'Record societies 2007': report
A conference examining the challenges and opportunities facing record society publishers was held at the IHR on Thursday 19 April 2007. The main aim of the conference was to contribute to, and provide a focus for, the formulation of a strategy for the long-term sustainability and development of record society publishing.
Conference report
Delegates attending the conference represented 32 separate societies and organisations, with a wide geographical and subject coverage. Discussion was wide-ranging and lively, and a number of common themes emerged:
- There was an urgent need for the establishment of a national forum for record society publishers. This would allow society officers to discuss issues of common interest and enable the societies to increase their profile and market reach by working together.
- Record societies would welcome the involvement of the IHR in facilitating collaboration, both by hosting events such as the April conference, and by offering a 'shop window', perhaps through British History Online, for record society publications and other activities.
- Record societies generally had fairly limited access to professional advice about copyright and licensing, digitisation options, print on demand etc. Support in this area would enable them successfully to develop their medium- and long-term publishing strategies.
- Changes in UK charity legislation had forced record societies to rethink their publishing activities. There was likely to be increased pressure on them to make their research outputs available more widely than hitherto, notably online. Significantly, there was likely to be a requirement for them to demonstrate that they were offering wider benefits than simply to their members.
- The majority of record societies do not have sufficient resources to undertake large-scale digitisation of their back catalogue material, and even where money is available they do not have the expertise or the staff to develop or sustain such activity. In this context, partnership with a third-party, such as British History Online, is crucial.
- The importance of maintaining quality and standards was emphasised throughout. Collaboration to develop and apply consistent editorial and metadata standards across record society publishing was thought to be key to its future.
It was agreed that it would be desirable for the IHR, perhaps in collaboration with the British Records Association, to organise an annual conference, commencing with the follow-up event planned for 2008 as part of Phase II of British History Online. BHO would in the meantime liaise with record societies to undertake a more in-depth study of their requirements, and in some cases to undertake preliminary and/or trial digitisation work. The IHR would also seek funding to undertake a comprehensive survey of record society publishing in the UK.
