– notes, frequently asked questions and useful links from the archivist and curator of manuscripts at Balliol College, University of Oxford. Opinions expressed are the author's own.

Posts tagged “reports”

monthly report – March 2018

Some numbers about archives & manuscripts activity during March:

  • Number of enquiries: 41
  • Total for 2017: 145
  • Number of researchers in person (unique users): 7
  • Number of person-days in the reading room: 9
  • Collections consulted: Chalet, Rawnsley, college records (2), Monckton, Belloc, Jowett
  • images created: 2400
  • Productions (consulted by researchers in person or by the archivist in response to enquiries) – actual numbers may be slightly higher:
    • 12 boxes – up to 5 files per box, not including
    • 4 files – up to 200 items per file, not including
    • 36 individual items from a single letter to a bound volume

Some of the topics of remote enquiries received in March:

  • advice re archival sources and research
  • advice re archival training and careers
  • requests for permission to quote from or publish images of archival material
  • requests for (new) digital images of college records and medieval manuscripts
  • College portraits/art/chattels
  • 1968 student protests
  • Biographical research re / info on Balliol or related archives of
    • people who were not members of Balliol
    • T Good (Balliol 1626)
    • W Craven, 6th Baron Craven (Balliol 1756)
    • Benjamin Jowett (Balliol 1835) and Florence Nightingale
    • JA Symonds (Balliol TT 1858)
    • A Lang (Balliol HT 1865)
    • A Toynbee (Balliol HT 1875)
    • A Campbell (Balliol 1929)
    • R Leach (Balliol 1952)
    • KAH Gravett (Balliol 1955)

Enquirers and researchers should note that I resigned my post in early February and am currently completing the required 3 months’ notice. This is the last of my monthly reports to include numbers etc about enquiries and research at St Cross. As agreed in February, I have stopped taking new enquiries, requests for reprographics etc as of 1 April, and from the same date will no longer be dealing with researcher appointments, invigilation or productions and returns of material at St Cross. This is to make it possible for me to use the last few weeks of my notice period to ensure that pre-April enquiries, processing new accessions and other ‘essential but invisible’ tasks are dealt with as fully as possible before I leave. Details of the vacancy, and of interim and future staffing arrangements for the archives and manuscripts, will be posted on the Balliol College website in due course. Urgent enquiries and requests for research appointments should be directed to the Librarians until further notice.

– Anna Sander, Archivist & Curator of Manuscripts

April 2, 2018 | Categories: reports | Tags: | Leave a comment

monthly report – February 2018

Some numbers about archives & manuscripts activity during February:

  • Number of enquiries: 49
  • Total for 2017: 105
  • Number of researchers in person (unique users): 11
  • Number of person-days in the reading room: 14
  • Collections consulted: Medieval mss (3), Chalet, Hill, Hunt, Jowett (2), Nicolson diaries, Rawnsley, College records (2)
  • images created: 800
  • Productions (consulted by researchers in person or by the archivist in response to enquiries) – actual numbers may be slightly higher:
    • 13 boxes – up to 5 files per box, not including
    • 11 files – up to 200 items per file, not including
    • 6 individual items from a single letter to a bound volume, not including
    • 8 medieval/early modern ms codices

Some of the topics of remote enquiries received in February:

  • requests for permission to quote from or publish images of archival material
  • history of the Founders/Balliol family
  • requests for (new) digital images of college records and medieval manuscripts
  • Arnold & Brackenbury Society history
  • College livings (ecclesiastical patronage)
  • Chapel architecture
  • College portraits/art/chattels
  • Biographical research re / info on Balliol or related archives of
    • people who were not members of Balliol
    • C18 – early C20 College servants
    • Henry Savage (Balliol 1621)
    • Oliver Strachey (Balliol HT 1893)
    • AK Overend (Balliol 1895)
    • RWP Palmer (Balliol 1908)
    • Alan Strode Campbell Ross (Balliol 1925)
    • JR MacLean (Balliol 1927)
    • Roy Harris Jenkins (Balliol 1938)
    • JS Rennie (Balliol 1939)
    • John Nigel Rowe (Balliol 1941)
    • SJ Goldstein/Gould (Balliol 1942)
    • Hyam Zandell Maccoby (Balliol 1942)
    • Donald Michie (Balliol 1945)

Enquirers and researchers should note that I resigned my post in early February and am currently working the required 3 months’ notice. Details of the vacancy, and of interim and future staffing arrangements for the archives and manuscripts, will be posted on the Balliol College website in due course.

– Anna Sander, Archivist & Curator of Manuscripts

March 1, 2018 | Categories: reports | Tags: | Leave a comment

monthly report – December 2017

Some numbers about archives & manuscripts activity during December:

  • Number of enquiries: 33
  • Total for 2017: 726
  • Number of researchers in person (unique users): 5
  • Number of person-days in the reading room: 5 (out of 8 days open)
  • Collections consulted: Jowett archive, college records, medieval mss, Conroy archive, Malcolm papers
  • Productions (consulted by researchers in person or by the archivist in response to enquiries) – actual numbers may be slightly higher:
    • 13 boxes containing from two bound volumes to 4 thick files of individual items, not including
    • 1 file – up to 200 items per file, not including
    • 9  individual items from a single letter to a bound volume, not including
    • 1 medieval ms codex
  • No of non-research visitors: 25
  • exhibition open, with curator’s introduction, Q&A and discussion, for:
    • current Balliol Fellows, guests and staff
    • archivists & librarians from other Colleges
    • members of the Oxford Conservators’ Group
    • private visitors, including Old Members of Balliol

Some of the enquiry topics received in December:

  • college portraits and other works of art
  • requests for permission to quote from or publish images of archival material
  • requests for (new) digital images of college records and medieval manuscripts
  • Biographical research re / info on Balliol or related archives of
    • people who were not members of Balliol
    • C18 – early C20 College servants
    • G Abbott (Balliol 1581)
    • H Savage (Balliol 1624/5)
    • CSC Bowen (Balliol 1853), later Baron Bowen
    • HCK Petty-Fitzmaurice, 5th Marquess of Lansdowne (Balliol 1863)
    • GO Roos (Balliol 1887)
    • AW Pickard-Cambridge (Balliol 1891)

January 22, 2018 | Categories: reports, update | Tags: | Leave a comment

monthly report – November 2017

Some numbers about archives & manuscripts activity during November:

  • Number of enquiries: 59
  • Running total for 2017: 693
  • Number of researchers in person (unique users): 11
  • Number of person-days in the reading room: 16
  • Collections consulted: Morier, Jowett, AL Smith, Mallet, JL Strachan-Davidson (2), college records, medieval mss (3), David Urquhart, Francis Urquhart, Francis Oppenheimer
  • Productions (consulted by researchers in person or by the archivist in response to enquiries) – actual numbers may be slightly higher:
    • 17 boxes containing from two bound volumes to 4 thick files of individual items, not including
    • 16 files – up to 200 items per file, not including
    • 14  individual items from a single letter to a bound volume, not including
    • 51 medieval ms codices
  • No of non-research visitors: ca 140
  • images created: 800
  • events: with colleagues, staffed the College Archivists’ stand at the Graduate Thesis fair
  • exhibition open, with curator’s introduction, Q&A and discussion, for:
    • Balliol MCR (15)
    • tutor & students from Harris Manchester (15)
    • mentor & trainees from the Bodleian Conservation department (8)
    • tutor & students from Mansfield (4)
    • Dept of Education (4)
    • senior tutor & students from MCMRS (7)
    • tutor & students from Oxford MSt in Medieval Studies (13)
    • tutor & students from Balliol English (8)
    • OCC conservators (6)
    • tutor & students from Dept of History of Art (7)
    • Bodleian Libraries’ & Oxford Brookes SCONUL trainees (15)
    • private visitors (12)
    • total 114 (at least)

Some of the enquiry topics received in November:

  • advice re archival sources and research
  • advice re archival training and careers
  • requests for permission to quote from or publish images of archival material
  • requests for (new) digital images of medieval manuscripts
  • Balliol’s holdings of pre-800 and 17th century manuscripts
  • a Balliol tartan!
  • Biographical research re / info on Balliol or related archives of
    • people who were not members of Balliol
    • C18 and early C20 College servants
    • R Scott (Balliol 1835)
    • JA Spender (Balliol 1881)
    • A Entwisle (Balliol TT 1863)
    • GM Hopkins (Balliol TT 1863)
    • B Entwisle (Balliol TT 1869)
    • F Oppenheimer (Balliol 1890)
    • JHR Grenfell (Balliol 1906)
    • LU Kay-Shuttleworth (Balliol 1906)
    • EJ Kay-Shuttleworth (Balliol 1908)
    • GW Grenfell (Balliol 1909)
    • RP Haldane (Balliol 1911)
    • HS Malik (Balliol 1912)
    • L Fleming (Balliol 1922)
    • NM Roger (Balliol 1929)
    • A S-R Pyper (Balliol 1935)
    • OD Pratt (Balliol 1938)
    • CB Hobhouse (Balliol 1928)
    • NAM Grant Duff (Balliol 1928)

December 5, 2017 | Categories: reports, update | Tags: | Leave a comment

termly report – Michaelmas 2017

 This report covers the Archivist’s work May-November 2017.

