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Keeper of the Scrolls
2010 Posts
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 Posted -
17/05/2004
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12:05
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Transcript of an original copy of the minutes of the meeting of the Steering Committee of the Lancashire Textile Project.
(The original copy was done by the old process which used light sensitive paper and over the years it has faded.)
STEERING COMMITTEE: PENDLE HERITAGE CENTRE. - 2.11.78. Number one.
Present: Dr. Marshall, Mr. E.J. Miller, Mr. S. Graham, Mrs. M. Hunter.
1. INTRODUCTION: Chairman.
Dr. Marshall opened the meeting as we had a quorum of the committee. The Department of the Environment were here in spirit if not in person and contact with Mr. White had been very recent. Mrs. McClintock was most anxious to be present at future meetings.
It was agreed that Dr. Marshall and Mary hunter be officially appointed as Chairman and Secretary respectively.
2. APOLOGIES
Apologies had been received from Mr. White, Mr. Thompson, Mrs. McClintock and Mr. Moore who would be present later.
Mary Hunter read relevant points from Mr. Thompson's letter and her reply to it. A motion proposed by Mrs. McClintock and Mr. Graham in a letter from her was kept over to the Item on the agenda to which it referred. (Item9).
3. STATEMENT OF THE AIMS OF THE PROJECT
The ultimate aim of the project is to preserve a deeper and more rounded record of people and processes in industry, than has been achieved before. With the increasingly sophisticated tools at our disposal it is possible to go beyond the socio-political aspects which tend to be the recurring themes in Oral History. It was felt that the importance of work in the lives of the informants, should be the backbone of the project. It was agreed that there would be educational and social value in the work which is being done.
4. PROGRESS REPORT ON RESEARCH AND WORK: Mr S Graham
Overall, progress had been satisfactory. In concrete terms:- a) The Bancroft Folio has been completed; a master copy is in the hands of Mr. Graham, a copy is with the Science Museum and the DOE copy is part-printed and awaiting funds to complete.
b) Contacts have been made with interested bodies by writing to them, response had been very good and concrete help had been given in some cases, See x below.
c) 60 tapes have been recorded, copied and aid sheets completed. Mr. Graham explained that he had evolved this system of writing aid sheets with a dual purpose; primarily they are to assist the Transcriptionist with technical detail, dialect, jargon, and names, but they are also a ‘memory-jogger’ for the interviewer in cases where there is a time-lag between each recording.
X. Mr. Graham asked for it to be recorded that Mr. Tom Clarke of Silentnight Holdings and Mr. Bill Martin of I.C.I. had been particularly helpful in this respect.
4. With regard to the taping, Mr Graham stated that it was his intention to obtain a full story from each informant starting with earliest memories. This means a considerable recording time for each but it was felt that invaluable socio-historical will be built up for future historians.
Mr Graham wished to record that the set of structured questions prepared and used by Elizabeth Roberts (Lancaster University) had been invaluable to him.
Indexing of the taped material would be restricted to the primary objectives of the project. Recording objectively is the aim, we are not yet qualified to draw conclusions.
Dr Marshall said that the first tapes heard by himself and his colleagues were regarded as an excellent example of how to achieve a structured interview and yet maintain flow and continuity. He felt that the secret lay in the empathetic relationship which Mr Graham achieved with his informants.
5. PROGRESS REPORT: Mr E J Miller.
i). £2,250 had been received from the DOE. An account had already been opened in Barclay’s Bank, Nelson. ‘DOE’ Pendle Heritage Centre’ Mr Miller raised the question of signing of cheques. The meeting unanimously agreed that Mr Miller be appointed treasurer of this committee and that signing cheques should be his responsibility. He had three outstanding bills in his hands.
Harry Garlick: To tapes
British Library: To photocopies of maps
Craven Herald: To typewriter, second hand.
These would now be paid.
ii) TRANSCRIPTION. Mr Graham stated that it was imperative that the correct equipment was obtained, i.e. A stereo transcribing machine. It was felt that the figure of £50 agreed with the DOE seemed low but that transcription costs were to be borne by the DOE and other expenses could be restricted in order to secure the correct equipment. Mr Miller would now go ahead with securing a transcription machine. Mr Marshall pointed out that the project could not be regarded as under way until transcription began.
iii). ACCOMMODATION: The Transcriptionist could be accommodated to suit her requirements. Mr Graham and Mrs Hunter said they would prefer to operate from home until their accommodation was available. A lockable cupboard would be made available to the Transcriptionist for the tapes and the equipment.
iv). THE TRANSCRIPTIONIST: Whilst Mrs O’Brien was assured of employment with the project, we could not set a starting date until we were in receipt of a transcribing machine. Ideally, Mr Miller would like Mrs O’Brien to begin transcription work in January, but she officially finished work on the Job Creation Scheme on December 9th.
