Hampshire County Council

Executive Member - Recreation and Heritage Item 9

25 September 2003

Hampshire Record Office 2002/03

Report of the Director of Recreation and Heritage

Contact: Janet Smith, Ext 6155.

1. Summary

The following decisions are sought:

i. That the Executive Member note the How We Did report and congratulate Hampshire Record Office on its achievements during 2002/03.

ii. That the Executive Member note the results of the 2002 survey of visitors to British archives.

2. Reason

Hampshire Record Office regularly monitors its performance and publishes its results on an annual basis. The publication of the results of a recent national survey of visitors to British archives makes it possible to measure its achievements against the views of users and to assess Hampshire Record Office's performance during 2002/03 in the context of the main findings of the national survey.

3. Other options considered and rejected

3.1 None.

4. Conflicts of interest declared by the decision-maker or officer consulted

4.1 None.

5. Dispensation granted by the Standards Committee

5.1 Not applicable

6. Reason(s) for the matter being dealt with if urgent

6.1 Not applicable

Approved by: (signature) Date: (date of decision)

............................... ..............................

Cllr. J. Waddington

Hampshire County Council

Executive Member - Recreation and Heritage Item 9

25 September 2003

Recreation and Heritage Policy Review Committee Item 8

11 September 2003

Hampshire Record Office 2002/03

Report of the Director of Recreation and Heritage

Contact: Janet Smith 6155

1. Background

1.1 Hampshire Record Office regularly monitors its performance against published targets and, in accordance with Charter Mark standards, annually publishes its results in the form of a `How We Did' leaflet which is made available to customers in the Record Office and via the web site. The published information shows how the Record Office is using its resources across the full range of its services.

1.2 A national survey of visitors to British archives was undertaken in November 2002 by the Public Services Quality Group under the auspices of the National Council on Archives and its results were published by the Institute of Public Finance in July 2003. This enables Hampshire Record Office to measure users' views of its services against national and regional averages. The survey was designed to gauge attitudes across a range of areas including:

· Web site and other information obtainable in advance

· Opening hours

· Visitor facilities

· Document delivery

· Copying services

· Staff

· Areas for improvement

· Length and purpose of visit

· Use of other local services

· Visitor profile

· Personal experience of using archives

· Ethnicity

241 users of the Record Office completed the questionnaire over a period of one week in November 2002.

1.3 This report summarises Hampshire Record Office's performance during 2002/03 in the context of the main findings of the national survey. The leaflet How We Did 2002/03 and the Single Archive Report prepared for Hampshire Record Office following the national visitors survey are attached as appendices.

2. HRO performance in 2002/03

2.1 The number of visitors to the searchroom declined slightly during 2002/03 in line with a national trend which is almost certainly due to the increased availability of information on the Internet. By contrast, the number of remote enquiries received and use of the Hampshire Record Office web site each increased during the year. Use of the web site is expected to grow substantially over the next few years.

In the user survey 75% respondents rated the web site as Good or Very Good. It has been substantially re-designed and developed since November 2002 and user feedback is increasingly positive. With support from the Recreation and Heritage Policy Fund from February 2003 archive catalogues are currently being converted to electronic format and mounted on the web; our aim is to have all the Record Office catalogues searchable online by the end of 2004. As the archival content of the web site grows we expect to see its usage grow proportionately. Some users will obtain all their information remotely; those visiting the Record Office searchroom to study original documents will be well informed on arrival, freeing up staff to provide advice and support to all who need it.

2.2 Time targets for the delivery of documents to the searchroom, for the provision of copies, for answering remote enquiries and answering complaints were all met or exceeded in 2002/03 with few exceptions. In the national survey, 89.3% rated our document delivery as Good or Very Good, 84.9% rated the copying service as Good or Very Good and 94% rated the quality and appropriateness of the advice given by staff similarly (of these an impressive 63% rated it Very Good). 96.5% rated highly the helpfulness and friendliness of the staff.