A) Enquiries, researchers & visitors

 

May

  • Enquiries: 60
  • Researchers – unique users:  5
  • Seats occupied: 7
  • Collections consulted in person:  Oriental mss, western medieval mss, Jowett papers
  • Files produced May-Sept:  33 boxes, 83 files, 50 items and 74 mss
  • Visitors (non-research):  ca. 20

June

  • Enquiries: 62
  • Unique users:  4
  • Seats occupied:  4
  • Collections consulted in person:  Nicolson diaries, college records, medieval mss (2)
  • Visitors (non-research): ca. 55

July

  • Enquiries: 54
  • Unique users: 11
  • Seats occupied: 16
  • Collections consulted:  Monckton (4), Morier, college records, Strachan-Davidson, Clough, medieval mss, David Urquhart
  • Visitors (non-research): ca. 50

August

  • Enquiries: 44
  • Unique users: 6
  • Seats occupied: 12
  • Collections consulted in person:  Monckton (2), medieval mss, TH Green, Rawnsley, Jowett
  • Visitors (non-research): 3

September

  • Enquiries: 61
  • Unique users: 3
  • Seats occupied: 5
  • Collections consulted in person:  College records, medieval manuscripts (3)
  • Visitors (non-research): 400+

October

  • Enquiries: 55
  • Unique users: 10
  • Seats occupied: 13
  • Collections consulted in person:  College records,  medieval mss (3), Browning, Nicolson, Monckton (2), Jowett, TH Green, Caird, RBD Morier, AL Smith
  • Files produced: 20 boxes, 14 files, 61 items and 24 mss
  • Visitors (non-research): ca. 55

November (incomplete at the time of reporting)

  • Enquiries: 43
  • Unique users: 8
  • Seats occupied: 15
  • Collections consulted in person:  College records,  medieval mss (3),  David Urquhart, Jowett, TH Green, RBD Morier, AL Smith, Oppenheimer, FF Urquhart
  • Files produced: 6 boxes, 3 files, 11 items and 34 mss
  • Visitors (non-research): 110+

Period totals

  • Enquiries: 379
  • Unique users: 47
  • Seats occupied: 72
  • Files produced: 53 boxes, 97 files, 101 items and 98 mss
  • Visitors (non-research): 860+

2017 running totals

  • Enquiries: 677
  • Unique users: 79
  • Seats occupied: 116
  • Visitors (non-research): 920+

*Files produced: one production slip may record anything from a single item to a complete box. These numbers tell more about the amount of fetching and carrying involved than about the volume, breadth or detail of material consulted. The number includes material consulted by the archivist while researching responses to remote enquiries as well as those produced to researchers in person.

 – A box may contain up to 10 bound volumes or 6 files containing several hundred individual items. Numbers of boxes given do not include files.

– A file may contain up to 200 items. Numbers of files given do not include items. 

– Individual items may range from a single letter to a bound volume. Numbers of items given do not include medieval ms codices.

A sample of research topics, by researchers in person and remote enquirers, from the reporting period:

‘I am assessing materials available and avenues of research on the history of the church of St Lawrence Jewry.’  (May)

‘[I would like to consult] the archives of James Justinian Morier… I am particularly interested in any correspondence, diaries or drawings/paintings relating to his accompanying the British intervention in the Russian-Iranian agreement that led to the signing of the treaty of Gulistan on the 24th October 1813.’ (June)

‘I am writing a book about the 1848 revolutions and I am interested in Arthur Hugh Clough, Arthur Stanley and Benjamin Jowett.’ (July)

‘I am looking in letters sent from India for evidence of health and health care in C19 India.’ (August)

‘I am looking for evidence of payments made in connection with the plates contained in Oxonia Illustrata to David Loggan, the engraver, ca 1670-1675, either by the colleges  or by the dedicatee (Sir Henry Littleton).’ (September)

‘My research work relates to the Anglo-American expatriate circle around Katherine Bronson in Venice during the 1880s.’ (October)

A digest of remote enquiry topics is now included in the monthly blog reports as well.

B) Arrangement & description and collection care

Lists by JHJ; edited and posted online by Anna:

  • Letters of Muriel Hatherley Rendell, later Cathcart
  • Papers relating to St Mary’s Portsea during WW1 (Hilda Pickard-Cambridge & OA Hunt)
  • Papers of AC Bradley, Fellow of Balliol
  • Courtenay Peregrine Ilbert (1841-1924), Balliol 1860 (Fellow 1864, Bursar 1871-1874)
  • Papers of Francis Oppenheimer
  • Papers of Peter Lyne re St Cross Church

Papers of AF Giles (Balliol 1936), 100+ fascicled letters to his parents while a student at Balliol and active in student politics and the Union, 1936-1939 (2 volumes & 3 mounted photos). Listed by Anna and posted online.

The Caird Papers have been physically numbered to correspond with JHJ’s relisting and better descriptions. The TH Green, David Urquhart and Morier Family papers have additional descriptions and clearer numbering. and improved physical numbering.

Medieval mss: boxing more than 100 manuscripts for the first time resulted in the need to adjust some of the shelving on N5. Shelving changes, shelf check and updated finding aid are complete.

Conservation: treatment of several medieval manuscripts was completed over the summer in preparation for the MT exhibition. In particular, MS 354 (Richard Hill’s commonplace book) has had key repairs to the sewing structure and badly softened page edges, and has been reboxed to replace an old non-acid free Maltby’s box. While it is still fragile and requires careful and minimal handling, it is now safe to produce for (a very limited number of) researchers again.

Engagement

Social media

  • Facebook: 1003 Likes. Weekly updates, links to blog posts, notices of events, etc.
  • Twitter: 2172 total Tweets, 1602 followers
  • Blog: 30 new posts

Image management

  • Oxfile (OUCS) – used 24 times Sept-Oct, total 339 times, to send images, externally and within college, across archival collections.
  • I have been working with Emma Stanford and her successor at the Bodleian to correct some old (1997-2000) errors and missing images in the Balliol sets on http://image.ox.ac.uk/ , as the old site will be taken down once the contents have been checked and added to http://digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/ .
  • Images created: 20K. More than 111K images on Flickr and 2.75 M views.

Outreach & Events

May

  • Anna & Gabrielle – handling workshop for Balliol English students
  • Unlocking Archives talk: Nikki Tomkins (OCC) on conserving Nicholas Crouch books for Wellcome project
  • Watford Girls’ Grammar school groups – manuscripts activity (repeat visit but new activity)

June

  • Bodleian archives & mss trainees – tour & careers talk (repeat visit)

July

  • Oxford Research & Innovation Support Conference delegates – general tour (recommended)
  • Dr Juliana Dresvina & students from St Peter’s College Summer School at Magdalen College – medieval manuscripts workshop

September

  • Open Doors – 7th year, medieval mss exhibition open, 300+ visitors
  • Balliol Society Weekend – medieval mss exhibition open
  • Evensong for the patronal feast of St Cross
  • Exhibition continues open all Michaelmas term
  • Visit to exhibition and service of Evening Prayer by participants in college incumbents’ conference

October

  • Antechapel displays and ‘Document in Focus’ features in Broad St Library, prepared by Anna, continue
  • Bruce’s Brunch talk by Anna re college history & special collections
  • Individual visitors to exhibition including Fellows and Old Members

November

  • with colleagues, staffed the College Archives stall at the postgraduate history thesis fair, Examination Schools
  • with Librarians, hosted an MCR viewing of the medieval manuscripts exhibition plus open display and discussion of early printed books (ca 15 attending)
  • Medievalists visiting exhibition, introduction and Q&A with Anna: tutors with students from Harris Manchester, Mansfield, the Education Department, Middlebury CMRS (Keble), Bodleian Conservation department’s preservation volunteers & staff
  • DIY Digitization workshop with Prof Henrike Laehnemann (SEH) for Palaeography, History of the Book, Digital Humanities Method Option MSt (following on from Prof Wakelin’s workshop in 2016)
  • Handling workshop and medieval manuscripts exhibition with Helen Appleton for Balliol 2nd year English students (return visit)
  • Oxford Conservation Consortium staff visiting exhibition (i.e. from the Grove Cottage studio)
  • Oxford Conservation Group visiting exhibition (conservators from Bodleian, Ashmolean, ORO, independents etc.)

