THE WORK OF THE ARCHIVIST

from left, John Askham, Leo Hughes, John Collis

To any Friends unaware that we exist up the ladder, may I introduce myself, Leo, sometimes called the Archivist, although I have no actual control over the collection, and my colleagues, John Askham, (ex-Naval Architect) and Kevin O'Kane who has organised the library of books and magazines (our invaluable asset) all eager to answer technical queries,. Last, but not least, John Collis and his splendid Lifeboat database which shows what can be done to share a personal interest with others. Without John we would be like a London Cab driver without the “knowledge”. My own skills are simple; I program as required. I like to see a bit of order. My partner is now laughing her socks off!
I expect we all have quite a few cherished printed souvenirs of our more active boating past. Every book is valuable - but a collection covering every aspect of yachting to date has a cumulative value far out of sight.

Our library has magazines a century old and, in 2105, last week's PBO will be as valuable as the 1890 Rudder. The ball is in our court! Any material we can pass on to the Museum will be well looked after. A larger Museum would mean more places to lose things. Sometimes I say rude things (only to myself of course) about those who relocate items without recording the fact.
Before Accreditation by the Authorities as deserving a new Museum building, we have to bring our records up to National Standards. This is not quite as bad as it sounds. At an explanatory lecture held in Winchester recently, I found to my relief that even the professionals need to have their ears “tweaked” and need to be reminded of the simplest procedures. To sum up, a Museum, as a repository of other people's old valuables has a serious legal duty toward the artefacts and their donors. There are pitfalls if we do not keep careful records from the moment an item is offered, accepted or politely refused, and then incorporated (accessioned) into our establishment. (I do have a handbook on Museum documentation, available to anyone interested, which manages to speak only simple English.)
Regarding the Object Entry book, may I remind Reception Desk volunteers to record the entry number, the full description details and present location of the item and to extract the donor's (possibly unique) knowledge of it's background. Think of it as the start of an interesting history.
Any volunteer willing to help us to update the catalogue to a proper Archive standard needs only the simplest knowledge of the keyboard, and your help would be gratefully appreciated. We have an - as yet unused - digital camera and a very welcome new laptop computer provided by the Friends. Do please join us in our very rewarding and interesting work. At the moment we get together on Tuesdays.

Leo Hughes