The majority of her records of are trustee records with minutes from meetings. These, she says, provide a sense of the era and are therefore important to keep in their bound volumes- for easy storage and finding. Stephanie's department receives a total of some 30-40 emails a week that may come from legal services, those interested in family history, or anotehr special interest. Of the trustee minutes, she tells us that there are dates of importance as well as page numbers, giving the item its own organization. Some volumes have been tossed (due to the lack of use or concern for space) by previous directors. The volumes include letters from the meetings, subject points most likely, as well as letter books that accompany them. Today there are no staff records to be kept due to confidentiality laws.
Of the building plans, she shows us an example from the 1830-1920 collection. A trasncription from Aaron Hayes' previous work. These include sketches of a sheep and a man. In 1920 there were some records not kept. There are some 1500 photos in the collection that relate to archives. These are delivers to their respective departments, which aides the finding of materials requested. She then showed us a (bomb)shell from 1941 and its related photos of their destruction. In 1854, the museum highered its first photographer, Roger Fenton, in a time of pre-electricity. The photos she showed were purchased at auction in 1980. In 1881 they had a zoology/botany section, later moved to the Natural History Museum, which included an Irish Deer. We viewed the images from a viewing device which made the 8 see the image in a 3D prespective as well as o see details of the previous version of the museum. These were very cool. Rather than focus on preservation of materisl, they have microfilm copies of all written works and building records. They also have some impressive drafts from Smirke's architecture of the museum's outside. Their round reading room is often take for special displays, so we did not get ot see it. What I did get to see downstairs was far more special- a signature and reqiuest form from one Bram Stoker. THE Bram Stoker. Rumour has it that his Dracula and the British Museum are connected, though Stephanie was unsure how.
In the end, Stephanie has a job for life. She took a task that had no organization and made a system that requires inquires through her. There is no browsing done prior to the completed request, so she must retrieve it amongst some areas that seem to have no classificatin. The index downstiars is aphabetical, with ticket numbers, and mostly grey boxes. There does not seem to be a devised plan for digitalization because, due to the content f the collection, many photos are taken with poor quality so that they are not published elsewhere. The items cannot, therefore, be used for digitalization. Stephanie has a major in history with a masters in archive and management. She says the realm can be tough and there have been a lot of changes in the last ten years(post-graduation) but there are still tradiational channels and she had the qualification over experience when highered. She said to do her job one needs to have cataloguing, records, conservation, and preservation experience.
In the afternoon, I finally made it to London's Hard Rock Cafe. I am a bit obsessed at this point. I hae a background as a classic rock/college dj. The Hard Rock gives me an opportunity to see some iconicperformance pieces. Queen and The Beatles were there, amongst a vault of items, so I was not dissappointed. Tonight, I must pack and book tickets for travel during mini break. Tomorrow I am viewing the Houses of Parliament and venturing on Baker Street for research. Wish me luck at a Benedict Cumbebatch sighting ;)
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