Keep CALM and Carry On Archiving!

This past week I have had the honour of volunteering with the Archives and Local Studies Departments at Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre (http://wshc.eu). The centre holds vast archives relating to Wiltshire and the surrounding areas and is open for the public to use in their own research. They can help with all manner of enquiries including family history, building history and so so much more. The centre also answers any enquires up to 10 minutes for free and operates a paid research service for anything that needs more time. This experience enabled me to learn more about working in the heritage sector and the many facets of being an archivist. I loved every second of the experience and learnt so much that I will take with me into my future studies (and hopefully career). Massive thank you to everyone at the centre for helping me and welcoming me this week but especially to Margaret for allowing me to shadow her and arranging this week for me.

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At the beginning of the week, I was tasked with sorting through 11 boxes of the Guiding Association collection (ref. 2777) to discover what exactly was contained. Throughout this process, I made a rough box catalogue on paper detailing the documents and where they were located. Once this stage was complete, I put 'like with like' and reorganised the boxes into themes to make them more accessible and the documents easier to locate. This collection has been 'deposited on loan' meaning that the local Guiding Association is able to take out any of the documents at any time - this has already happened this year (with the items being returned) however because some of the collection was waiting to be catalogued finding the documents needed was difficult. In sorting and organising these 11 boxes this week, it means when the time comes to input them into the CALM database it *may* be an easier and quicker process. As a Guide Leader myself, it was lovely to be able to look through the collection ranging in date from the 1920s/30s all the way up to 2006 (even recognising faces and names of my leaders in the past). This was a valuable experience because it taught me what was needed in organising a collection and the information required for cataloguing. I was also shown the CALM database and how to catalogue the collections.

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I was also involved in a visit from Healthwatch Wiltshire volunteers in which I tagged along on their tour of the centre (including conservation labs) and spoke to them about the archives and strongrooms I had been working with. As part of this, I was given the chance to help curate a small private exhibition for the volunteers - the objects were already chosen and I helped arrange them and choose the most interesting/exciting pages to have on display. This exhibition included records of burials 1666 (including plague victims) and from the 1750s, registers of spending for helping the poor from the parish, a plan of Salisbury workhouse, reports on hygiene and new sewers in Calne, records from Roundway Mental Hospital (we focused on pages of a man convicted of murder and trasnfered from Broadmoor and a 9year old girl who died at age 17 from tuberculosis in the hospital), one of the letters from Florence Nightingale (yes, THE Florence Nightingale) to Sidney Herbert (Secretary of War who resided in Wilton) detailing plans to open a new training school for nurses and written from Scutari, admission and discharge books of Salisbury hospital detailing soldiers from the front in WW1 (gunshot wounds, trench foot, influenza, bronchitis, hepatitis, gas poisoning and more), reports on the health of Trowbridge (including deaths and causes) in the early-mid 1900s, records of 'nuisances' in Trowbridge houses (including 'foul W/C' and my favourite 'keeping of goat') and reports/plans for the reduction of the slums in the Coniger area of Trowbridge. It was amazing going through these books and practicing palaeography. In putting the exhibition together, I learned about the background of many of the pieces and thus was able to discuss the documents and explain them to the volunteers. In doing this outreach, I was able to experience a valuable aspect of working in the heritage sector in this day and age.

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The rest of the week involved working on the Help Desk in the main public research area of the centre. As part of this, I helped respond to enquiries received via email - including from America and Italy. These enquiries covered all manner of things, from family history to artwork and sculptures. I also did a little bit of document production and learned how this process worked. Whilst on the help desk, I was shown how photographs were catalogued as compared to documents and helped sort coroner reports. I also spoke to Tom about the paid research service, palaeography (and how difficult it is) and researching family history. The centre also holds many Tithe and OS maps, so I looked at these to see hoe my town has developed over the years - it was interesting to see the mills slowly disappearing and the appearance of County Hall and even my estate! I also helped with sorting through a recent acquisition and selecting items for permanent preservation as there is *sadly* just not enough room to keep everything in the archives.

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This week has been one of the most valuable and interesting experiences of my historical career and has stoked the fire for me to do even more. Thank you Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre, for everything! I'm sure I'll be back soon! Please utilise this wonderful service - they do encourage emailing/phoning in documents you would like to see in advance. They are all wonderful at the centre - thanks a million to them all!