| 1 | Welcome |
| A particular welcome was extended to Martin Locock, newly appointed project manager of Archives Network Wales (ANW); Glyn Parry, who was to replace JWW as ACW's minute secretary; and David Riggs, who was present as the ANW project monitor for the Heritage Lottery Fund. |
| 2 | Apologies |
| E Bennett (UWSwansea); G Evans (NMGW); S Jones (PRO); T Moseley (Assembly); A Rhydderch (Gwynedd); C Richards (Powys); D Rimmer (Gwent); E Thomas (UWBangor); A Venables (Anglesey). |
| 3 | Election of officers |
| Mary Ellis was elected chair of ACW, Susan Edwards vice-chair (a new office), and Gwyn Jenkins secretary. |
| 4 | Objectives 2002-2003 |
| The following objectives were set for the year 2002-2003: | |
| 4.1 | To monitor, as the Project Board, the progress of the Archives Network Wales Project |
| 4.2 | To participate, by arranging activities, in the Archives Awareness Month, September 2003 |
| 4.3 | To participate fully in the Gathering the Jewels Project and in supporting the development of Culturenet Cymru |
| 4.4 | To formulate a constitution and review the general aims |
| 4.5 | To contribute to, work with, and actively support the domain at a national and local level with specific reference to the establishment and development of CyMAL |
| 4.6 | To contribute to the work of the Public Services Quality Group |
| 4.7 | To explore opportunities for joint advocacy and partnerships within the heritage sector |
| 4.8 | To contribute, as appropriate, to on-going research and development initiatives, such as the Archives Taskforce and the NCA Training Review |
| 5 | Minutes of the last meeting |
| The minutes of the last meeting held on 12 July 2002 were confirmed. |
| 6 | Matters arising from the minutes |
| 6.1 | Archives Policy for Wales |
| ME was still waiting for details of those who had received the first printing. | |
| ME would send out a general message via dils-arch-ebost. |
| 6.2 | Gathering the Jewels |
| It was noted that Gathering the Jewels had now been launched. |
| 6.3 | Learning and Access Framework |
| LT gave an update on the latest news. Wales would await the results of the English pilot project which were expected in the spring of 2003. |
| 6.4 | Archival Statistics |
| ME reported on the progress of the survey which was almost complete. RB had attended the Resource meeting on behalf of ACW and had sent SE a full report of the proceedings for which he was thanked. | |
| It was decided to publish the report, once it was ready, by placing it on the ACW website. |
| 6.5 | Development Officer |
| It was reported by SE that ACW had received the funds to support the post for one year. The job description and advertisement was being prepared. An application had been made to Resource for additional funding to see the post past the inaugural period of CyMAL. |
| 6.6 | HLF Wales |
| SB was thanked for agreeing to represent ACW. It was noted that HLF Wales had not contacted her at all. |
| 6.7 | ELWa |
| Difficulties were reported in obtaining information from ELWa about the CCETs. | |
| It was decided to ensure that ACW responds to the consultation document on learning strategy which was to be published by ELWa about Christmas time; and that its response should be circulated to every member of the ELWa board. |
| 6.8 | Sports Archives |
| There was nothing new to report. |
| 6.9 | NRA questionnaire |
| It was reported that the questionnaire on archive cataloguing problems had been distributed and that nearly all the institutions had responded. The results for Wales would appear on the HMC website in due course. |
| 6.10 | Quinquennial Review of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales |
| ACW had responded to the report and it was mentioned that Martin Rolph was extremely grateful to receive it. |
| 6.11 | Gregynog 2002 |
| It was reported that the meeting at Gregynog on 28 September had been very successful. |
| 6.12 | Future of HMC |
| It was noted that the discussions about HMC's role under the new arrangement were continuing. |
| 6.13 | Heirnet |
| As the review was coming to an end, HM was hopeful that it would produce some important recommendations such as the need to ensure that the HEIRs' data networks are interoperable with the archive networks. |
| 6.14 | Users of archives and membership of ACW |
| SE had written to the Federation of the Family History Societies of Wales explaining the position with regard to ACW's constitution. |
| 6.15 | AHRB |
| It was reported that a meeting of courses' representatives was to be held on 5 December and that a letter expressing ACW's discontent about the cuts in the bursaries this year would be sent after that meeting. |
| 7 | Chair's report |
| 7.1 | Cymryd Rhan |
| SE had accepted an invitation to become a member of the board of the NOF digitisation project. LT appealed for the archives services to take advantage of the money available for the digitisation of materials relating to the theme of 'local communities'. |
