Category: Uncategorized

archives 101

Last week AIUET archivist, Jo Robson, together with freelance archivist Jane Speller (who has been helping us to catalogue the Anwar Ditta collection) ran an archiving workshop for all AIUET/ RRRC staff.

It may seem odd that we all work with archives on a daily basis, and still need training.  However, the majority of us have qualifications in other areas (History, Museum Studies, American Studies, Biomedical Science even!) and are particularly ignorant of recent changes in copyright and data protection law that effect the records we collect and the data they contain. So a crash course proved extremely useful all round.

Continue reading “archives 101” →

Speaking for Ourselves – Again!

Sikh_Family_History_reunion2
From L-R: Parvinder Sohal, Raj Kaur, Daljit Singh, Philip Baldwin, Martin Palmer, Kanta Walker

By Laila Benhaida, Trainee Archivist.

Earlier this month our archivist Jo Robson, together with volunteers Daljit Singh and Raj Kaur organised a reminiscence session at Manchester Central Library. Participants – including Daljit and Raj – comprised staff and members of the management committee from ‘Speaking for Ourselves’. SFO was a landmark oral history project with Manchester’s Sikh community, funded by Manpower Services during the 1980s.

Continue reading “Speaking for Ourselves – Again!” →

A huge thank you

photo by Carolina Beiertz
photo by Carolina Beiertz
photo by Carolina Beiertz
photo by Carolina Beiertz

On Friday 6th July we held our 3rd annual Community History Showcase at GMCVO St Thomas’s, Ardwick. A huge thanks once again to everyone who contributed;  the event could not have happened without your input which is hugely valued and appreciated.

4 speakers shared the challenges and achievements of their projects through illustrated talks:

Continue reading “A huge thank you” →

Jo Robson appointed Archivist

untitled

As the newly appointed Archivist of the ‘Coming in from the Cold’ project, I am excited to be working with BAME communities to help them to understand and develop archive collections as part of their HLF projects. My first few weeks have been quite a whirl wind and have included becoming acquainted with the Centre’s existing archive collections, managing a volunteer, attending meetings and spreading the word about CIFTC, getting to know the team better, and preparing for the start of our Archive Trainee (who you will hear from in an upcoming blog).

Continue reading “Jo Robson appointed Archivist” →

Join us!

We recently received confirmation of a £357,000 grant from the HLF to deliver phase two of our ‘Coming In From the Cold’ project. Everyone at the Trust is delighted!cheering-297419_960_720As a result we are now recruiting for the three following posts:

1. Archivist (0.8) Grade 5
2. Digital Officer (0.6) Grade 4
3. Trainee Archivist (0.6) Grade 2

Job descriptions and application forms are available to download from http://www.racearchive.org.uk/work-with-us/

The deadline for applications is 05/02/2018. We expect interviews to take place during the week beginning 26th February 2018. For further information please telephone Jennifer Vickers or Jacqueline Ould on 0161 275 2920

Applications are particularly welcome from Black and minority ethnic candidates, who are under-represented in work in this sector.

 

 

 

Goodbye and Good Luck

Daniella and Marzuqa Daniella and Marzuqa open their leaving presents at a ‘goodbye’ lunch in Wagamamas

At the end of the summer we said ‘goodbye’ to two much-loved members of the project team. Marzuqa Iffat came to the end of her graduate internship and Daniella Carrington completed her post-graduate studies. Thanks to both of them for all their invaluable contributions; to Marzuqa, for the many hours that you spent on the telephone and computer, contacting organisations and individuals for the audit, then pouring over the resulting data; and to Daniella for establishing and maintaining this blog and for taking so many beautiful photographs along the way. Love and best wishes for the future.

Looking Back – My Experience of Data Analysis Work

As today’s my last day working on CiftC project – Phase One, I’ve been reflecting on the work we’ve done. One of my tasks involved analysing and collating the data of Black Ethnic Minority (BME) focused projects identified across Greater Manchester. This so we can report on the findings.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

The initial data collecting was quite overwhelming due to the large number of projects that were identified. However, once I started tallying the data, I realised that the actual number of BME focused projects was not as large! I also noticed that the number of BME focused projects increased over the years.

Some examples of the type of information I collated include: number of Heritage Lottery Funded (HLF) projects, number of responses, type of grant scheme, number of projects by year, number of projects by ethnic group and the number of oral history element within projects.

What I learned by collating the data is the patience and concentration that’s required. This is because sometimes the data needed to be updated and modified due to changes that occurred. This meant recounting and amending everything as the information seemed to interlink.

I believe that data collecting is important because it allows you to make sense of information. Moreover, you can create graphs and tables using the data collated. Graphs and tables are a very effective way of reading and drawing conclusions.