Future events

Scheduled so far:

  • Display re Balliol’s WW1 poets and poetry (spring 18) & related talk/event
  • Book launch for Lynda Dennison’s ‘Oxford: All Souls-Lincoln’ volume of An Index of Images in English Manuscripts, from the time of Chaucer to Henry VII, c.1380 – c.1509, series ed. Kathleen Scott (Balliol has the largest section!) (HT18)
  • 3rd Holywell Manor Festival (April 18)
  • Visit from Wolvercote Local History Society (June 18)
  • Open Doors Oxford (Sept 18)
  • Exhibition of Reconstructing Nicholas Crouch project (MT18) & related talk/event
  • Oxfordshire Record Society AGM & visit to exhibition (Sept 18)
  • Loan of Gerard Manley Hopkins material to Campion Hall for display during GMH Symposium (Sept 18)
  • Display of photos and archives for Chalet Trust event (Sept 18)

CPD/training/staff

Anna CPD:

  • Attended Archives Hub training meeting for college archivists (June)
  • Attended ‘Recent conservation and research on the two Winchester Bibles: a day symposium’ at the Weston Library (June)
  • Oxford-Cambridge & Inns of Court archivists’ meeting (July)
  • Chapter on handling special collections material finally appeared in Loffman, Claire, and Harriet Phillips, eds. A Handbook of Editing Early Modern Texts. Routledge, 2017. (July)
  • Visit to Somerville College Library & Archives (August)
  • Attended OCG-OAC-CCL talk by Chris Woods (one of the authors) on BS 4971, the new environmental standard for the conservation and care of archive and library collections (November)
  • Attended talk by Matthew Holford (Bodleian) about the use of TEI (text encoding initiative) for creating electronic catalogues of medieval manuscript books from hard-copy data in print catalogues, based on his experience of projects at the Bodleian and at Christ Church (November).

Balliol student Kai Dowding (Balliol 2017, MSt Medieval Studies) is working with Anna on Friday afternoons in MT-HT for practical archival experience.

More details, more often, on social media:

https://balliolarchivist.wordpress.com/
https://twitter.com/balliolarchives

https://www.facebook.com/balliolarchives

http://www.flickr.com/photos/balliolarchivist/collections/

– Anna Sander, MT 2017 (November)

 

November 30, 2017 | Categories: reports, update | Tags: | Leave a comment

monthly report September 2017

Some numbers about archives & manuscripts activity during September:

  • Number of enquiries: 61
  • Running total for 2017: 578
  • Number of researchers in person (unique users): 3
  • Number of person-days in the reading room: 5
  • Collections consulted: college records,  medieval manuscripts (3)
  • Productions (consulted by researchers in person or by the archivist in response to enquiries), over 4 months since late May when a new production slip system was introduced – numbers doubtless incomplete:
    • 33 boxes containing from two bound volumes to 4 thick files of individual items, not including
    • 83 files – up to 200 items per file, not including
    • 50 individual items from a single letter to a bound volume, not including
    • 74 medieval ms codices
  • No of non-research visitors: ca.400
  • images created: 1300
  • events: Oxford Open Doors (7th year), patronal evening prayer service, Balliol incumbents’ conference visit to exhibition and evening prayer service, Balliol Society visitors to exhibition, individual visitors to exhibition

This month I’ve included a snapshot of numbers about enquirers’ place of origin (or at least geographical  research base) and enquiry type – I don’t do this every time as they get very repetitive; proportions are fairly consistent throughout the year and from year to year. Private family history enquiries may make up less of the annual total now that basic research sources such as the College Register and War Memorial Books have been available online for more than 5 years; individuals can use them without reference to the archivist, and they are being mentioned in e.g. family history/WW1 research forums as well. More about September’s enquiries (calculated out of 61):

Origin of enquiry

  • Internal (Balliol) 9, 15%
  • Oxford (outside Balliol) 17, 28%
  • Rest of UK 24, 39%
  • Other countries 11, 19% (Germany, France , Netherlands, Australia, USA, Italy, Canada)

Type of enquirer

  • Private (mostly biographical or local history) 20, 34%
  • Academic 18, 29%
  • Student 7, 11%
  • Institutional/admin 16, 26%

Some of the enquiry topics received in September:

  • advice re archives cataloguing and preservation
  • advice re student/volunteer projects in archives
  • requests for (new) digital images of medieval manuscripts
  • C17 college accounts
  • Buittle Castle
  • college hymn
  • college portraits and paintings
  • college rules for students in the 1920s
  • records of college livings and related estates/property
  • development of the tutorial system, late C19-earlyC20
  • history of the role of Visitor of the College
  • Balliol JCR and MCR Presidents
  • history of adult education in Oxford, late C19-early C20
  • Biographical research re / info on Balliol or related archives of
    • people who were not members of Balliol
    • Nathanael Konopios (Balliol 1630s/40s)
    • GM Hopkins (Balliol TT 1863)
    • R Browning (Hon Fellow 1867)
    • J Ashton Cross (Balliol 1868)
    • R Younger, Baron Blanesburgh (Balliol TT 1880)
    • OV Darbishire (Balliol 1888)
    • J O’Regan (Balliol 1889)
    • AR Cunliffe (Balliol 1890)
    • HJ Rofe (Balliol 1890)
    • CE Goetz (Balliol 1891)
    • FF Urquhart (Balliol 1891)
    • CN Dyer (Balliol 1897)
    • JS Mann (Balliol 1912)
    • HG Greene (Balliol 1922)
    • C Gilpatric (Balliol 1938)
    • JR Schlesinger (Balliol 1947)
    • Egerton Richardson (Balliol 1954)

October 2, 2017 | Categories: reports | Tags: | Leave a comment

monthly report August 2017

A few numbers about archives & manuscripts activity during August:

Some of the enquiry topics received in August:

  • advice re archives access arrangements
  • advice re archives training/careers
  • advice re records management
  • requests for (new) digital images of medieval manuscripts
  • student protests in the 1960s
  • historic maps, plans and views of Balliol
  • C19 letters from India
  • Balliol JCR Presidents
  • pronunciation of Jowett
  • Biographical research re / info on Balliol or related archives of
    • John Wycliffe (Fellow and Master C14)
    • David Urquhart (1855-1928)
    • Thomas Hill Green (Balliol HT 1855) and Charlotte Byron Symonds Green
    • C19-early C20 Thai (Siamese) students at Balliol
    • HD Rawnsley (Balliol 1870)
    • William Henry ‘Billy’ Grenfell (Balliol 1874)
    • Owen Morgan Edwards (Balliol 1884)
    • Lawrence Evelyn-Jones (Balliol 1904)
    • JD Champneys (Balliol 1908)
    • Vivian Hunter Galbraith (Balliol 1910)
    • James Saumarez Mann (Balliol 1912)
    • Prof Leslie Lipson (Balliol 1931)
    • Adam von Trott zu Solz (Balliol 1931)
    • AF Giles (Balliol 1936)
    • Thomas Balogh (Fellow of Balliol 1940)

 

 

 

August 31, 2017 | Categories: reports | Tags: | Leave a comment

monthly report July 2017

A few numbers about archives & manuscripts activity during July:

  • Number of enquiries: 54
  • Running total for 2017: 474
  • Number of researchers in person (unique users): 11
  • Number of person-days in the reading room: 16
  • Collections consulted: Monckton Archive (4), Morier Archive, college records, Strachan-Davidson papers, Clough papers, medieval manuscripts, David Urquhart archive
  • No of non-research visitors: ca 50
  • Interesting events & activities: collections talk & display for university staff at the University of Oxford Research and Innovation Support Conference; medieval manuscripts workshop for tutor & students from St Peter’s College Summer School at Magdalen College
  • images created: 4000+

Some of the external (non-college) enquiry topics received in July:

