Archive Services and the Changing Role of the Professional, 1945 – 2015: A Study into Local Authority Archive Services

This study investigates the forces that drove change in the UK local authority archive sector between 1945 and 2015 and considers the nature of the change which was produced. It explores the way professionals within local archive services have been both affected by and responded to change situated within a context of continually moving professional, political, economic, and social environments. The research therefore considered whether change was generated by a top-down or bottom-up approach to organisational development. It examines how audiences are enabled to consume archives and the changing relationships between archive professionals and audiences, due in part to professionalisation of the sector. This shows the increasingly complex nature of the sector in providing a public facing service for growing communities of users.

This is a historical study. Reviewed alongside published literature, contemporary reports, and professional journals, two focused studies of county record offices bring to the forefront the rich detail of organisational life at ground level, set within the complex narrative of higher-level government structures and legislation. The research provides rich detailed qualitative accounts explaining the intricacies of real-life situations. Archive services can be more than administrators of history; lessons can be gained through obtaining a fuller understanding of how change has been generated within local services. The study concludes that change has been driven by a multiplicity of factors including British government policy, commissions, recommendations, and restructures against a backdrop of shifting economic and social conditions as well as driven by the personal interests and aspirations of archive professionals. The study makes an original contribution to the history of local archive services in the UK, adding to an under-researched part of the heritage sector, and contributes to archive, museum, and libraries literature more broadly.