Nationally, the user survey indicates that users of smaller archive services tend to rate the service more highly than users of the large county record offices. This is due in no small measure to the higher level of personal contact between staff and public which is necessary in small searchrooms and in less well developed services. Nevertheless, Hampshire's results in most areas rated as highly as, and sometimes more highly than, the UK and regional averages, despite the fact that those averages are weighted by the inclusion of a larger number of small and specialist repositories. The achievement of renewal of Charter Mark status, also in November 2002, is another indicator to show how highly Hampshire's archive service is regarded by its customers.

2.3 When asked in the survey in which areas it is most important for the archive to improve, Hampshire Record Office's users found it hard to make suggestions. 43% thought that no change was necessary; a further 41% selected none of the main options offered indicating that 84% found no significant cause for concern. Asked to rate the archive's service overall, 96.7% rated Hampshire Record Office's service Good or Very Good. In both questions, Hampshire's service scored higher than both the regional and national average.

2.4 When asked about the length of their stay, 49.5% users in Hampshire (a higher figure than other services) recorded a stay of more than three hours, suggesting perhaps that they found their visit productive and enjoyable. All contributed to the local economy during their visit. While only 1% used overnight accommodation, perhaps because of Winchester's excellent transport links, 51% ate out locally and 64% used local shops and services.

2.5 While 70% visited Hampshire Record Office for personal leisure or recreation purposes, 11.4% came for a non-leisure purpose, 9% for formal education purposes and 8.5% in connection with their employment; many of the latter would have been Hampshire County Council employees from environment or corporate services.

2.6 Over 87% described their visit as a useful and enjoyable learning experience, while 30% felt that it had helped to increase their skills and confidence; in both areas Hampshire's results were broadly comparable with the national and regional findings. Fewer than the national figures (only 7.8% compared to 9.3%) felt it had helped to develop their IT skills. This is almost certainly because users in Hampshire do not yet need to use IT to access the majority of the archive service's information. This will change substantially over the next few months, as more catalogues are accessible and searchable online, and automated document ordering is re-introduced in the searchroom.

2.7 In those areas not assessed by the visitors survey, Hampshire Record Office continued to make excellent progress in 2002/03. Collections of records continued to be received to add to our collections and we met our internal targets for sending receipts to depositors of archives and for quickly cataloguing smaller collections as they were received. The number of documents conserved remained steady, despite one long staff absence, and significant packaging work continued in order to preserve collections to the highest standard. A lively programme of outreach activities - talks, exhibitions and special events - was maintained and an Open Day aimed specifically at children was a particular success.

2.8 Working in partnership with a range of bodies across Hampshire continued to be a high priority and a total of £86,500 external funding was received from regional and national bodies (£78,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund for the Hampshire Photographic project, £8,000 from Screen South for the cataloguing of archive film and £500 from the South East Museum, Library and Archive Council for an educational project based around paper making and seal making).

3. Building on success

3.1 To meet Hampshire County Council's corporate objective of improving services, and to maintain the high standards required to maintain Charter Mark status, Hampshire Record Office will maintain a programme of continuous improvement in services. This will be achieved through regular customer consultation, through the introduction of new services and through maximising the benefits of integration with the Museums Service. Our prime aim is to widen access to archives and to exploit their potential for learning and enjoyment. Increasingly this will be achieved through ICT and through partnership with museums and libraries, particularly within Discovery Centres. Hampshire Record Office in Winchester, the headquarters of the archive service, can be seen as the hub of a network that will increasingly reach across the county into local communities and, through ICT, into people's homes.

Recommendations

1. That members note the How We Did report and congratulate Hampshire Record Office on its achievements during 2002/03.

2. That members note the results of the 2002 survey of visitors to British archives.

3. That members submit this report and their support for the work of Hampshire Record Office to the Executive Member for Recreation and Heritage for his consideration.

Section 100 D - Local Government Act 1972 - background papers

The following documents disclose facts or matters on which this report, or an important part of it, is based and has been relied upon to a material extent in the preparation of this report.

NB the list excludes:

1. Published works

2. Documents which disclose exempt or confidential information as defined in the Act.

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