Following this you’ll have the opportunity to share your own documentation projects, ask questions and discuss the Network’s aims and ongoing objectives to support best practice and innovation in conservation documentation.
ResearchSpace — a new knowledge system for the Collection Care Department at The National Archives
During the last quarter of 2021 The National Archives Conservation Care department implemented a new type of knowledge base system called ResearchSpace, an open source knowledge system which addresses diversity and inclusion. ResearchSpace provides a flexible knowledge orientated environment which can represent richer forms of structured information and change as knowledge processes evolve over time. The initial implementation was fast tracked to simply transfer the previous information system and conventions to avoid disruption to existing working departmental practices. This placed the data into a new contextual and flexible form removing the limitations of the previous administration system. This initial phase exposed a common situation in which database systems impose a rigid form of interaction that bears little relationship to the reality of highly integrated teams with overlapping knowledge and skill. The system was not a representation of the dynamic of the department or the rich knowledge that it generated. This presentation charts the work in a second phase of work to understand and implement the intended knowledge base system, one which goes far beyond administrative data providing a knowledge base that can be used for training, education and engagement and inform strategy.
A new Data Policy Primer and Template for conservation
The template is practical and flexible, enabling organisations to adapt it to suit their needs, and includes a primer to help with this. Icon encourages its members and the wider conservation profession in the UK to consider using the policy template when planning to share data with internal or external collaborators, or publishing open access Datasets. The policy template is a timely contribution to supporting high quality scholarship in our field and its production is an excellent example of collaboration between academics and professional bodies. Icon is pleased to have played a role in the delivery of this project. The Data Policy Primer and Template have been developed in the context of the Linked Conservation Data project, but it is not limited to data used in Linked Data applications.