  • advice re copyright in unpublished manuscript material
  • advice re archives access arrangements
  • advice re archives training/careers
  • advice re reliable sources to cite re college/university qualifications
  • advice re how to find an Oxford DPhil thesis
  • academic dress at Balliol in the 1920s
  • requests for (new) digital images of medieval manuscripts
  • sketchbooks in archives
  • detailed questions about MSS 383 and 451
  • C19 history of the Urquhart chalet(s)
  • Biographical research re / info on Balliol or related archives of
    • C19-early C20 Thai (Siamese) students at Balliol
    • astronomer James Bradley (Balliol 1711)
    • B Jowett (Balliol 1835)
    • M Arnold (Balliol 1840)
    • GM Hopkins (Balliol HT 1863, see 1862)
    • AL Smith (Balliol 1869)
    • CJG Montefiore (Balliol 1877)
    • SF Boas (Balliol 1881)
    • HS Malik (Balliol 1912)
    • WH Hollins (Balliol 1914, not resident)
    • CMN White (Balliol 1933)
    •  JB Bell (Balliol 1936)
    • HB Burgess (Balliol 1936)
    • JT Adamson (Balliol TT 1937, see 1936)
    • RB Joly (Balliol 1938)
    • GA McCaskie (Balliol 1938)
    • FDK Williams (Balliol 1938)
    • HC Dawkins (Balliol HT 1940 see 1939)
    • MJ Webb (Balliol 1943)
    • Greats results in 1951

As in most months, I have received queries about individuals who are not recorded as members of the college or university – this lack of documentation *usually* and *probably* indicates that they were not at Balliol/Oxford – but not absolutely.

 

 

July 31, 2017 | Categories: reports | Tags: | Leave a comment

termly report Trinity Term 2017

TT17 Week 6 HT (June) Library Committee

Archivist’s report

This paper reports on the Archivist’s work February – April 2017.

A) Enquiries, researchers & visitors

February

  • Enquiries: 62
  • Unique users: 8
  • Seats occupied: 15
  • Collections consulted:  medieval mss, George Malcolm, David Urquhart, Persian & Turkish mss, Jenkyns papers, college records
  • Visitors (non-research): 60+

March

  • Enquiries: 92
  • Unique users: 12
  • Seats occupied: 12
  • Collections consulted: medieval mss (4), Greene-Reid papers, Persian & Arabic mss, Malcolm, Morier Family and RBD Morier archives, Monckton papers, college records (2)
  • Visitors (non-research): ca40

April

  • Enquiries: 60
  • Unique users: 4
  • Seats occupied: 7
  • Collections consulted: oriental MSS (2), western medieval mss, college records
  • Visitors (non-research): 55+

Period totals/2017 running totals

 

  • Enquiries: 214/298
  • Unique users: 24/32
  • Seats occupied: 34/43
  • Visitors (non-research) 155+ / Ca 160

* * *

A handful of research topics, by researchers in person and remote enquirers, from the reporting period:

‘I research horizontal tree diagrams in the margins of manuscripts of the Lombard’s Sentences, among others. I want to see if these copies have some interesting marginalia, and if there are to note the folio numbers and perhaps take pictures or order images. I am interested especially the one that perhaps contains Rufus’ notes. The other volume is to satisfy my interest in the indexing procedure of the tabulae.’

‘ I am researching the London property market at the time of the Great Fire of 1666 – and I am finding out about College property holdings in the Square Mile. I have published on various aspects of the City of London in the 17th and 18th centuries. ‘

 

 

‘I am currently preparing the publication of my PhD thesis on the mise en page and the illustrations in medieval manuscripts containing Aristotelian treatises, to be published by Böhlau Verlag, Cologne, Germany, later this year. I would love to include some illustrations of MS 253, a particularly densely glossed manuscript of Aristotle’s logical treatises and contains some very original depictions of teaching scenes. On your wonderful website, I found photos of excellent quality, and I would like to ask for permission to publish them in my thesis.’

  1. B) Arrangement & description and collection care

John Jones’ lists of papers of Julian Miller (Balliol 1957) and Arthur Hugh Sidgwick (Balliol 1903), both listed for the first time, are now online.

In response to specific external enquiries, I have checked, ordered and numbered several files of the David Urquhart and Morier Family archives, and added item-level descriptions for all items to the online catalogues (files run to 50+ items). It is unfortunate that the physical items were not numbered when the papers were catalogued in the 1990s.

Conservation: Housing of all the manuscript books is now complete, with many thanks to OCC and PADS. There are still some old boxes that need replacing, but this is not urgent, and can be done in tandem with planned conservation of those individual manuscripts. Treatment of several manuscripts, notably MS 354 (Richard Hill’s commonplace book of ca 1510), continues in preparation for September’s exhibition.

C) Engagement

Social media

• Facebook: 937 Likes. Weekly updates, links to blog posts, notices of events, etc.

• Twitter: 1900 total Tweets, 1494 followers

• Blog: 17 new posts including several school group activities

Image management

• Oxfile (OUCS)– used 32 times Feb-Apr, total 290 times, to send images, externally and within college, across archival collections.

• Images created: 8000+.

  • Browning draft/printer’s proofs volumes (MSS 387-392) have been photographed in full
  • Images of all 10 volumes of Clark’s annual lists of Balliol members 1520-1822 are online – a key college history/family history/biographical research resource.

Outreach & Events:

• Antechapel displays and ‘Document in Focus’ features in Broad St Library, prepared by Anna, continue

February

  • • medieval mss display by Anna continued & taken down
  • • George Malcolm centenary exhibition by Giles Dawson opened
  • • Unlocking Archives talk by Monica Kendall on 18th century letters, Jane Austen and social history
  • • Unlocking Archives talk by Giles Dawson on George Malcolm’s centenary

March

  • • George Malcolm centenary exhibition continued, and taken down
  • • Unlocking Archives talk by Lucy Kelsall on the cataloguing side of the Reconstructing Nicholas Crouch project
  • • Library staff lead Into University group visit at St Cross
  • • display of newly acquired Jowett letters for Jowett Society launch event in Broad Street.

April

  • • temporary Prof Les Woods memorial exhibition by Jo Ashbourn open, and taken down
  • • Les Woods memorial event at St Cross
  • • Anna & Gabrielle present hands-on special collections
  • handling training workshop for Balliol English & History students
  • • Anna with colleagues staffing college archivists’ table at undergraduate History Thesis Fair

D) Future events

Summer schedule so far:

  • • Watford Girls’ Grammar school groups for a manuscripts activity (repeat visit)
  • • Wolvercote Local History Society, theme tbc by them (Old Member contact) [postponed]
  • • Bodleian archives & mss trainees for a careers talk (repeat visit)
  • • Oxford Research & Innovation Support Conference delegates for a general tour (recommended)
  • • Open Doors: St Cross will be open for Oxford Open Doors, weekend of 9-10 September, 12-4pm both days.

This will be the 7th year that Balliol has opened St Cross to the public for Open Doors, and hundreds of people keep coming! I hope the medieval mss exhibition, which will be launched for this open weekend and then continue throughout MT17, will be an extra draw this year.

 

 

 

 

F) CPD/training/staff

Anna CPD:

  • • attended meetings of the Management Committee of the Oxford Conservation Consortium in February and April
  • • attended Gerald Aylmer Seminar 2017 (London, IHR): ‘Strongroom to Seminar: archives and teaching in higher education’ (February)
  • • attended Teaching the Codex II colloquium on the pedagogy of palaeography and codicology (May)

We note with sadness the death of Prof Elliott Horowitz z”l (Oliver Smithies Visiting Fellow 2014-15) in March 2017. He had completed the beautiful and successful Hebraica & Judaica exhibition at St Cross in Michaelmas 2016, culminating in a day of fascinating talks by Oxford experts in November.

