2025 - November and December - page 44
Image details
| Issue number | 404 |
|---|---|
| ISSN | 2632-7171 |
| Publication date | 1st November 2025 |
| Transcription |
magazine Back Chat The Jane Cameron National Archives outreach activities and celebrating International Archives day. © Jane Cameron National Archives With limited resources – unreliable internet connectivity, no external funding source, a team of two – we have to adapt and make our service work as professionally as possible, even if that means that we don’t use a catalogue software and wait three months for our equipment to arrive by boat. A unique element of the service is that it’s the National Archives for the Islands, representing all of its people and geography and sits within a community that has a population of 3,500. With this there is a great personal connection and familiarity with our local service users and collections. This presents a challenge when appraising and cataloguing information – there is pressure to collect the right material and explain to users that the archivists do not know every aspect of the history of the Islands! In all, there are many opportunities and challenges that arise from being based in the Falkland Islands. Importantly the team gets to set the direction and priorities of our service and be a part of that positive momentum, learning with the sector. Alongside your day job you are undertaking a PhD, can you tell us more about that? I am in the final months of my part-time PhD, with Dundee University, developing my thesis that explores 44 how the Falkland Islands Archives provides a framework for constructing and preserving the national identity of the Islands. It has involved interviews with members of the local community, hours researching in the archives and countless cups of tea. I decided to start it back in 2021, combining the two things I love – archives and the Falkland Islands – and acting as a challenge to myself. It has certainly been a journey, not least going from archives ‘researcher’ to archives ‘manager’ halfway through and trying to balance studies with the full-time role. My supervisors have been amazing and helped guide my thoughts and navigate me though the process. I am on target to submit in March 2026, and I am looking forward to getting my evenings and weekends back! In addition to all of this you are the Chair of the recently established ARA International Group, can you tell us a bit more about this role and establishing the group? The ARA International Group was set up in 2024 to provide a forum for UK or Irish record-keeping professionals working overseas and for overseas record-keeping professionals working to UK or Irish standards. I worked with ARA to set it up following my experience in the Falkland Islands, being so remote and needing a group of similar professionals to share |