74 W E LIVE IN A FAST-PACED, changing world where we expect information at the click of a mouse. Genealogy is now done at pace, using online ‘building block’ resources – civil registration indexes, census returns, probate material, parish register transcripts – to build a family tree far more quickly than ever before. Work that would take months, or even years, can be done in a matter of weeks. Furthermore, there is an increasing amount of contextual material appearing on the internet – military service records, directories, maps, occupational files and greater access to offline material via online catalogues – that allows researchers to put flesh on the bones and begin to tell the tale of their ancestors’ lives. The growth of resources that can be accessed from home, or a local library, has meant that more people have embraced the subject (encouraged, no doubt, by the inspirational stories shown on Who Do You Think You Are?) and started to trace their roots. As more datasets appear online, it should – in theory – be possible to build a fairly large family tree, with plenty of detail, without setting foot in an archive. This, however, would be a grave mistake. Aside from the fact that there will always be transcription errors, omissions and problems ‘browsing’ for unknown side branches of the family online (making it difficult to spot patterns within a family or local area, which is vital to extend the family sideways into siblings, uncles and aunts, or pick up variant spellings that might have been missed), the internet represents a very small tip of a very large iceberg when it comes to archival collections. One of the pioneers of digitization, The National Archives, has placed an amazing amount of material online, either via their own Documents Online service or from partners such as Ancestry and Find My Past; yet the online collections, by record series and number of items, represent only a very small percentage of its total collection of over 10 million orderable pieces. This is even more relevant for county archives, where virtually all the documents need to be viewed in the reading rooms. Whilst greater access to online catalogues has raised the awareness of the public to archival collections, many catalogue descriptions simply don’t provide enough information or personal name data to make an effective search. The simple lesson is that you’ll need to visit an archive in person and spend time focusing on the history of the local area. Paradoxically, the drive towards greater online access comes at a time when the national economic downturn has placed an enormous strain on archival resources. Faced with very difficult decisions about funding allocations in the years ahead, many local authorities chose to protect budgets in education, policing and social services; yet this means that ‘non-essential’ services – such as archives – struggle to keep their already small slice of the money, and consequently we are seeing more local and regional archives reducing their hours of public access. For example, West Yorkshire Archive Service has slashed its opening hours; West Devon and Plymouth Archives are struggling to convince their local council of the urgent need for sufficient funds for a new building; and Redbridge Local Studies and Archive Service are facing cuts. Archives and local study centres need your support to stay open. Whilst online access increases demand and raises some revenue, it also can have a detrimental effect if people simply stop visiting because they assume they’ve seen all the relevant material that’s out there. Furthermore, our voice can make a difference – plans to axe the Brighton Local History Centre were scrapped after an effective local campaign showed that public opinion was firmly against closure. Let’s recognise the skills, hard work and professionalism that archivists and record specialists demonstrate to the public on a daily basis. Our archives are in peril – let’s help them by showing that their search rooms are needed, and their front-line staff are appreciated by us. MAY 2010 YOUR FAMILY HISTORY Archives in Peril THE LAST WORD IF YOU FEEL that your local archive or study centre excels in the service it provides, please let me know and we’ll feature your recommendations in future editions of the magazine, as well as online. We will be launching a ‘Local Archive of the Year’ competition in the future. Make your nomination on our website at www.your-familyhistory.com/yourstories using the Submission Request form. Archives and local study centres need your support to stay open...