 

– Anna Sander, TT 2017 (June)

July 6, 2017 | Categories: reports, update | Tags: | Leave a comment

monthly report June 2017

A few numbers about archives & manuscripts activity during June:

  • Number of enquiries: 62
  • Running total for 2017: 420
  • Number of researchers in person (unique users): 4
  • Number of person-days in the reading room: 4
  • Collections consulted: college records, medieval mss (2), Nicolson diaries
  • No of non-research visitors: ca 50
  • Interesting events & activities: manuscripts encounter activity for groups from Watford Girls’ Grammar School, careers talk and display for Bodleian Libraries trainees from across the University and college libraries

Some of the external (non-college) enquiry topics received in June:

  • C17 College servants
  • C17 members of College
  • C17 college history
  • C17 Greek Orthodox members of College/University
  • C18 members of College
  • C19-20 Boat Club records
  • Biographical research for local WW1 memorials and centenary commemorations
  • New Deal economist and presidential adviser Isador Lubin & the 1945 Moscow Reparations Commission
  • Works of art by John Minton, Samuel Wale RA, Allan Barr
  • C20 silver (plate) history
  • Biographical research re judge Robert Younger, Baron Blanesburgh (Balliol TT1880); philosopher TH Green (Balliol 1880); journal editor and writer JA Spender (Balliol 1881); politician, motorist, and litigant Frank, 2nd Earl Russell (Balliol 1883); poet and author Hilaire Belloc (Balliol Hilary Term 1893) and his record-setting walk to London; Slavonic scholar Nevill Forbes (Balliol 1903); Indian civil servant and diplomat Hardit Singh Malik (Balliol 1912)
  • Early C20 Balliol property in Oxford
  • Balliol during WW2
  • Identifying college architecture from old photos
  • Advice on preservation and arrangement of small institutional archives

July 5, 2017 | Categories: reports | Tags: | Leave a comment

monthly report May 2017

A few numbers about archives & manuscripts activity during May:

  • Number of enquiries: 60 (again)
  • Running total for 2017: 358
  • Number of researchers in person (unique users): 5
  • Number of person-days in the reading room: 7
  • Collections consulted: oriental mss, medieval mss, Jowett papers
  • No of non-research visitors: ca 20
  • Interesting events & activities: Anna & Gabrielle present hands-on special collections handling training workshop for Balliol English & History students; Unlocking Archives talk by Nikki Tomkins (OCC) on conserving Nicholas Crouch books for Wellcome project

Some of the external (non-college) enquiry topics received in May:

  • Request to visit the church & information re memorials
  • C15 members of College
  • C17 members of New Inn Hall, later absorbed by Balliol
  • C19-20 pre-admission student orientation/training/preparation
  • Balliol heraldry
  • Balliol’s role in the early development of the WEA and Continuing Education in Oxford
  • Local and church history: St Lawrence Jewry, London
  • Balliol during and following WW1
  • JRR Tolkien material at Balliol
  • Biographical research on
    • diarist & writer John Evelyn (Balliol 1637)
    • physician and diplomat Sir John Finch (Balliol 1642)
    • scholar and educator John White (Balliol Hilary Term 1858)
    • college historian Frances de Paravicini, wife of Francis de Paravicini (Fellow of Balliol 1862)
    • AL Smith (Balliol 1869)
    • Shyamji Krishna Varma (also Krishnavarma, Balliol HT 1879)
    • politician, countryman, and author Edward Grey, Viscount Grey of Fallodon (Balliol 1880)
    • historian and Fellow of Balliol Francis Urquhart (Balliol 1890)
    • RW Fletcher (Balliol 1910)
    • WW1 poet Stephen Hewett (Balliol 1911)
    • writer Aldous Huxley (Balliol 1913)
    • solicitor JS Hickey (Balliol 1914)
    • barrister LM Caulfeild-Stoker (Balliol 1930)
    • first president of Botswana Sir Seretse Khama (Balliol 1945)

June 1, 2017 | Categories: reports, update | Tags: | Leave a comment

monthly report April 2017

A few numbers about archives & manuscripts activity during April:

  • Number of enquiries: 60
  • Running total for 2017: 298
  • Number of researchers in person (unique users): 4
  • Number of person-days in the reading room: 7
  • Collections consulted: oriental MSS (2), western medieval mss, college records
  • No of non-research visitors: 55+
  • Interesting events & activities: temporary Prof Les Woods memorial exhibition open, and taken down; Anna & Gabrielle present hands-on special collections handling training workshop for Balliol English & History students; Anna with colleagues staffing college archivists table at undergraduate History Thesis Fair.

Some of the external (non-college) enquiry topics received in April:

  • Medieval Oxford – Colleges and Halls
  • Balliol’s foundation
  • Connection between Roger Bacon and Balliol
  • Connection of John de Balliol, King of Scots, with the Founders and the College
  • C17 membership and residence
  • John Evelyn’s diaries
  • Women in 18th century land transaction/ownership documents
  • Connection between Jane Austen’s family and Balliol
  • WW1 officer cadets at Balliol
  • Early Chinese students at Balliol
  • ‘unbuilt Balliol’
  • The St Cross building project
  • College Chapel registers of baptisms
  • The Balliol Barge
  • Records of student work and surviving examples
  • Biographical research on
    • Ralph Radcliffe Whitehead (Balliol 1873)
    • Wallace Le Patourel (Balliol 1886)
    • Charles Percy Hill (Balliol 1896)
    • Arthur High Sidgwick (Balliol 1901)
    • Hardit Singh Malik (Balliol 1912)
    • Alan Wallace (Balliol 1912)
    • Selkirk Chapman (Balliol 1919)
    • David Moffat Johnson (Balliol 1923)
    • Hugh Stretton (Balliol 1947)
    • Derek Parfit (Balliol 1961)
    • C20 College staff (College Servants in historical records)
  • information about and/or copies from
    • Mallet Papers
    • Arnold Family papers
    • Monckton papers
    • David Urquhart papers
    • AW Leeper papers
    • medieval manuscripts

May 1, 2017 | Categories: reports, update | Tags: | Leave a comment

monthly report March 2017

A few numbers about archives & manuscripts activity during March:

  • Number of enquiries: 92
  • Running total for 2017: 238
  • Number of researchers in person (unique users): 12
  • Number of person-days in the reading room: 12
  • Collections consulted: medieval mss (4), Greene-Reid papers, Persian & Arabic mss, Malcolm, Morier Family and RBD Morier archives, Monckton papers, college records (2)
  • No of non-research visitors: ca 40
  • Interesting events & activities: temporary George Malcolm centenary exhibition open, and taken down; 1 Unlocking Archives talk; Library staff lead IntoUniversity group visit; display of newly acquired Jowett letters for college event in Broad Street.

April 3, 2017 | Categories: reports | Tags: | Leave a comment

monthly report February 2017

A few numbers about archives & manuscripts activity during February:

  • Number of remote enquiries: 62
  • Running total for 2017: 145
  • Number of researchers in person (unique users): 8
  • Number of person-days in the reading room: 15
  • Collections consulted: medieval mss, George Malcolm, David Urquhart, Persian & Turkish mss, Jenkyns papers, college records
  • No of non-research visitors: ca 60
  • Interesting events & activities: temporary medieval mss exhibition continued open, and taken down; temporary George Malcolm centenary exhibition produced and open; 2 Unlocking Archives talks

March 2, 2017 | Categories: reports | Tags: | Leave a comment

termly report Hilary 2017

HT17 Week 6 (23 February) Library Committee

Archivist’s report

This paper reports on the Archivist’s work November 2016 – January 2017.

Reader & visitor numbers by month

Unique Users
November 9
December 5
January 8
Period total 22
2016 total 94

Seats occupied
November 12
December 8
January 9
Period total 29
2016 total 123

Visitors (non research)
November Ca 85
December 9
January 4
Period total ca 100
2016 total ca 750

Remote enquiries

  • November 76
  • December 25
  • January 83
  • Period total 184
  • 2016 total 875

Collection care & development

Notable accessions:

  • 3 letters from Benjamin Jowett to Margot Asquith, 1892.
  • 2 files re early planning, construction & furnishing of Eastman House, 1920s-1932.
  • 1 box file of Bursary invoices/receipts for September 1922. These would normally have been thrown away in the course of regular business, and no other similar files survive, but having a small complete sample throws useful light on Bursary accounting recordkeeping of the time.

Conservation:

Several manuscripts will be cleaned and repaired for the September exhibition after all, as well as continuing the postponed boxing of the medieval and early modern mss. Most importantly, MS 354 (Richard Hill’s commonplace book of ca 1510), a key and in some cases unique surviving source for medieval English carol texts, will be made safe for both display and handling. This fragile paper ms has been in parlous condition for years and it will be very good to be able to allow researchers to consult it again, as the digital images are useful but do not convey all the information from the original.

The Foundation Statutes of 1282, which are produced often for college and other visitors, have been lightly cleaned, photographed at very high resolution and rehoused to current conservation standards and are looking brilliant. They and enlarged images of Dervorguilla’s seal went on show immediately as part of the HT manuscripts display at St Cross, and will be out again for the MT17 exhibition.

