Hi Jon: A belated thought - how come Devon has teamed up with Somerset rather than Cornwall? Cheers Brian On 6 Feb 2014, at 21:48, Jonathan Frayne wrote: > Hi Brian > > Thanks for the support. I'm trying to get some support for this but I am > finding it a little tough going. > > Jon > > -----Original Message----- > From: devon-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:devon-bounces@rootsweb.com] On > Behalf Of Brian Randell > Sent: 04 February 2014 21:44 > To: <devon@rootsweb.com> > Cc: Brian Randell > Subject: Re: [DEV] Future of the NDRO > > Hi Jonathan: > > Your idea of basing a solution on the NDA is definitely worth pursuing. > > Cheers > > Brian > > On 4 Feb 2014, at 13:24, Jonathan Frayne wrote: > >> Hi all >> >> >> >> I want to talk about something other than research for a moment. >> >> >> >> Many of you will be aware of the proposal to merge Devon and Somerset >> Heritage Services to form a charitable trust. This is the response to >> budget cuts and has much to commend it. See >> http://www.devon.gov.uk/record_office.htm for details. In Devon it >> affects the archives which are rather the core of our interest and so >> are vital to continue. >> >> >> >> With other officers from the DFHS I attended a presentation on the >> trust proposals from the two current leaders of the heritage services. >> I asked about the future of the NDRO as its name was conspicuous by its > absence. >> Speaking to Tim Worleighton, the head of Devon Heritage he said that >> the future of the NDRO is not certain. He certainly doesn't want it to >> close and is looking to find a different way of it remaining open, >> however this cannot be guaranteed. His problem is a 30% cut in the >> budget for the NDRO next year which he equates to a £30k shortfall. >> The budget has been already cut to the bone and the only overhead he >> could cut now is staffing. If he does so (and apart from the personal >> loss to the staff) he will have an unsustainable level of staff so the >> NDRO would then close or be mothballed (keep the archive safe but stop >> public access I think that means). Tim is looking to convert the NDRO >> into a Service Point whereby it is a part of a multiple access point >> for all council services which would then reduce the cost to him and >> to the other departments. I didn't gain the idea that this was getting >> much traction at present. This could mean the NDRO is closed or >> reduced to an access point-this is a place where on-line and microform >> records only are made available by prior arrangement and is common in >> museums and similar across the county. The records would be safe either in > the NDRO or by taking them to Great Moor. >> >> >> >> I had a thought and I have written to several people to suggest this >> as a possible way forward. I have no idea if it is in the slightest way > feasible. >> When you visit the NDRO there can seem to be a lot of staff around. I >> think that only two of them are from the Heritage Service. Most of the >> rest are from the North Devon Athenaeum. The Athenaeum has a large >> collection of its own in the NDRO kept in the archive. They have >> staff. My thought was that the Athenaeum could take on a large role in >> running the NDRO themselves as they have a vested interest in so >> doing. There is a large capital investment in the archive in security >> and climate control if nothing else. It struck me as a possible way >> forward. I would welcome suggestions in other ways for the future and >> probably so would Tim Worleighton at the Heritage Service. I don't think > it would be viable to merely be negative and oppose the cuts. >> The money isn't there and any responses would need to be supportive >> and constructive to carry weight. Do people have other ideas that >> could be helpful? >> >> >> >> There is a consultation documentation available at >> http://new.devon.gov.uk/heritagereview/the-proposal/ In my own opinion >> this is not helpful as it doesn't address what are likely to be our > concerns. >> There are places to comment so I would urge everyone to use it and >> possibly to answer the questions they would have wanted to be asked >> rather than the ones that actually have been asked! It's our chance to >> play at politicians on a talk show! I think that we have a window of >> opportunity to affect policy decisions. I think the final decision >> will rest with the trust and that will not be in place until September >> at the earliest so lobbying may carry some weight. Please get involved > from around the world. >> >> >> >> Jon Frayne >> >> North Devon Group Rep >> >> DFHS >> >> ------------------------------------------ >> The DEVON-L mailing list is co-sponsored by GENUKI/Devon ( >> http://genuki.cs.ncl.ac.uk/DEV/ ) and the Devon FHS >> (http://www.devonfhs.org.uk/ ) List archive for Devon can be found at >> http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/index/DEVON/ >> ------------------------------- >> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to >> DEVON-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the >> quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > > -- > School of Computing Science, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, > NE1 7RU, UK > EMAIL = Brian.Randell@ncl.ac.uk PHONE = +44 191 222 7923 > FAX = +44 191 222 8232 URL = http://www.cs.ncl.ac.uk/people/brian.randell > > > > > > ------------------------------------------ > The DEVON-L mailing list is co-sponsored by GENUKI/Devon ( > http://genuki.cs.ncl.ac.uk/DEV/ ) and the Devon FHS > (http://www.devonfhs.org.uk/ ) List archive for Devon can be found at > http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/index/DEVON/ > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > DEVON-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in > the subject and the body of the message > > > ------------------------------------------ > The DEVON-L mailing list is co-sponsored by GENUKI/Devon > ( http://genuki.cs.ncl.ac.uk/DEV/ ) > and > the Devon FHS (http://www.devonfhs.org.uk/ ) > List archive for Devon can be found at http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/index/DEVON/ > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to DEVON-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message -- School of Computing Science, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 7RU, UK EMAIL = Brian.Randell@ncl.ac.uk PHONE = +44 191 222 7923 FAX = +44 191 222 8232 URL = http://www.cs.ncl.ac.uk/people/brian.randell