2025 - November and December - page 6
Image details
| Issue number | 404 |
|---|---|
| ISSN | 2632-7171 |
| Publication date | 1st November 2025 |
| Transcription |
magazine Opening Lines Attendees in front of the CAHG Scotland banner at the LGBTIQQ+ oral history workshop, Refugee Scotland Festival © SCA/ CAHG Scotland Volunteering delivers rewards for all involved. For volunteers, there is learning, confidence, community and purpose. For archives, it brings capacity, fresh viewpoints, and deeper reach. Scotland Network, now celebrating its fifth birthday. Even after decades in the field, new ideas continue to reignite my enthusiasm. Recently, I’ve been energised by a group of volunteers mapping the history of Scotland’s Hip Hop music and culture — proof that archives are not limited to parchment and photo albums. Their work, showcased via the digital exhibition on the SCA website, brings stories, sounds and visual media into the archival fold. Across the country, community archives and heritage groups are increasingly receiving external funding to support local projects. Often one grant condition is that they build a ‘digital archive’. But what does that actually entail? Many groups have no professional archivist on hand. Who defines quality in metadata, file formats, long-term sustainability or access rights? And when the grant period ends — often two or three years later — what becomes of the archive? Will it be maintained, migrated or orphaned? These are critical questions we must address from the start. The value of volunteering in heritage work is not abstract. In 2015 Scotland’s historic environment sector over 17,000 6 Attendee at the Collection Care Workshop, CAHG Scotland. Held at National Trust for Scotland’s Georgian House in Edinburgh. Delivered by Lesley Scott ACR. © SCA/ CAHG Scotland |