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Progress Report 20May - July 2002ContentsGeneral summaryModulesArchivesPrinted and audio visual resourcesCollaborative collection management initiativesTraining and awarenessIT: project web-site, database and subject gatewayGeneral SummaryThis is the final report detailing progress for the period May- July 2002 and the subsequent conclusion of the CASBAH project. Sincere thanks are extended to CASBAH's partners, associates and numerous individuals who have contributed to the project's success. Please see Acknowledgements for further details. CASBAH's Project Manager, Julie Evans and Project Archivist, Mairi Robertson continued to work on the following aspects of the CASBAH project to draw the project to its successful conclusion following the departure of the Project Researcher, Roiyah Saltus-Blackwood and Project Officer, Carol Dixon, earlier in May 2002. By July 2002 the CASBAH project had received information from 94 repositories in total, of which 24 represent archives and 68 represent libraries and specialist repositories for audiovisual materials. A total of 383 collection descriptions have now been added to the dataset, of which 275 relate specifically to collections of archival materials and 108 relate to printed and audiovisual resources. The bulk of the 383 collection descriptions on the CASBAH database were proofed and edited during the period May 2002 - July 2002. By June 2002, the Project Archivist, Mairi Robertson had researched, summarised and collated 104 archival collection descriptions and imputted these to the CASBAH database. This represents nearly half of the archival collection descriptions that are currently housed on the CASBAH database. These descriptions were drawn from Public Record Office (PRO) and Institute of Commonwealth Studies (ICS) collections. In June 2002, collection descriptions from a further five repositories were summarised by the Project Archivist and uploaded to the CASBAH database. These comprise collections from the Institute of Commonwealth Studies Library, The Theatre Museum, Goldsmiths College Library, the British Library, and the Warburg Institute Library. A wine and buffet reception to thank partners and supporters of CASBAH was held in The Menzies Room, Institute of Commonwealth Studies on 29 May, 2002. Around 80 guests attended, ranging from community group representatives, archives and libraries professionals, diplomats and academics. A performance was given by poet and writer, Lemm Sissay and music was provided by a guest jazz band. A review of Asians in Britain by Rosina Visram, commissioned by the Project Archivist from Radhika Bynon, of The Black Jewish Forum History Project, can be viewed as a new Spotlight article. All Together Now, a series of five one-day events for museums, archives held by LMAL are reported in more detail in the Training and Awareness Section.
ArchivesThe CASBAH project sought to facilitate greater access to the research resources of amongst many others, its partner institutions, which represent the most significant national collections relating to Caribbean studies and the history of Black and Asian people in England. To this end, the Project Archivist conducted archival surveys of two of the seven core collections of research resources represented by CASBAH's partners to identify resources that were pertinent to the history of the Caribbean, and UK Black and Asian history: these collections included those of the Public Record Office via the PRO's online catalogue (PROCAT) of archives of central government, courts of law and other national bodies, and the Institute of Commonwealth Studies archival resources and special collections via the ICS CALM database. An alphabetical listing of ICS holdings and a regional guide to ICS holdings is available for consultation on the ICS web site. Through archive surveys of these collections and the subsequent creation of relevant collection summaries for inclusion on the CASBAH project's database, a total of 234 descriptions are now available for consultation on CASBAH. 53 PRO collection descriptions resulting from this survey have received a final edit and the final version uploaded to the CASBAH database in June 2002. 49 relevant ICS collections were identified, out of the 230 stored in the CALM 2000 archive database. The PRO archive survey report and ICS archive survey report provide the following information:
The survey methodology devised by the CASBAH project was adapted and developed to map information about the range and extent of the collections for Caribbean, Black and Asian history sources in the PRO and ICS collections. For general information and guidance on mapping resources and the methodology developed by CASBAH please see the ARCHIVE SURVEY TOOL. For detailed information about the survey methodology used for these particular collections see the PRO survey report and the ICS survey report. The findings of the the PRO and ICS survey work were used to contribute to identifying strengths and significant gaps in the distributed national collection of resources for Caribbean, Black and Asian history studies. Conducting Archival Collection Surveys - Guidance Notes was put out to peer review in June 2002. In the light of comments from peer reviewers the document was re-written and edited by the Project Archivist, Mairi Robertson. To consult the up-to-date version of this document please see the ARCHIVE SURVEY TOOL. Archives HubThe Archives Hub service provides a single point of access to descriptions of archives held in UK universities and colleges. A targeted survey of those archive descriptions found by the Project Archivist on the Archives Hub web site in March 2002 was halted due to time constraints and imput needed on the web site and subject gateway. Given the advanced stage of the project it was more appropriate to finalise and complete the data that had already been collated by the CASBAH team. A note of the relevant Archive Hub collections are listed here for future reference.
Back to topPrinted and AV resourcesA final proofread and edit of the 66 collections was completed in June 2002 by the Project Archivist. In June 2002, collection descriptions from a further five repositories were summarised and uploaded to the CASBAH database by the Project Archvist. These comprise collections from the Institute of Commonwealth Studies Library, The Theatre Museum, Goldsmiths College Library, the British Library, and the Warburg Institute Library.