Dr Marshall asked Mr Miller to assure the committee that Mrs. O’Brien would be given a formal contract of employment. Mr Miller agreed. Basically this would consist of 30 hours a week for six months. Mr Graham said he would give her every help and to this end would ensure that the tapes were given to her in chronological order, one informant at a time.
6. PROJECT TITLE
Dr Marshall suggested a title which the committee discussed and the amended version is as follows:
LANCASHIRE: TECHNOLOGY, WORK AND LEISURE IN A FACTORY COMMUNITY. [sic]
This title allows for flexibility in the work of the project.
7. AREAS OF RESPONSIBILITY.
Mrs Hunter suggested the main areas of responsibility, the following list meets with the committee’s approval:-
Sound recording and photography. Mr Graham
Retrieval system, indexing and administrative direction. Mrs Hunter
Transcription, accommodation and financial administration. Mr Miller
Support, loan of equipment, use of reprographic facilities. Nelson & Colne College
Overall assessment and academic guidance. CNWRS
Major financial responsibility DOE
8. SPINNING PROJECT
Mr Graham had been in contact with L Whittaker and Sons, Spinners, of Haslingden and they are agreeable to him doing the project. This will be done on the same lines as has been done at Bancroft. There is a link here in that they supply Bancroft with condenser yarn. This is a very old established firm who operate the complete spinning process and have a wealth of archival material of their own.
Dr Marshall reported that Mr White requires certain evidence to support his proposal that Mr Graham be employed by the Department. He requires tape, transcripts and photographs. Mr Graham suggested that in view of the short notice the easiest method of doing this would be to supply Mr White with the material to be used at the Birmingham AIA conference. This has already been prepared with the exception of the transcripts. Mr Miller agreed to provide facilities for the transcription work to be done in the week beginning November 13th. This date was not to be regarded as the start of the transcription for the project. It was merely a special arrangement made with Mrs O’Brien to meet the requirements of Mr White.
9. COPYRIGHT ISSUE.
Motion proposed by Mrs McClintock:-
Item 9. The copyright Position.
‘Proposal (Mr Graham and Mrs McClintock): That the agreement with the Department of the Environment (Ref. Letter of 9th October 1978 from C J A Thompson to Mrs McClintock) concerning the period of embargo on the tapes be modified from the previously agreed eight year period to be ‘Five years in the first instance from a date to be agreed between Mr Graham and Mrs McClintock (In practice coinciding with the deposit of the first batch) with a further three year extension if this is requested by Mr Graham.’
Such a modification brings Mr Graham’s material in line with other embargoed material deposited in the University of Lancaster Library.
This motion was tabled and passed.
The Copyright of all photographic work financed by Mr. Graham would be his. This was accepted by the Committee.
After 1986 the public would have access to tapes and transcripts but they remain Crown Copyright.
10. SECRETARIAL WORK.
The College agreed to assist with the copying of minutes. Mr. Moore suggested that David Brown (Nelson and Colne College) be introduced to the project since he is concerned with reprographics at the College. A volunteer could be found who would be prepared to do the minuting of the Steering Committee meetings.
The Committee agreed to Mrs. Hunter spending some time with an expert in the field of indexing. It was agreed that it should be the job of one person (Mrs. Hunter) to do the indexing work.
The possibility of computerising the retrieval system was brought up by Mrs. Hunter, but it was resolved that a manual system was the basis of any computerised system and therefore this matter was shelved for the present.
11. A.O.B.
a) Payment of expenses.
There are certain expenses incurred by Mr. Graham which will have to be met but not out of the DOE budget, if we are to complete the work within the time and money limit.
It was proposed by Mr. Moore that a communication from Mr. White giving early confirmation of the following be called for:
It is understood that the DOE will meet expenses incurred in the exploratory work for possible additional projects in 1979.
That Mr. Graham will compile a Bill of Expenses to date and an estimate of what the expenses will be before the completion of the investigatory work, to accompany Mr; White's copy of the minutes.
b) Job Creation
Mr. Miller suggested the possibility of selecting one or two people from his next job Creation Scheme to assist with the project. The Committee felt that this would be an ideal arrangement and certain avenues of work were discussed. Among these were:- indexing local newspapers, and other public archival material relevant to the Project.
Mrs. Hunter is to arrange with the Committee and Mrs. McClintock a suitable date for the next meeting. At this meeting the date for transcription work to begin will be fixed,
There being no other business the meeting closed at 9.45 PM
M E Hunter 4. 11 . 78
[certified as an accurate transcription of the minutes by SCG. 21 February 2003]
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LTP Meeting - Minutes
