LBH&F Archives and Local History Centre is looking for volunteers

As you may have heard LBH&F has closed its Archive Department at the Lilla Huset, the small sister building to the Ark on Hammersmith Road, W.6. However under pressure from local groups it has been agreed that the Archives and Reading Room will open again in a couple of months, under the supervision of a part time fully qualified archivist, with the help of interested volunteers. Details of opening hours are still under consideration, but it will probably be for two days a month.

However, we are now actively looking for people interested in volunteering at the Archives. Anyone who would like to help preserve the Local History Collection as a flourishing local tool, particularly if they have some experience of using or working in archives and are computer literate, are invited to contact the Archives Department, archives@lbhf.gov.uk with their name, address, telephone and email address and a brief note of why they are interested and any experience they may have. A full job description will be sent out to everyone expressing interest in volunteering.

We would welcome offers of interest as soon as possible, ideally by March 28, as we hope to organize some training sessions in April.

Maya Donelan, Fulham Society, info@fulhamsociety.org www.fulhamsociety.org.

March 2011.

Update on access to Hammersmith and Fulham Archives

Archives for London have been working with Hammersmith & Fulham Council to secure access to the Borough?s unique historical archives.

Earlier this week Hammersmith & Fulham Council revealed that the reading room at the Lila Husset on Talgarth Road, previously identified for closure at the end of February to accommodate the Council’s cost reduction ambitions, would be kept open.

More details here

Archives for London at Who Do You Think You Are? LIVE 2011

Archives for London are delighted to announce that they will be exhibiting at Who Do You Think You Are? LIVE at London Olympia, 25-27 February.

WDYTYA? LIVE is the national history show, with over 100 workshops and 180 exhibitors bringing resources together under one roof.

AfL will be showing raising the profile of London’s wealth of documentary heritage. And of course showcasing the activities, events and resources we provide with our members that help everyone get more out of London’s archives.

“For many people, family history is the first time they come into contact with archives”, says David Mander, chair of Archives for London, “and exhibiting at WDYTYA? LIVE gives more people the chance to find out about the range of work that AfL does to make London’s archives more accessible and about the benefits of joining in with our knowledgeable, enthusiastic and diverse networks – we’re really looking forward to it!”

AfL institutional members are invited to send a small example of the collateral for the AfL stand at the show – please contact sian.wynn-jones@bt.com for further information.

For more information about the show see www.whodoyouthinkyouarelive.co.uk

New AfL leaflet showcases the wealth of images and photographs held in London’s archives

AfL has a new leaflet promoting the range of its activities and it’s packed with images from London archives. Darren Pilcher, director at designers Rubric Creative (www.rubriccreative.com) writes, “We had an outstanding resource of images to use, so we looked for a concept that could use as many as possible. The message, promoting Archives for London, needed to be delivered instantly and creating London’s highly recognisable skyline from the collection conveyed this very efficiently.”

With thanks to BT Heritage, Fortnum and Mason Archive, Girlguiding UK Archive, Hackney Archives, Hammersmith and Fulham Archives and Local History Centre, Hillingdon Local Studies, Archives and Museum Services, London Metropolitan Archives, Royal Air Force Museum and Wandsworth Heritage Service.

Download your copy today and spread the word.

AfL Membership Questionnaire

In July 2010 Archives for London will be five years old. AfL Board and Communications team members will be meeting to assess how we have done to date and what we ought to tackle in the next five years. As part of this work we would like to know what you think of our activities. We would be very grateful if you could complete the survey form below

Membership Questionnaire

You can also complete the survey online

AfL on Twitter

AfL started a pilot Twitter account in January 2010; www.twitter.com/archives4london Twitter is a free social networking and microblogging service that enables its subscribers to send and read messages known as tweets. Tweets are text-based posts of up to 140 characters displayed on a home profile page and delivered to other Twitter users who sign up to receive your tweets (followers).

AfL tweets are posted at least weekly on topics concerning London’s archives. Although many Twitter uses make their tweets very personal, the archives4london tweets are non-personal and general interest, reflecting the organisation rather than the author.

To date archives4london has 33 followers and appear on 6 lists (compilations by other Twitter users) demonstrating the capacity to reach truly new audiences.There is no cost to being a Twitter subscriber, so the additional profile is free to AfL.

You don’t need to be a Twitter subscriber to see the AfL tweets – just go to www.twitter.com and search ‘archives4london’.

It is hoped that we can embed the AfL Twitter feed into the AfL website to increase topicality.is hoped that we can embed the AfL Twitter feed into the AfL website to increase topicality.

Winning Endeavours

Winning Endeavours, celebrating sport in London’s archives – find out more about Archives for London’s exciting new venture with London Metropolitan Archives and the British Library in a Heritage Lottery Fund project to celebrate sport in archives from London and the South East.

www.archivesforlondon.org/winningendeavours

PDF of Project Notice

Archives for the 21st Century

The Chair of Archives for London, David Mander, has written a paper for the most recent newsletter, the full version of which is now available to view.

Archives for the 21st Century – David Mander.

Members Area

The Members Only Area of the site, complete with Discussion Forum, back issues of Newsletters and copies of AfL Publications is now live. To access the page, you will need to sign in using your username and password in the login box on the left hand side of your screen.

Please note; at present, those who do not have an email address will be unable to login to the members area as the website’s login system requires an email address to work. The web editor is in discussion with the developers in order to resolve this. In the meantime, free of charge email addresses can be obtained using services such as Hotmail and Yahoo.

If there is anything Members would like to see in the Members Only Area, please contact the Web Editor on website@archivesforlondon.org