Collaborative collection management initiativesDue to the under-representation of Black and Asian research resources in the CASBAH sample, particularly in relation to theatre and arts, as well as health and social welfare in Britain, some enquiries were made (limited due to time constraints) on trying to source further collections. In the course of research the Project Archivist made contact with the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan Institute of Indian Art and Culture and enquired whether there were any research resources about the history of Indian culture and arts housed at their premises that are accessible to members of the public, via a library or resource. A response was received that at present an archive is being built and is primarily intended as a general resource for Indian culture and may encompass a theatre element. This is planned to open in 2002, and any relevant material is welcome. In the course of research the Project Archivist also made contact with the The Ethnicity Research Centre at the University of Leicester. The Ethnicity Research Centre is currently undertaking the first of what it is hoped will be a number of research projects on the life histories and oral testimony of ethnic elders, Life Histories & Oral Testimony of Ethnic Elders. The first stage of the project involves interviews with elders drawn from a range of Asian communities in Leicester comprising conversations focusing on childhood, early years, migration, and settlement in Leicester. The study is intended to capture something of the experiences of a generation of people who made the often difficult transition to a life in Britain from the Indian sub-continent and from East Africa. An enquiry about whether an archive of resources regarding this work would be available was made in April 2002. Unfortunately there was no response to this enquiry. Other relevant material
sourced
through web research includes Tara
Arts - launched in 1977, Tara has played a pioneering role in
contemporary
British theatre paving the way for the development of other Asian
theatre
companies, such as Tamasha, Kali and Man Mela. A number of articles
and lectures from Tara Arts are available on the Tara web site
and
a CD called Exodus,
detailing the story of the movement of East African Asians to
Britain.
Tara's plays - 'Genesis', 'Exodus', and 'Revelations' are based on
first-hand
stories of three generations of Asians. Tara Arts would like to
create
a permanent publicly accessible archive of the materials collected
on
the history of Asians, including interviews with those currently
living
in Britain, for use as an educational tool. During the course of research for the CASBAH website, information was disseminated to the CASBAH team about sourcing further photographic material, these included the photograph collections housed at the McKenzie Heritage Picture Archive (Brixton, London) - for collection descriptions described on the CASBAH web site please see: http:/www.casbah.ac.uk/cats/archive/235/index.htm. Due to time constraints on fulfilling key deliverables relating to core collections the Project Archivist was not able to pursue this, but the Project Researcher was able to produce some collection descriptions. Back to topTraining and AwarenessA version of the PRO pilot survey report was delivered to a meeting of the Working Party at the PRO on May 1 2002. The Project Officer deputised on this occasion for the Project Archivist. Positive feedback was received. The Project Archivist and Project Manager met with Lorraine Blakemore of the West Midlands Profiles Project on 18 April 2002 and shared information about the CASBAH project and database. The 'Profiles' Project aims to assist archives, museums and libraries develop their collections in ways that reflect the cultural diversity of the region and improve access to those existing archive, museum and library collections that relate to the region's many distinctive communities. In this first stage of the project, 'Profiles' identified collections that relate to Black and Asian history and drew upon the expertise of CASBAH which had carried out some work in the West Midlands in higher education libraries and archives. Contact was made in March 2002 with colleagues at the Black Jewish Forum History Project (BJFH) - a research initiative which aims to look at the hidden history of Black-Jewish relations and the comparative experiences of the communities in Britain. Dr Gemma Romain, project researcher for BJFH, provided a short summary about the project for inclusion as spotlight article on the CASBAH website. A reception was held at Institute of Commonwealth Studies on 29th May 2002, to thank partners and supporters of CASBAH. The programme included speeches by:
Guests were entertained by a guest jazz band and a performance by poet and writer Lemm Sissay. A series of five one-day events held by LMAL is summarised here as a Spotlight Article. Back to topIT: project web-site, database and subject gatewayThe Project Manager, Project Archivist and web designer Rik Munday have since April developed the final stages of building the CASBAH web site, with imput from Francis Blomley on the technical aspects. The work has focused on:
A brand new addition is a CASBAH Project welcome page incorporating site index to aid navigation and a new site map. The improved design and development of the searchable, online database aims to capitalise on its strengths as a potential research tool. The site development has been discussed at team meetings since December 10th 2001, and taken forward by the Project Manager and Archivist with imput from the rest of the team. A schedule for the collation, proofread, final edit and upload of archival and printed sources data was compiled by the Project Archivist. This aimed to assist the team in moving towards the final stages of the CASBAH project. A great deal of time since May has also focused on tracking data, reloading tables and forms to the CASBAH database in conjunction with the university IT department. CASBAH Project ReportsThe following reports were prepared and uploaded the the project web site in July 2002 by the Project Archivist as follows: Indexing collection descriptions for the CASBAH database was proofed and edited and an Appendix added prior to upload to the web site by the Project Archivist. ARCHIVE SURVEY TOOL was peer reviewed, as a result it was re-written and edited by the Project Archivist, Mairi Robertson. Printed &
Audio-Visual
Survey Documents
CASBAH Questionnaire used to conduct the surveys of printed & audio-visual collections
Survey reportsPRO and ICS survey reports are complete and available for consultation on the CASBAH web site. Readers may find the following survey reports are incomplete. Some hyperlinks are invalid or inactive and a number of reports contain notes to suggest they are to be completed during March-April 2002. CASBAH wishes to extend sincere apologies to participating institutions and to readers for any inconvenience this may cause. These include 5 of the 7 core collections: Archive
Pilot surveys of five core Collections represented by CASBAH
Partners
and Associates London Metropolitan
Archives
(May 2000)
Archive pilot surveys conducted in five selected regions
Reports are not currently available to the project for the following repositories which were surveyed by the Project Officer and Project Researcher:
DATABASETo follow is a list of incomplete collection entries on the CASBAH database which the Project Archivist completed and fully indexed during the period June-July 2002:
Back to topSubject GatewayThe Subject Index, Personal, Place and Corporate names indexes were rationalised for consistency by the Project Archivist in July 2002, this was achieved as far as possible within the time constraints available. Created: July 2002 by Mairi Robertson CASBAH Project Archivist
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