Engagement

Social media

  • Facebook: 950 Likes. Weekly updates, links to blog posts, notices of events, etc.
  • Twitter: 1800 total Tweets, 1452 followers
  • Blog: 16 new posts – monthly reports, stats for 2016, event notices, illustrated exhibition ‘afterlife’

Image management

  • Oxfile (OUCS) – used 18 times Nov-Jan, total 258 times, to send images, externally and within college, across archival collections.
  • more than 2.2 million individual image views on Flickr of 92,000+ images. The most-viewed image is the first entry in the War Memorial Book, followed by most of the rest of same, and the College Registers. Many of the medieval mss have had hundreds of views of each image.

Outreach & Events:

November

  • hosting weekly half-day NaNoWriMo Come Write In sessions for local novelists for a 4th year.
  • Adam Von Trott students visiting again (memorial lecture @Mansfield) – discussion and display of MS and printed material
  • For #TheOxfordSomme initiative by http://ww1centenary.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/, 18 Nov tweets for each Balliol man who fell on the Somme July-Nov 1916; the prescheduled tweets went out every 20 mins 9am-6pm.
  • new antechapel display: St Catherine
  • ACS invited speaker at WW1 history ‘road show’ organised with OUCS and International Society for WW1 Studies in conjunction with their conference
  • Unlocking Archives – Dr Matthew Balensuela: ‘Medieval Musical Illustrations: Balliol MS 173A’
  • Sunday symposium on Balliol’s Hebraica & Judaica: speakers Prof Martin Goodman FBA, Dr Rahel Fronda, Prof Joanna Weinberg, Prof Elliott Horowitz
  • Unlocking Archives – Prof Elliott Horowitz: ‘Balliol Judaica and Hebraica: an exhibition’

December:

  • Balliol tutor & English 2nd years to St Cross for hands-on introduction to structure, production history & good handling of medieval manuscript codices

January:

  • Temporary exhibition of medieval manuscripts ‘Mostly music & medicine’, open to the public most afternoons weeks 2-5. 54 visitors
  • new antechapel display: enlarged illuminated initials from the mss exhibition (mid-Jan);stained glass restoration feature remains on the other side of the board as long as the glass is out
  • new ‘Document in Focus’ features prepared by Anna continue on display in Broad St Library

CPD/training/staff

Anna CPD:

  • observed organisation & volunteer training & participated in the digitization team for OUCS WW1 ‘archives roadshow’ day (November)
  • attended conference Manuscripts in the Making: Art & Science and COLOUR exhibition, org. Fitzwilliam Museum, AMARC, Cambridge Chemistry Dept (December)
  • elected a member of the Management Committee of the Oxford Conservation Consortium (December)

More news

More details, more often, on social media:

Anna Sander

HT 2017 (February)

February 27, 2017 | Categories: update | Tags: | Leave a comment

monthly report January 2017

A few numbers about archives & manuscripts activity during January:

  • Number of enquiries:  83 (from 16 December when the archives closed for the holidays)
  • Running total for 2017: 83
  • Number of researchers in person (unique users): 8
  • Number of person-days in the reading room: 9 (open 12 days)
  • Collections consulted: Malcolm, Balliol Boys’ Club, Jowett Copyright Trust, Monckton (2), RBD Morier, college records (2)
  • No of non-research visitors: 4
  • Interesting events & activities: temporary medieval mss exhibition produced and open

January 31, 2017 | Categories: reports, update | Tags: | Leave a comment

monthly report December 2016

A few numbers about archives & manuscripts activity during December:

  • Number of enquiries: 25 (up to 16 December when the archives closed for the holidays; 10 days open)
  • Final total for 2016: 875
  • Number of researchers in person (unique users): 5
  • Number of person-days in the reading room: 8
  • Collections consulted: Woods, Malcolm,TH Green, early modern MSS, college records
  • No of non-research visitors:9
  • Interesting events & activities: visit from Balliol Fellow and English students for an introduction to medieval manuscripts workshop; Anna visited the archives at Campion Hall re GM Hopkins, and attended the COLOUR conference and exhibition at the Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge.

January 30, 2017 | Categories: reports, St Cross church, update | Tags: , | Leave a comment

monthly report November 2016

A few numbers about archives & manuscripts activity during November:

  • Number of enquiries: 76
  • Running total for 2016: 850
  • Number of researchers in person (unique users): 9
  • Number of person-days in the reading room: 12
  • Collections consulted: Woods, Malcolm, college records (2), Browning, medieval mss, Clough, Nicolson, Urquhart
  • No of non-research visitors: ca 85
  • Interesting events & activities: weekly Come Write In! sessions for local novelists participating in NaNoWriMo (4th year running); Balliol alumna using special collections for seminars with St Hugh’s & Worcester students (English); display of original and published material re Adam Von Trott for visiting Goettingen students; staffing college archives table at graduate history thesis fair; OUCS WW1 roadshow; 2 Unlocking Archives talks; Hebraica & Judaica Sunday symposium; display of special collections material for Balliol MCR private view; Tweets for #TheOxfordSomme

December 5, 2016 | Categories: reports, update | Tags: | Leave a comment

termly report Michaelmas 2016

Week 6 MT 16 (November) Library Committee: Archivist’s report

This article reports on the Archivist’s work June-October 2016.

Reader & visitor numbers by month

June

  • Unique Users: 10
  • Seats occupied: 12
  • Visitors (non research): ca 50: (Traherne seminar, NADFAS visit, individuals, Bodleian trainees, Unlocking Archives)
  • Collections consulted: college records, Jowett, medieval mss, Monckton, Hopkins

July

  • Unique Users: 9
  • Seats occupied: 10
  • Visitors (non research): ca. 40: (Donors’ Day, individuals)
  • Collections consulted in person: Monckton, Malcolm, Greene-Reid, Nicolson, Browning, Hopkins, Arnold, AL Smith, Chalet, medieval mss

August

  • Unique Users: 9
  • Seats occupied: 11
  • Visitors (non research): 1
  • Collections consulted: AL Smith, medieval mss (3), Monckton, Harris, Mallet, JA Smith, Malcolm

September

  • Unique Users: 6
  • Seats occupied: 6
  • Visitors (non research):  260+ (Open Doors, patronal evensong)
  • Collections consulted:  Hill, AL Smith, Malcolm, medieval mss, Von Trott, college records

October

  • Unique Users: 7
  • Seats occupied: 8
  • Visitors (non research): Ca 50 (Balliol Society, individual visitors, Brookes  publishing students)
  • Collections consulted: Malcolm, medieval mss, college records, Nicolson diaries

Totals

  • Unique Users 41
  • Seats occupied 47
  • Visitors (non research) 400+

Remote enquiries

  • June 66
  • July 60
  • August 53
  • September 41
  • October 74
  • Total 294
  • 2016 running total 774

A handful of research topics from the reporting period:

Carolingian sermon collections; Graham Greene’s Cuba connections; Edward VIII and Mrs Simpson in the Monckton Papers; reception of Bridget of Sweden in England; JA Smith’s connections with Hull University’s Institute of Applied Ethics; the role of aviation in state formation in South Asia in the fourth decade of the 20th century; Higden’s Polychronicon and a continuation based on Tynemouth’s Historia aurea to 1347(?), re issues of national identity, propaganda, and the ethics of war in English historical and political writing composed during the reign of Edward III (1327–77).

Engagement

  • Social media
    • Facebook: 14 posts (mostly weekly updates and event announcements), 937 total ‘Likes’.
    • Twitter: total 1670 tweets, 1380 followers.
    • Blog: 17 new posts, average 750 views/month, 45 followers.
  • Image management:
    • Oxfile (OUCS): used 48 times June-Oct, total 233 times, to send images, externally and within college, across archival collections.
    • Flickr: 2 million+ individual image views of 88,000+ images.
  • Outreach
    • ‘Document in Focus’ features prepared by Anna continue on display in Broad St Library
    • new antechapel displays: stained glass restoration, Remembrance (FS Kelly); decorative features quiz was very popular with visitors over the summer
    • planning George Malcolm centenary exhibition for HT with Giles Dawson
    • see also events, below

Events

June

  • ‘Traherne Collator Seminar – new digital tools for old books. Organised by Chris Palmer, Balliol Lecturer in Physics, and Julia Smith, General Editor of Oxford Traherne. This is a return to St Cross for the Traherne editors after a successful editorial meeting last year.
  • Unlocking Archives illustrated talk with supporting display of original manuscripts – Lesley Higgins on GM Hopkins,  ‘Spelt from Hopkins’ Leaves: Considering Archival “Remains”.

