'Goldie Gardner Collection: my cousin sent me reference to this as I am working on a family genealogy, and the surname Goldie is a prominent one in our line. As Goldie is an uncommon name, I think it possible that there is a connection, and I wonder, therefore, if you could put me in touch with any current member of the family.'
Most museums would recognise this typical family history enquiry received by Heather Boyns, the archives project officer at the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu (Alfred Thomas Goldie Gardner was a racing driver famous for driving MGs in the 1930s), and agree that their frequency has increased hugely over the past few years.
'Approximately 30 per cent of enquiries are now family history based,' says Boyns. 'But the real number may be more, as enquiries through our website tend not to have much information about why they are looking for certain material.'
Genealogy is turning into a national obsession. When National Archives launched the 1901 census online, the site was overwhelmed by 24 times the number of predicted hits and promptly crashed. Last year, 6 million people visited the website. The television programme Who Do You Think You Are? was moved from BBC2 to BBC1 for its latest series - a sure sign that family history has become mainstream.
But are museums responding to this boom? Archives are slowly but surely learning to be user-friendly, both online and in terms of their physical records.
A trip to Kew to the National Archives or the Family Records Centre in London is treated as a day out. But it is not just about names and dates on paper, and this is where museums have a role to play. Collections can help to build up a picture of people's lives, where archival information is sketchy.
Most museums have some form of archive, but Boyns says museum staff don't always realise the skills they have, or know how to apply them in terms of family research. She cites websites as an example.
'Genealogists nowadays expect material to be online, but very few museum websites are meeting these demands,' says Boyns. 'It doesn't have to be a huge business, just a few lines alerting people to what type of material the museum holds and what dates it covers.'
Some have informative guides on their websites and advice on where to find records they don't hold themselves. Others, such as the Imperial War Museum, have more in-depth services to access records. Charges for enquiries and to search online records could also be a small source of income. Sharing Skills Archives in Museums is a project in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, which Boyns coordinates.
'We started with a mapping exercise where we asked the museums about their archives,' she says. 'We got an 88 per cent return. We asked about preservation, storage and documentation, but also how archives were being used, or not, as the case may be.' The results were revealing.
'Opportunities to use archives in education and exhibitions were not being exploited,' adds Boyns. 'The survey revealed a lack of knowledge about what material museums held in their archives, but also, crucially, a lack of training and skills.
'Museum staff know how to look after objects, but they don't have specific archival training and are not sure how to use archives,' Boyns continues. 'They didn't think of them as a resource, as something to back up their collections. For example, the Museum of Army Chaplaincy holds marriage registers, and the military and regimental museums in the area hold records and personal papers.
These museums get a lot of family history enquiries and are good at dealing with them on a reactive basis, but not as good at marketing what they have. We asked staff and volunteers what training they would like, and they were keen to learn how to use their archives.'
The Sharing Skills project is due to be rolled out across the South East from April. One possibility, adds Boyns, is to set up a Subject Specialist Network to improve skills and extend the emphasis on stewardship to use and exploit collections.
Many museums are struggling to provide access to their archives, says Christopher Marsden, an archivist at the Victoria and Albert Museum, and the chairman of the Standing Conference on Archives in Museums.
This was set up to help museums, and particularly small ones in the independent sector, to look after their archives. 'A code of practice was established in 2002, with a particular focus on professional standards and access arrangements,' says Marsden.
'There was a lack of information and time to consider professional standards and access arrangements. Archive Centres have supervised access, for example, to reading rooms, which museums don't.'
One way forward is for museums to create links with county archives, where possible. If a museum and archive occupies the same building, there are obvious opportunities to work together and share skills. Bruce Castle Museum in Haringey houses the borough's museum and archive, as well as the Haringey Archive Service. The staff find that the edges blur between roles.
'We don't see it as separate,' says Deborah Hedgecock, the curator of Bruce Castle Museum. 'We feed off one another because of our different skills. Where museum staff are more used to dealing with mass numbers and educational work, archive staff are usually more isolated, so it is harder for them to engage with larger groups.
'But the support they get here means they have become much more at ease in the past few years. Now an archivist might be the lead person on an exhibition and we might just help out with text writing or display.
'Because we are small we can do bespoke sessions,' adds Hedgecock. 'For example, we have had sessions for school groups where we trained them how to look at the census, and on a more general level, how to read Ordnance Survey maps. We have enough research skills and we have the space. We are trying to demystify what an archive is. The only real downside is that we don't have the money other bigger places would have.'
The Archives Awareness Campaign was set up in 2003 by the National Council on Archives and is jointly funded by the MLA and National Archives to help institutions - including museums - promote and make more use of their archives. 'A lot of archives, for example those in small towns, are not strong enough in themselves to run a campaign,' says Nicole Hambridge, a spokeswoman for the National Archives.
'We can help at a national level, although it is up to them how much input they want from us. Some just download information or ideas from our website. Others approach us with case studies or stories that we can use, and some just want us to proofread a press release. We can also give advice on themes, forums and training around their archives. There are fewer people knitting and more doing genealogy, and museums can take an active part.'
