ABSTRACT This paper investigates how archival protection and recovery can be strengthened in the face of natural disasters, based on the case of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, in 2024. The main objective is to propose a model of coordination and collaboration to improve the safety and recovery of archives in natural disasters. The analysis of the dataset from the Public Archives of Rio Grande do Sul (APERS) and the Integrated Disaster Information System (S2iD) revealed inconsistencies in disaster monitoring policies, particularly regarding data collection requirements. While municipal governments are mandated to report to the S2iD platform, APERS does not have similar data collection obligations, as the S2iD primarily supports resource allocation. The coordination model proposed includes standardized procedures, system integration, mandatory reporting of archival damage, training, use of technology, and continuous monitoring. We argue that efficient archival protection and recovery from natural disasters requires a coordinated approach with standardized procedures, integrated systems, mandatory reporting, and advanced technologies. Future strategies should prioritize integrating standardized models, improved data collection, emerging technologies, such as AI, and enhanced training programmes for archival professionals.

ABSTRACT The Register of Archbishop John Swayne, Primate of All-Ireland (1418–1439), is a rare amalgamation of contemporary documents transcribed when Swayne was at the Papal Curia in Rome and the administrative record of his time as Archbishop. Following the fire which destroyed the Public Record Office of Ireland (PROI) in 1922, original medieval records within Ireland are particularly scarce, enhancing this register’s historical significance. Unfortunately, by 1630, the register had sustained significant water damage causing the paper to soften and deteriorate. The friable edges made the original manuscript inaccessible. The successful partnership of the Virtual Record Treasury of Ireland (VRTI) and the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) has provided the opportunity to repair the register for the first time since it was bound in the early seventeenth century. Conservators at PRONI were able to design a treatment for the register which would consolidate the weakened paper folios, whilst retaining the characteristic idiosyncratic nature of its production and evidence of its use over the last 600 years. Support from the VRTI team and integration of a digital version of the manuscript into the Treasury has maximized accessibility by linking the records with a translated summary and contextual interpretation.

ABSTRACT The Oxford Conservation Consortium (OCC) provides library and archive conservation and collection care services to 17 University of Oxford Colleges. This paper compares three large-scale projects undertaken by the OCC to conserve and rehouse College archival collections, detailing the lessons learned from each and how these shaped decision-making throughout. The first, and largest, of the three projects focuses on the conservation and rehousing of the St John’s Estates collection, primarily paper and parchment documents dating from the twelfth to the twentieth century housed in poor quality acidic envelopes. The second presents the Queen’s Deeds project which involved the cleaning, repair, and rehousing of approximately 2500 medieval parchment deeds, many with pendant seals. The final project discussed is the ongoing rehousing of Lincoln Archive’s Estates and Livings collection, comprising a range of material and formats. Each project presented challenges such as managing storage limitations, working to tight budgets, maintaining consistency of approach, item tracking, and surveying large and diverse collections. Effective planning and management has been key to success, ensuring that the approach remains streamlined and economical while adapting to changing circumstances and priorities. The key lessons learned are shared for the advisement of others embarking on similar large-scale rehousing projects.

ABSTRACT As one way to confront the canon, whereby the academic voice is the one which is predominantly heard in academic journals, this ‘paper’ introduces a more informal and direct voice, being an edited version of a dialogue (carried out via email and the exchange of multiple drafts) between the Special Issue Guest Editor, who is the questioner, and Dr Natasha Khramtsovsky, who is the respondent and hence the author of this piece.

ABSTRACT Many archive services, particularly those holding healthcare records, impose time-limited restrictions on access to records containing personal data, whilst allowing some limited ethical research access to these records. Access requests are considered in line with the current legislation and archive sector guidance, but it can be unclear to decision-makers which aspects of the complex legislative and regulatory environment relating to health and social care research in the UK pertain to archival access requests. This paper focuses on a case study of the archives of the Whitechapel Clinic, held by Barts Health NHS Trust Archives. It outlines the administrative history of the clinic and the custodial history of its records. It then examines how a request for research access to the records in 2011 led to an innovative collaboration between historians and archivists which supported long-term preservation of the archival data and generated a digital resource designed to satisfy privacy, confidentiality, and NHS research ethics requirements, which has since stimulated significant research. The authors conclude by suggesting a list of points for consideration by researchers proposing to access similarly sensitive and/or restricted records. They endorse recent calls for a collaborative review of current processes and guidance regarding access to restricted records.

ABSTRACT Emails are an essential medium of communication. Their management is an organizational, security, legal and financial issue for all organizations. The interdepartmental digital archiving Vitam Programme, which develops a digital archives management system on behalf of the French government, could not help but wonder about the acquisition, preservation and access to the documents and data contained in email archives. In 2013, it carried out a proof of concept on email archiving, at a time when few archive services in France had embarked on the acquisition of this type of document. Ten years later, the French landscape in terms of digital recordkeeping has changed significantly. In practice, some archives have put in place strategies for archiving email, and tools have been made available to assist in their effort. This article looks at the transition from theory to practice of a more operational acquisition of this type of archive in a French context.

ABSTRACT This introduction to the special issue, ‘Children and Archives,’ offers a multifaceted exploration of how children engage with archives, not only as subjects but also as active participants, producers, and agents. Drawing from interdisciplinary fields such as childhood studies, history, and archival science, this issue challenges traditional archival practices that often marginalize children’s voices. The articles within span a wide range of areas, from historical records to contemporary settings, and discuss various types of materials, including children’s letters, health records, photographs, drawings, natural objects, oral histories, and ethical considerations. The aim of this special issue is to inspire a rethinking of how archives represent children’s lives, moving beyond the adult-centric narratives typically found in traditional records. It advocates for inclusive and empathetic archival practices. To achieve this, the introduction also highlights the importance and complexities of defining and addressing the concept of ‘child’ across different archival processes, times, and situations.

ABSTRACT In the archives of childhood, the child’s voice is often discovered through their schoolwork: letters, projects, and artistic endeavours that cross the media spectrum. Nell Musgrove et al. champion the value of the school as a site for exploring ‘children’s voices from the past,’ and while such scholarship provides a useful theorization on the ways that children engage with or resist their lessons, there has been little attention given to the role that school archives play in evidencing children’s civic engagement with the political issues of their day. In this article, we draw on examples from the school archive held in the Beverley Naidoo and Robert Westall collections at Seven Stories, the National Centre for Children’s Books, UK. In their letters to these children’s authors, children from English schools in the 1980s and 2000s used their schoolwork as an opportunity for civic engagement, exploring issues of racism, immigration, and asylum. Illuminating some of the challenges inherent in researching school archives, we make a case for the consideration of the usefulness of school archives for illustrating how children engage with civic and political issues in the classroom, from their own positionality as children.