July

  • college Donors’ Day visitors

September

  • Oxford Open Doors Days & Oxfordshire Churches Preservation Trust Ride & Stride – 250 visitors
  • Exhibition ‘Look to the rock from which you were hewn’: Hebraica and Judaica at Balliol’, co-curated by Prof. Elliott Horowitz and Anna Sander
  • Anthony Powell Society display (Broad Street Library) by James Howarth & Anna Sander
  • Evensong for the patronal feast of the Holy Cross
  • Academic Society reunion display
  • AL Smith family reunion presentation & display

October

  • Exhibition open for Balliol Society weekend
  • display and brief presentation for Prof. O’Hare’s VIP visitors & college officers
  • staffing college archives stall at graduate history research fair with colleagues

Arrangement & description and collection care

  • Adlib records: manual copying (with edits) of JHJ’s 2003 Archive List and extant lists for modern papers to the Adlib database is about 75% complete – 5930 records at fonds-file levels. The next step is detailed description and (re)arrangement at file and item level, including new accessions.

Future events:

November

    • hosting weekly half-day NaNoWriMo Come Write In sessions for local novelists for a 4th year
    • display for Adam Von Trott students visiting again (memorial lecture @Mansfield)
    • Anna invited speaker at WW1 history ‘road show’ organised with OUCS and International Society for WW1 Studies in conjunction with their conference
    • Unlocking Archives talk – Dr Matthew Balensuela: ‘Medieval Musical Illustrations: Balliol MS 173A’
    • hosting symposium on Balliol’s Hebraica & Judaica: speakers Prof Martin Goodman FBA, Dr Rahel Fronda, Prof Joanna Weinberg, Prof Elliott Horowitz
    • Unlocking Archives talk – Prof Elliott Horowitz: ‘Balliol Judaica and Hebraica: an exhibition’

     

    2017 so far:

    • EPBs and manuscripts workshops with English tutors and students
    • ongoing regular Documents in Focus in the Broad St library and display boards in antechapel
    • thesis preparation and special collections research training with History undergraduates
    • private medieval manuscripts evening for Development Office
    • George Malcolm centenary exhibition including spring open weekend and related Sunday Concert
    • Leslie Woods memorial display and event
    • JCR and SCR private views
    • exhibition of medieval manuscripts and their conservation

CPD/training/staff

Anna CPD:

  • attended Cambridge – London City – Oxford Archivists’ group meeting at Trinity College, Cambridge, on Records of College Servants and Domestic life in College (June)

Providing work experience & training:

  • hosted archivist & records manager at the Swedish Agricultural University (Alnarp-Lund) for a week in September under the ERASMUS Staff Exchange scheme, arranged visits to other Oxford archives

Anna Sander

MT 2016 (18 November)

November 18, 2016 | Categories: update | Tags: | Leave a comment

monthly report August 2016

A few numbers about archives & manuscripts activity during August:

  • Number of enquiries (email etc): 53
  • Running total for 2016: 629
  • Number of researchers in person (unique users): 9
  • Number of person-days in the reading room: 11
  • Collections consulted: AL Smith, medieval mss (3), Monckton, Harris, Mallet, JA Smith, Malcolm
  • No of non-research visitors: 1
  • Interesting events: fortunately, none, because see September’s report…

September 2, 2016 | Categories: reports, update | Tags: | Leave a comment

monthly report July 2016

A few numbers about archives & manuscripts activity during July:

(I was away for 2 weeks of July, and no archives & mss research visits were scheduled during that time. This report is for 10 normal working days rather than the usual 20 or so.)

  • Number of enquiries (email etc): 60
  • Running total for 2016: 577
  • Number of researchers in person (unique users): 9
  • Number of person-days in the reading room: 10
  • Collections consulted: Monckton (2), Malcolm, Greene-Reid, Nicolson diaries, Browning, Hopkins, Arnold, AL Smith, Chalet, medieval mss
  • No of non-research visitors: ca. 40 – 30+ (Donors’ Day); individuals (2)
  • Interesting events: Balliol Donors’ Day event

July 29, 2016 | Categories: archives administration, reports, update | Tags: | Leave a comment

monthly report: June 2016

A few numbers about archives & manuscripts activity during June:

  • Number of enquiries (email etc): 66
  • Running total for 2016: 517 – no.500 arrived 20 June.
  • Number of researchers in person (unique users): 10
  • Number of person-days in the reading room: 12
  • Collections consulted: college records (3), Jowett archive, medieval mss (2), Monckton archive, Hopkins papers
  • No of non-research visitors: ca 50: 20+ (Traherne seminar); 10 (NADFAS visit); individuals (2); 8 (Bod trainees); 12 (Unlocking Archives)
  • Blog posts: 4
  • Interesting events: Traherne project digital collator seminar; visit by NADFAS group; Unlocking Archives talk on GM Hopkins; Bodleian trainees visit & career talk

 

July 1, 2016 | Categories: archives administration, reports, update | Tags: | Leave a comment

termly report TT16

Week 6 TT 16 (June) Library Committee: Archivist’s report

This paper reports on the Archivist’s work February – May 2016. Cf. the Librarian’s report for more activities at St Cross.

Reader & visitor numbers by month

February

  • Unique Users: 10
  • Seats occupied: 12
  • Visitors (non research): ca 100 (private event, Balliol class, Bibliophiles visit, Unlocking Archives, Into University sessions, individuals)
  • Collections consulted: medieval mss (2), Morier, Malcolm, college archives (Musical Society, building plans), Jowett, TH Green

March

  • Unique Users: 14
  • Seats occupied: 18
  • Visitors (non research): ca 35 (Balliol historians, Unlocking Archives, individuals)
  • Collections consulted: Greene-Reid, Arnold, medieval mss (4), Bradley, Maxwell, college records (2), TH Green, AL Smith, Hopkins, Malcolm

April

  • Unique Users: 6
  • Seats occupied: 11
  • Visitors (non research): Ca 100 HM Festival, 9 DIY Digi study day + exhibition visitors
  • Collections consulted: AL Smith, Ernest Walker, George Malcolm, Hope-Simpson, Greene, college records

 

May

  • Unique Users: 4
  • Seats occupied: 7
  • Visitors (non research): 18 Swedish group visit, ca 15 Unlocking, 4 individuals
  • Collections consulted: Sweet-Escott, Malcolm, college records

Totals

  • Unique Users 34
  • Seats occupied 48
  • Visitors (non research) Ca 280

Remote enquiries

  • February 94
  • March 75
  • April 94
  • May 93
  • Total 356
  • 2016 running total 451

(Real) subjects of requests for information about the contents of archival material:

– Swinburne manuscripts & early editions; college photos; history of closed Fellowships and Scholarships; tracing personal archive of a former member of the college; Harold Nicolson’s diaries; Christopher Hill’s research papers; requesting information about former members; Prof RM Hare’s correspondence; Balliol Musical Society archive; Graham Greene – Josephine Reid papers; Arnold Family papers

(Real) examples of administrative/internal enquiries:

– requests for info re individual Old Members;  St Cross building management admin;  current student club records management; requests for illustration from manuscripts for college publication; request to prepare a display for visit by parishioners of a College living; request to talk with current students about St Cross and the archives & manuscripts; request to talk with current students about preparing for dissertation research using original/unpublished archival material

Engagement

  • Social media
    • Facebook: 25 posts (mostly weekly updates and event announcements), 852 total ‘Likes’.
    • Twitter: total 1459 tweets, 1279 followers.
    • Blog: 20 new posts, average 750 views/month, 46 followers.
  • Image management:
    • Oxfile (OUCS): used 30+x times Feb-May, total 185 times, to send images, externally and within college, across archival collections.
    • Flickr: approaching 2 million individual image views of 83,000+ images.
  • Outreach
    • ‘Document in Focus’ features prepared by Anna continue on display in Broad St Library; new ones will be delivered to the Library for MT.
    • new antechapel displays: Balliol in winter 1915-16, a treasure hunt of decorative features in the chapel
    • planning Balliol Hebraica and Judaica exhibition for MT with Prof. Elliott Horowitz
    • see also events, below