Deborah Mulhearn is a freelance journalist
Local area resources
The new Sainsbury Study Centre at the Museum in Docklands provides access to its extensive archive material. 'The museum holds collections of some Port of London and Sainsbury employment records, photographs, magazines, newspaper cuttings and ephemera, which can enrich people's understanding of their ancestors' lives,' says Lucie Amos, the head of access and learning at the Museum of London Group. These resources are held at the Sainsbury Centre and can be accessed by appointment.
'There are soft areas for browsing and reading and we have tried to encourage broader and easier access to archival information,' Amos adds.
Most importantly, and often forgotten, Amos points out that the galleries themselves can provide an invaluable context for building up a picture of life for people working and living in the area.
In addition to the galleries, other initiatives to encourage and support family history researchers have included events such as a drop-in day to explore local history around the port and river, which also aimed to discover possible sources for individual family histories.
Talks from curators and archivists about life for those living and working around the docks, and about how to access collections and archives, have been extremely popular as they offer people the chance to ask questions face to face.
'These are designed to help people understand how to get the best out of the museum's collections,' says Amos. 'For so many of our users, this is a first foray into historical research, and we have been overwhelmed by the demand.'
New town pioneers tell their stories
Stevenage was Britain's first new town, designated in 1946 following the end of the second world war. To celebrate its 60th anniversary, Stevenage Museum, which is part of the borough council, applied for a lottery grant to redisplay its New Town Gallery. The gallery opened on 18 November 2006.
Claire Hill, the curator of the museum, was prompted to think about how the collections could be better interpreted and made more publicly accessible.
'For example, we have many fascinating oral history interviews that tell the story of the building and early years of the new town,' she says. 'Visitors will be able to hear the recollections of planners, builders and new residents, which would be of great interest to anyone researching their family history here.'
Hill became interested in her own family history in Wiltshire when the BBC programme Who Do You Think You Are? filmed there. 'At an event day in the local town hall there was a huge number of people looking to find out how to start researching their family history,' she adds.
'I realised that as a museum we should really be doing something to cater for this audience. So in conjunction with the local family history society we organised a similar event for Museums and Galleries Month earlier this year.'
County records office hold the key information for family history researchers but Hill says museums and their collections also have a lot to offer. For example, a museum may have additional photographs of local places and people, as well as ephemera and archives relating to local businesses and shops.
In Stevenage's case, much of this would relate to the new town pioneers who set up home there in the postwar years. 'Family-history researchers might enjoy reading or listening to the memories of those who made the same journey, and be able to understand what an adventure it was for their ancestors,' says Hill.
'They may find their forebear listed in wage books or delivery schedules and be able to discover what their weekly shop from a local butcher was or how much they were paid, all adding colour and detail to the story of their family.'
Most museums would recognise this typical family history enquiry received by Heather Boyns, the archives project officer at the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu (Alfred Thomas Goldie Gardner was a racing driver famous for driving MGs in the 1930s), and agree that their frequency has increased hugely over the past few years.
'Approximately 30 per cent of enquiries are now family history based,' says Boyns. 'But the real number may be more, as enquiries through our website tend not to have much information about why they are looking for certain material.'
Genealogy is turning into a national obsession. When National Archives launched the 1901 census online, the site was overwhelmed by 24 times the number of predicted hits and promptly crashed. Last year, 6 million people visited the website. The television programme Who Do You Think You Are? was moved from BBC2 to BBC1 for its latest series - a sure sign that family history has become mainstream.
But are museums responding to this boom? Archives are slowly but surely learning to be user-friendly, both online and in terms of their physical records.
A trip to Kew to the National Archives or the Family Records Centre in London is treated as a day out. But it is not just about names and dates on paper, and this is where museums have a role to play. Collections can help to build up a picture of people's lives, where archival information is sketchy.
Most museums have some form of archive, but Boyns says museum staff don't always realise the skills they have, or know how to apply them in terms of family research. She cites websites as an example.
'Genealogists nowadays expect material to be online, but very few museum websites are meeting these demands,' says Boyns. 'It doesn't have to be a huge business, just a few lines alerting people to what type of material the museum holds and what dates it covers.'
Some have informative guides on their websites and advice on where to find records they don't hold themselves. Others, such as the Imperial War Museum, have more in-depth services to access records. Charges for enquiries and to search online records could also be a small source of income. Sharing Skills Archives in Museums is a project in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, which Boyns coordinates.
'We started with a mapping exercise where we asked the museums about their archives,' she says. 'We got an 88 per cent return. We asked about preservation, storage and documentation, but also how archives were being used, or not, as the case may be.' The results were revealing.
'Opportunities to use archives in education and exhibitions were not being exploited,' adds Boyns. 'The survey revealed a lack of knowledge about what material museums held in their archives, but also, crucially, a lack of training and skills.
'Museum staff know how to look after objects, but they don't have specific archival training and are not sure how to use archives,' Boyns continues. 'They didn't think of them as a resource, as something to back up their collections. For example, the Museum of Army Chaplaincy holds marriage registers, and the military and regimental museums in the area hold records and personal papers.
