In March DRI provided training at an Archives and Records Association (ARA) Ireland event which was a great opportunity to learn more about their organisation. In this interview we hear from ARA Ireland Training Officer, Steven Skeldon.
Steven Skeldon is the Training Officer for ARA Ireland and currently works for the National Library of Ireland. Originally from across the North Channel in Scotland, Steven’s academic background is in history and linguistics with a particular interest in the evolution of lexis (words). This interest led Steven to complete a degree in the area of archives. Steven has worked for university libraries and local authorities in a variety of roles, including as a professional archivist. Hobbies are hill walking and poor taste in music (his own admission).
Hi Steven,
In March, DRI provided training at an Archives and Records Association (ARA) event. DRI Director, Natalie Harrower, presented ‘An Intro to the DRI: Why we all need to be thinking about digital preservation’, DRI member Stephen Ferguson from The Post Office Museum & Archive presented ‘Digital Opportunities’ and I presented on DRI’s member benefits in my capacity as Membership Manager. This was a great opportunity for us to work with ARA Ireland and learn more about your organisation.
Can you tell me a bit about the work that ARA Ireland does?
The Archives and Records Association, Ireland (ARA, Ireland) is the principal professional body for archivists, archive conservators, and records managers in Ireland. It was established in Ireland in 1979. ARA Ireland is part of a wider professional body: ARA United Kingdom & Ireland. Our aims are to promote the care and preservation of archives and the better administration of archive repositories; to advance the training of our members; and to encourage relevant research and publication. ARA Ireland is managed by a committee composed of volunteers who work year-round to promote these aims.
So, who are your members?
At the time of writing, we have approximately 200 members. Our members are spread across the island of Ireland and we work extremely closely with our ARA partners in the UK. Our members come from a variety of backgrounds and work across both the public and private sectors. Members typically work either for local authority archives, national heritage institutions or University libraries. A smaller number work for private organisations, or volunteer with community or heritage groups. We welcome new members who are not yet qualified – in fact, we have a dedicated committee member for New Professionals. Typically, these members are students currently undertaking a postgraduate degree in the area of archives, records management, or paper conservation.
What is your role as ARA training officer?
The principal aim of the ARA Ireland training officers would be to plan, organise, and host training or information seminars across the year. These are tied in with different themes that aim to reflect the diverse nature of the people working or studying within our profession.
ARA Ireland has two training officers and there is currently a vacant role for any member of ARA interested in joining please e-mail info@araireland.ie . We would be delighted to have an informal chat with anyone considering joining the committee. Although it is a voluntary role, it is a great opportunity to develop planning and communication skills.
What kind of events and training do you offer your members?
Past events have included training on digital preservation, archive building standards, risk management, and social justice. We also include training in the area of records and information management, and on legislative areas that impact our profession including data protection and copyright law.
The most recent event I organised prior to that with the DRI was an introduction to risk management in archives. This sounds very business-like and straightforward but involves developing a plan on how to deal with the threats I refer to as ‘biblical’ – fire and flood. Other risks inherent to archives are less visible –digital decay/rot, and reputational damage for example. Risk management encourages archivists to use a specific set of tools to better address these issues in a targeted, strategic fashion. A toolkit was developed by ARA to make a more uniform approach possible and we also learned great tips from the National Archives of Ireland about their strategies.
What would you say to someone who was thinking about joining ARA?
I would say just do it! ARA is a fantastic organisation and offers so much in the way of support, from training to newsletters and the published journal. ARA also offers some financial support to attend conferences for example. If interested please visit our website and find out a little more about what we do https://www.araireland.ie/.
Take a look at our Twitter page @ARAIreland to find out about our latest events and the benefits of becoming an ARA Member. ARA membership fees are paid in sterling or euro to ARA UK & Ireland. Fees for joining are stepped in a grade of different salary bands to make membership costs as affordable as possible. To join as a member visit https://www.archives.org.uk/membership. Anyone unsure of joining can reach out to us at any time for advice, info@araireland.ie. We look forward to hearing from you.
DRI is a member of ARA Ireland. We actively promote our member collections in the Repository and one avenue we do this is by participating in ARA’s monthly #ExploreYourArchive campaign and other outreach campaigns. You can find out more about these campaigns in this blog post on Expanding The Reach of Archival Collections: https://www.dri.ie/expanding-reach-archival-collections.
Image: Archives and Records Association (ARA) Ireland Banner and photograph of Steven Skeldon
Interview conducted by DRI Membership Manager Lisa Griffith