Events

February

  • Prof Martin Burton & guests (supporters of Oxford Emmaus) – talk, Q&A and display of medieval manuscripts and early archives
  • OU Bibliophiles Society visit to St Cross to see medieval mss
  • Elena Lombardi and Oxford Dante class: hands-on teaching session on medieval manuscripts
  • planning ‘Balliol Hebraica and Judaica’ exhibition for September with Visiting Fellow Elliott Horowitz
  • with OUIP staff, talk and Q&A about optimising applications for prospective applicants to future OUIP microinternships
  • Bruce’s Brunch – talk and Q&A with Balliol students about Balliol’s history, archives & manuscripts
  • Unlocking Archives talk – Anna on ‘AL Smith on the Home Front’: about college life and a Mastership election during WW: text here

March

  • with other college archivists, staff college archives desk at undergraduate history thesis fair (Exam Schools), fielding queries and providing advice about finding and accessing archival sources across Oxford and beyond
  • teaching session with Valentina Caldari for Balliol history undergraduates at St Cross on planning archival research for dissertations, locating and using unpublished primary sources and their finding aids (Balliol, Oxford and elsewhere), with archival material for illustration
  • Unlocking Archives talk – Eleanor Greer on indexing decorative features in Balliol’s medieval manuscripts and her library traineeship at Trinity College, Cambridge

April

  • Anna and JHJ – talk on the St Cross building conversion project, Balliol’s archives and manuscripts and current activities at St Cross to St Margaret’s Institute
  • all staff participated in hosting the Spring Open Weekend at St Cross in April, with Shakespeare exhibition curated by Naomi Tiley, and Shakespeare play readings by Balliol students. The church was open to the public 12-4pm 9-10 April (Sat & Sun); 159 people visited, taking interest in both the exhibition and the building. Many visitors came as a result of the St Margaret’s talk the preceding week!
  • with Prof Daniel Wakelin (English & Bodleian) and his MSt students – medieval manuscripts handling training and research photography day with public lunchtime forum on DIY Digitization (practice & theory of digital humanities) – see Storify of tweets , and blog post; other tutors are already interested, and tweets generated interest in future repeats from e.g. Oxford DPhil student in history of Art etc
  • Holywell Manor Festival – St Cross as venue for talks throughout the day, with a repeat performance of Shakespeare play readings during the lunch break. Anna and James staffed St Cross for the full day.

May

  • visit led by Revd. Hugh White (Balliol 1981) – group of Swedes visiting Oxford on a course about the city at the church-run St Sigfrids folkhögskola (community college) in Växjö, Oxford’s link diocese in Sweden. Members had a particular interest in libraries and in architecture; I spoke (partly in Swedish) about the building’s history, the conversion project and the collections.
  • Unlocking Archives talk: Naomi Tiley on ‘Representing the Ghost of Shakespear’:  summoning the spirits for Balliol’s spring exhibition; recorded by Voices from Oxford.

Cataloguing & collection care

  • GM Hopkins material has been listed for the first time in detail; the list has been posted online and sent in full to the Archives Hub.
  • Jowett IG.16.4 (70 letters) have been numbered individually and several dates corrected in the online catalogue.
  • Images of Harold Nicolson’s pre-1930 MS diaries are complete and online.
  • 4 boxes of the Malcolm papers have been listed in detail for the first time; updates to the list are appearing online as sections become available.
  • JHJ’s recent detailed lists of the Robert Scott papers and of college archives pertaining to Timsbury, Tendring, Colchester, Duloe, Tirley & Chaceley have been edited/numbered for public consumption and are online.
  • Completion of replacement of all nonstandard boxes in the institutional and personal archives with new acid-free and lignin-free archival standard boxes is expected over the summer.
  • Manual copying of JHJ’s 2003 Archive List to the Adlib database should be completed over the summer. This includes considerable editing and correction of spelling mistakes and reference numbers. This will facilitate addition of not only new and future accessions to the correct sections of the catalogue but reassignment of several thousand files previously categorised as ‘miscellaneous’ to the appropriate series in the college records.

Future events:

  • 10 June: Traherne Collator Seminar – new digital tools for old books. Organised by Chris Palmer, Balliol Lecturer in Physics, and Julia Smith, General Editor of Oxford Traherne. This is a return to St Cross for the Traherne editors after a successful editorial meeting last year.
  • 27 June: Unlocking Archives – Prof. Lesley Higgins on GM Hopkins,  ‘Spelt from Hopkins’ Leaves: Considering Archival “Remains”.
  • MT:
    • Unlocking Archives – Prof Elliott Horowitz and Anna Sander: ‘Balliol Judaica and Hebraica’ (exhibition talk)
    • Unlocking Archives – Dr Matthew Balensuela: ‘Medieval Musical Illustrations: Balliol MS 173A’
    • There will be at least one other talk/event in MT related to the Judaica and Hebraica exhibition, arranged by Prof. Horowitz, details TBC.

CPD/training/staff

Anna CPD:

  • attended ‘Teaching the Codex: Pedagogical Approaches to Palaeography and Codicology’ symposium at Merton College
  • attended Oxford Conservation Group lecture by Dr Kelly Domoney (Ashmo) on the uses of XRF for object analysis
  • Visits with Abby-Eleonore to archives and archivists at Pusey House, Regents Park, New College, St Hilda’s, University College
  • attended Jane Eagan’s (OCC) talk to Oxford archivists’ termly meeting on ‘Old Libraries and Muniment Rooms – Managing the Environment in some Oxford Colleges’, focussing on solving particular heritage-building related difficulties at Magdalen and Jesus.
  • attended former OII and Balliol Visiting Fellow Christine Borgman’s talk on ‘Data, Scholarship, and Libraries’ (Bodleian Libraries Centre for Digital Scholarship ‘Research Uncovered’

Providing work experience & training:

  • OUIP microinternship HT9th week: Claire Heseltine (Univ) did an excellent job for 5 days, photographing medieval MSS (249, 278) as part of the ongoing project. As Claire had expressed (and demonstrated) an active interest in a possible career in archives, she came along on the visit to New College Archives. Her report.
  • Matthew Aiello (Worcester, MSt Medieval English) has been working with Anna, completing a shelf check of the medieval mss, reordering shelves where necessary to accommodate new boxes, and continuing and improving the database of decorative features in the medieval mss begun last year by Eleanor Greer, on most Monday afternoons since late February. He is also using his advanced codicological skill and experience to check RAB Mynors’ collation descriptions of the manuscripts, and has corrected several errors as well as adding substantive information to the catalogue. His emendations are being added to the online version of the catalogue.
  • Abby-Eleonore Thouvenin worked with Anna, in a voluntary role, on the archives and manuscripts at St Cross February-April; a 3-month overseas placement is a formal requirement for her professional Master’s degree in Cultures of Written and Iconographic Materials specialised in Heritage collections at the École nationale supérieure des sciences de l’information et des bibliothèques, Lyon (ENSSIB). Her tasks included: photography and image processing (MS nos 311, 112, 113, 118, total images); preservation packaging, numbering and description of archives (Malcolm, Hare, C18 baptismal certificates, Mallet); assisting with display preparation and presentations (medieval manuscripts x2); assisting with enquiries research; devising a school outreach activity. During her internship she also, as arranged by Anna, visited 11 other archives in and near Oxford to see their collections and facilities and talk with their archivists, attended relevant graduate seminars and meetings, and worked in the archives at Pusey House and Blenheim Palace.

 

Anna Sander

TT 2016 (9 June)

June 14, 2016 | Categories: reports, update | Tags: | Leave a comment

monthly report May 2016

A few numbers about what was happening at St Cross during May:

  • Number of enquiries (email etc): 93
  • Running total for 2016: 451
  • Number of researchers in person: 4
  • Number of person-days in the reading room: 7
  • Collections consulted: Sweet-Escott, Malcolm, college records
  • No of non-research visitors: 18 (Swedish group visit), ca 15 Unlocking, 4 individuals, plus exhibition visitors
  • Blog posts: 3
  • interesting events: visit led by an Old Member of Balliol, of a group of Swedes visiting Oxford from St Sigfrids folkhögskola (community college) in Växjö, Oxford’s link diocese in Sweden; Unlocking Archives talk by Naomi Tiley on ‘Representing the Ghost of Shakespear’:  summoning the spirits for Balliol’s spring exhibition.

What was I doing while so few people were here doing research? Oh, a few little things, adding nearly 3000 records to the Adlib database, reboxing 100+ boxes of archives, answering those 90+ enquiries with anything from an individually researched response or on-demand good-quality digital images to research guidance and help interpreting finding aids, adding 1000+ images to Flickr, assisting curators of two future exhibitions and planning a third, creating new displays for the college antechapel and Library…

June 1, 2016 | Categories: archives administration, reports, update | Tags: | Leave a comment

« Older Entries