Preservation. For more information on any of CAIS' programmes please see our website or email us at ARMTraining@dundee.ac.uk.

Seminar - Practical Approaches to Electronic Records: the Academy and Beyond

A one-day seminar 'Practical Approaches to Electronic Records: The Academy and Beyond' will be held on May 21st, 2010 at the Centre for Archive and Information Studies, University of Dundee. Speakers will consider the question of whether, to date, tools for identifying, preserving and providing access to electronic records have been difficult to implement, particularly in environments without easy access to an extensive computing infrastructure. The seminar is intended to generate discussion and suggest actions regarding approaches to e-records that any archive, regardless of size or budget, can immediately begin take to address local problems.

The speakers are at the forefront of current research aiming to facilitate the preservation and access of born digital materials. They will each present a thought-provoking assessment of a specific topic or project related to e-records issues.

This seminar is being held in conjunction with a meeting of the Section Bureau of the International Council on Archives, Section on University and Research Institution Archives. As such, attendees will be provided ample opportunity to discuss issues and compare notes with a diverse group of international colleagues.

Cost: £65.00 standard, £35.00 students. Includes lunch and coffee.

To register complete the registration form and email it to Jennifer Johnstone at j.v.johnstone@dundee.ac.uk or send it by post to:

ERM Seminar Registration
Centre for Archive and Information Studies (CAIS)
University of Dundee
Dundee DD1 4HN
United Kingdom

Fax to: : +44 (0)1382 385523

Programme

9:30 - Registration and coffee

10:00 - Introduction: Patricia Whatley, Director, CAIS

Session 1: Programme Assessment and Planning

Chair: Dr Chris Prom, University of Dundee

10:10 - Dr Ian Anderson, Senior Lecturer in New Technologies for the Humanities, HATII, University of Glasgow, The Archivist is Dead, Long Live the Archivist!

10.45 - Malcolm Todd, Digital Archives Advice Manager, The National Archives, London, Horses for Courses: Scaling our Solutions to Support Implementation, Cost Effectiveness, and Trust

11:20 - Coffee

11:40 - Dr William Kilbride, Executive Director, Digital Preservation Coalition, Digital Preservation: Things I wish I knew before I started (and which you might want to know before you do)

12:15 - Remarks and Discussion

12:45 - Lunch

Session 2: Implementation Tools and Techniques

Chair: Dr Karen Anderson, Mid-Sweden University

13:45 - Dr Viv Cothey, E-Preservation Archivist, Gloucestershire Archives, Implementing Digital Curation in Local Authority Archives

14:15 - Peter Cliff, Oxford University Bodleian Library, BEAM: Developing and Implementing Tools to Manage Hybrid Archives

14:45 - Dr Susanne Belovari, Archivist for Reference and Collections, Tufts University Digital Collections and Archives, Boston, Digital Preservation the Planets Way: can it work for smaller archives?

15:15 - Coffee

15:30 - Dr Chris Prom, Fulbright Distinguished Scholar, University of Dundee, Building an Electronic Archives Programme on a Shoestring

16:00 - Round up remarks and discussion, Dr William Maher, University Archivist, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

16:30 - Dr Chris Prom, Conclusions

Memory, Identity and the Archival Paradigm

Conference announcement: Call for Papers

Memory, Identity and the Archival Paradigm: an interdisciplinary approach
9-10 December 2010
Dundee, Scotland

The Centre for Archive and Information Studies (CAIS) at the University of Dundee invites proposals for a conference being held on 9-10 December 2010 in Dundee, Scotland. The conference is supported by a Royal Society of Edinburgh Arts and Humanities research award and is the second conference within the Investigating the Archive project. The first conference, the Philosophy of the Archive, was held in Edinburgh in March 2009. Selected papers from that conference are available in a special issue of Archival Science, Vol 9, no 3, 2009.

The Theme for the conference is Memory, Identity and the Archival Paradigm: an interdisciplinary approach. All sub-themes should relate directly to the main theme of memory and identity. The sub-themes are:

• Philosophies of memory, forgetting and time; remembrance and responsibility; representation and the un-representable
• The philosophy and politics of identifying, selecting, assigning value to, interpreting and preserving archives
• ‘The museum concept’; collection, display and interpretation
• Capturing, recording and creating individual and collective memory
• Potential conflicts between the use of archives for culture or accountability
• The role of the curator / archivist in the formation of memory / identity
• New technologies: are memory and identity different in the digital world?
• The interplay of oral and recorded traditions
• The archive and art: inspiration, interpretation and re-creation

All submissions must contain:

a) Title of submission
b) Conference sub-theme
c) Name of speaker(s)
d) Affiliation of speaker(s)
e) Address(es) of speakers(s)
f) E-mail address(es) of speaker(s)
g) Abstract (250-350 words)
h) Short biography containing employment, research interests, publications
i) Audio-visual equipment required?

• All abstracts should be submitted in English, checked for correct grammar and spelling and e-mailed in Microsoft Word format.

• All submissions will be reviewed by the Conference Committee and those successful will be notified within two weeks after the deadline for submission.

• Selected presentations may be published following the conference.

Proposals for individual 20-30 minute presentations or panel sessions of up to three speakers will be considered. Abstracts of c.250-350 words, together with a short biography, should be submitted by Friday 23 April to:

Patricia Whatley, Director, Centre for Archive and Information Studies
p.e.whatley@dundee.ac.uk

Keynote speakers to date include:

David Lowenthal, Professor Emeritus, University College London
Author of a large number of articles and books examining perceptions of the past, including The Past is a Foreign Country, and the relationship between history and cultural heritage.

Graham Domini, Chief Director, National Archives of South Africa
Involved in the anti-apartheid student movement NUSAS and remained an active opponent of apartheid until the advent of democracy in 1994. In the early 1990s convened the African National Congress’s first investigation into archives. Has published widely on access to information; archival science, history, heritage policy and information science and has been a newspaper columnist.

Accepted speakers will be entitled to a 50% reduction of the conference registration fee.