Oldham Local Studies and Archives used a Records at Risk grant to transfer records, purchase conservation materials and catalogue their collection which included a large number of digital records. The funding enabled the project team to catalogue this collection, acquire new digital preservation software, and contribute to upskilling staff in digital preservation.
The challenge
In late 2022, Arts Council England announced the withdrawal of its annual grant to Oldham Coliseum Theatre, leading the board of trustees to declare that the theatre company was no longer financially viable and would be closing in March 2023. Oldham Local Studies and Archives had to rapidly assess the Coliseum’s extensive collections, the majority of which were born-digital, and transfer them to the permanent archive at Oldham Local Studies and Archives.
The solution
The team at Oldham Local Studies and Archives worked with Coliseum staff to merge physical archive material into the existing Coliseum Archive and transfer digital records on to an external hard drive. With funds from a Records at Risk grant, the team employed a freelance project archivist to help manage their newly acquired collection.
The project archivist, Kate Wilson, used newly developed digital preservation workflows and procedures which were designed to be scalable so Oldham Local Studies and Archives could confidently accession collections of various sizes. Kate put together a Digital Asset Register for the Coliseum collection and ensured that it was integrated into Oldham’s archive collections.
She also created catalogues with image records attached to each entry, making their contents clearer for public viewing. During the transfer process, it became apparent that 30 theatre production photograph folders on the Coliseum’s hard drive were empty. All staff from the Coliseum had been made redundant but a spreadsheet with credit and copyright information, including contact details, had been transferred. Thankfully, Kate contacted the photographer who still had the photos and was able to transfer them.
The impact
Due to efforts from the local community, the Coliseum has been saved from closure, and is due to reopen in its original building in 2025 after refurbishment work is completed.
The work undertaken by the Oldham team and project archivist has ensured that records spanning over 20 years from the Oldham Coliseum, which would have been lost without intervention, have been saved and made more accessible. The funding enabled the project team to catalogue this collection, acquire new digital preservation software, and contribute to upskilling staff in digital preservation, greatly improving the service’s digital resilience and its ability to process and store digital collections.
Kate’s work contributed to the refining of Oldham Local Studies and Archives’ existing digital preservation workflows and procedures, and the development of a multi-collection Digital Asset Register for Oldham’s archive collections. This has ensured a positive and continued legacy to the transfer of the Coliseum records and increased confidence in accessioning collections of various sizes and complexity in future.
How is the new approach being sustained?
The updated digital preservation workflows and procedures have been used as part of a separate Greater Manchester-wide project to develop consistent digital preservation procedures in local government archive and local studies services, funded by a Resilience Grant.
The Archivist at Oldham Local Studies and Archives is using the multi-collection Digital Asset Register to ensure sufficient detail of all born-digital records in the archive collections is captured and born-digital material is preserved effectively.
Improved confidence in working with born-digital records has informed conversations within the Heritage Libraries and Arts department and cross-team with IT and Records Management colleagues, with a view to better managing Oldham Council’s digital records from creation to preservation.
Lessons learned
Through this project, the team at Oldham Local Studies and Archives has learned that it is vital to be prepared for rapid response collecting of this nature, particularly where born-digital material is involved.
The transfer of the born-digital records would have gone more smoothly if Oldham Local Studies and Archives had a Digital Preservation Policy, robust procedures and relevant digital preservation tools in place at the time the transfer took place. The legacy of the digital transfer made the project more complex than anticipated, with minimal metadata captured at the time of collecting and insufficient guidance for the Coliseum team in how best to transfer the digital records.