Welsh Journals

News from the Glamorgan Record Office Protection of the records Accommodation The Record Office continues to occupy its long-established site in the former Glamorgan County Hall, now the Glamorgan Building, in Cardiff's Cathays Park, and a renewal of the present lease is under negotiation with the landlord, Cardiff University. During the year, senior staff have focused on the process of acquiring new premises, a task likely to absorb an increasing amount of time over the next 3 to 4 years. Meanwhile, all possible steps have been taken to improve the environmental conditions of collections held away from the main site. Conservation An Emergency Preparedness Plan for the Glamorgan Building premises has been prepared and all staff trained. A Preservation Policy, Preservation Strategy and Conservation Plan has also been produced. Staff have carried out the Preservation Assessment Survey designed by the National Preservation Office to identify preservation needs within a collection from a random 400-item sample. The analysed results revealed that 75.5 per cent of our total collection is either in good or fair condition and can be used without risk of damage. Items identified as in poor condition may be used under close supervision. By training searchroom staff in document handling and having a qualified conservator on site for consultation it has been possible to increase the useable percentage of our holdings to 94.25 per cent. Software supplied by the NPO for analysis can also be used to identify outcomes of proposed initiatives. In our case, the best variant would be improvements to the environmental conditions in which records are held, another argument for new premises. However, substantial overall improvement would accrue from extending the Emergency Preparedness Plan to cover all sites, and completing repackaging programmes. These areas will therefore be targeted in the next annual plan.