These museums get a lot of family history enquiries and are good at dealing with them on a reactive basis, but not as good at marketing what they have. We asked staff and volunteers what training they would like, and they were keen to learn how to use their archives.'
The Sharing Skills project is due to be rolled out across the South East from April. One possibility, adds Boyns, is to set up a Subject Specialist Network to improve skills and extend the emphasis on stewardship to use and exploit collections.
Many museums are struggling to provide access to their archives, says Christopher Marsden, an archivist at the Victoria and Albert Museum, and the chairman of the Standing Conference on Archives in Museums.
This was set up to help museums, and particularly small ones in the independent sector, to look after their archives. 'A code of practice was established in 2002, with a particular focus on professional standards and access arrangements,' says Marsden.
'There was a lack of information and time to consider professional standards and access arrangements. Archive Centres have supervised access, for example, to reading rooms, which museums don't.'
One way forward is for museums to create links with county archives, where possible. If a museum and archive occupies the same building, there are obvious opportunities to work together and share skills. Bruce Castle Museum in Haringey houses the borough's museum and archive, as well as the Haringey Archive Service. The staff find that the edges blur between roles.
'We don't see it as separate,' says Deborah Hedgecock, the curator of Bruce Castle Museum. 'We feed off one another because of our different skills. Where museum staff are more used to dealing with mass numbers and educational work, archive staff are usually more isolated, so it is harder for them to engage with larger groups.
'But the support they get here means they have become much more at ease in the past few years. Now an archivist might be the lead person on an exhibition and we might just help out with text writing or display.
'Because we are small we can do bespoke sessions,' adds Hedgecock. 'For example, we have had sessions for school groups where we trained them how to look at the census, and on a more general level, how to read Ordnance Survey maps. We have enough research skills and we have the space. We are trying to demystify what an archive is. The only real downside is that we don't have the money other bigger places would have.'
The Archives Awareness Campaign was set up in 2003 by the National Council on Archives and is jointly funded by the MLA and National Archives to help institutions - including museums - promote and make more use of their archives. 'A lot of archives, for example those in small towns, are not strong enough in themselves to run a campaign,' says Nicole Hambridge, a spokeswoman for the National Archives.
'We can help at a national level, although it is up to them how much input they want from us. Some just download information or ideas from our website. Others approach us with case studies or stories that we can use, and some just want us to proofread a press release. We can also give advice on themes, forums and training around their archives. There are fewer people knitting and more doing genealogy, and museums can take an active part.'
Deborah Mulhearn is a freelance journalist
Local area resources
The new Sainsbury Study Centre at the Museum in Docklands provides access to its extensive archive material. 'The museum holds collections of some Port of London and Sainsbury employment records, photographs, magazines, newspaper cuttings and ephemera, which can enrich people's understanding of their ancestors' lives,' says Lucie Amos, the head of access and learning at the Museum of London Group. These resources are held at the Sainsbury Centre and can be accessed by appointment.
'There are soft areas for browsing and reading and we have tried to encourage broader and easier access to archival information,' Amos adds.
Most importantly, and often forgotten, Amos points out that the galleries themselves can provide an invaluable context for building up a picture of life for people working and living in the area.
In addition to the galleries, other initiatives to encourage and support family history researchers have included events such as a drop-in day to explore local history around the port and river, which also aimed to discover possible sources for individual family histories.
Talks from curators and archivists about life for those living and working around the docks, and about how to access collections and archives, have been extremely popular as they offer people the chance to ask questions face to face.
'These are designed to help people understand how to get the best out of the museum's collections,' says Amos. 'For so many of our users, this is a first foray into historical research, and we have been overwhelmed by the demand.'
New town pioneers tell their stories
Stevenage was Britain's first new town, designated in 1946 following the end of the second world war. To celebrate its 60th anniversary, Stevenage Museum, which is part of the borough council, applied for a lottery grant to redisplay its New Town Gallery. The gallery opened on 18 November 2006.
Claire Hill, the curator of the museum, was prompted to think about how the collections could be better interpreted and made more publicly accessible.
'For example, we have many fascinating oral history interviews that tell the story of the building and early years of the new town,' she says. 'Visitors will be able to hear the recollections of planners, builders and new residents, which would be of great interest to anyone researching their family history here.'
Hill became interested in her own family history in Wiltshire when the BBC programme Who Do You Think You Are? filmed there. 'At an event day in the local town hall there was a huge number of people looking to find out how to start researching their family history,' she adds.
'I realised that as a museum we should really be doing something to cater for this audience. So in conjunction with the local family history society we organised a similar event for Museums and Galleries Month earlier this year.'
County records office hold the key information for family history researchers but Hill says museums and their collections also have a lot to offer. For example, a museum may have additional photographs of local places and people, as well as ephemera and archives relating to local businesses and shops.
In Stevenage's case, much of this would relate to the new town pioneers who set up home there in the postwar years. 'Family-history researchers might enjoy reading or listening to the memories of those who made the same journey, and be able to understand what an adventure it was for their ancestors,' says Hill.
'They may find their forebear listed in wage books or delivery schedules and be able to discover what their weekly shop from a local butcher was or how much they were paid, all adding colour and detail to the story of their family.'