| 7.2 | HEI's Records Management Forum |
| A second meeting had been held to discuss records management in Higher Education institutions and the impact of Freedom of Information legislation; and a discussion list had been established on jiscmail. |
| 7.3 | Cymru'n Creu |
| Attention was drawn to the Assembly's priorities for the next culture budget and the emphasis being put by the Minister on the need for up-to-date evidence from the sector on which to base policies. It was not entirely clear how the archives services could contribute to the development of Cymru'n Creu's plans or take advantage of the large amount of funding it would have at its disposal. |
| 7.4 | Cymru'n Creu IT Group |
| A large sum had been earmarked for the creation of Culturenet Cymru over the next three years. It would enable some of the current projects to continue and allow work to begin on the 'Welsh Heroes' project. The need to fund some work to help the sector with copyright issues was noted. |
| 7.5 | CWLIS |
| It was mentioned that CWLIS had received reports on projects including People's Network, Cymryd Rhan, and ROUTES. Preparations were being made to consider the future of CWLIS following the establishment of CyMAL; and CWLIS had decided to approach other bodies in the sector with a view to creating a broad-based advocacy group, possibly with a full-time staff member. |
| 7.6 | Archive Development Officers |
| SE had received an enquiry from an individual who was doing research on the work of regional archive development officers in England. | |
| SE would respond by supplying information about the Archive Development Officer for Wales. |
| 7.7 | Public Services Quality Group (PSQG) |
| SE read a report by Charlotte Hodgson (Glamorgan Record Office) about the Group's activities: Survey of Visitors to British Archives 2002; National Standard for Access to Archives; Performance Indicators for Archives; CIPFA statistics; and the setting up of a website. | |
| It was agreed that Charlotte Hodgson should represent Wales and report back to ACW via SE. |
| 8 | Secretary's report |
| 8.1 | Tony Carr |
| GJ had written to Tony Carr on the occasion of his retirement from ACW and thanked him for his service and support. |
| 8.2 | NCA |
| ACW discussed the Archives Awareness Campaign which was to be held in September 2003 and how it might coordinate a programme of events around Wales. | |
| It was decided to establish a sub-committee and ME was asked to invite people to attend its initial meeting. |
| 8.3 | The Archives Taskforce |
| It was reported that ACW had sent a letter protesting about the constitution of the original Taskforce established by Resource without any representation from Wales, Scotland, or Northern Ireland; and the complaint had been given strong support by the Assembly. Since then Professor Hywel Roberts had been appointed to represent Wales on the Taskforce and ACW welcomed his appointment. | |
| It was decided to invite Hywel Roberts to address a special meeting of ACW in January 2003. |
| 8.4 | Launch of RSLP projects |
| GJ mentioned the launch of several RSLP projects at the Assembly on 7 November, including Collections Wales; A Mine of Information; Wales 1801-1919; and Wales on the Web (a project funded partly by the British Library Cooperation and Partnership Programme). The intention was noted to add ANW to the Projecting Wales website (http://projwales.llgc.org.uk) in due course. |
| 8.5 | Personal assistant |
| GJ drew attention to the appointment of his new personal assistant, Meryl Tomkinson. |
| 9 | Constitution |
| It was decided to tackle ACW's constitution at a later date as part of the response to the establishment of CyMAL. |
| 10 | CyMAL |
| The Chairs of ACW, CMW, and LISC had met the Culture Minister the previous week to discuss the announcement of CyMAL. The location of the new body was expected to be confirmed early in 2003. It will replace all the functions of the Council of Museums except its member body functions. It will have far more staff and resources than the present organisation. It was noted that ACW needs to put forward a strategic action plan for projects in the archive sector. GJ tabled a draft letter welcoming the establishment of CyMAL. | |
| It was agreed that the letter should be sent in ACW's name to the Culture Minister. |
| 11 | NCA: Parliamentary Briefing |
| It was noted that ACW had contributed some items of information towards the brief being organised by NCA. |
| 12 | Profile-raising |
| It was noted that LUCAS had been given an agreement to raise the profile of archives in the regions of England and ACW expressed the desire to find someone to undertake a similar enterprise in Wales. |
| 13 | Next meeting |
| It was agreed to hold the next meeting at the National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth, at 11 a.m. on Friday, 28 March 2003. |
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