Interested in a simple Skills Scan and Learning Progress Tracker tool for the Archivist and records manager standard?
Knowledge
K1: The records lifecycle and records continuum as they apply to all records, including digitised and born digital.
K2: Intellectual and custodial integrity of archives and records as they apply to all records including digitised and born digital.
K3: Principles, policies and procedures for archives and records including selection, acquisition, retention, appraisal, classification, audit, appropriate access, preservation and appropriate disposal as they apply to all records including digitised and born digital.
K4: The application of these principles, policies and procedures as they apply to all records including digitised and born digital in a range of organisations and work environments.
K5: Professional codes of ethics, for example those of the Archives and Records Association and the Information and Records Management Society and how to embed them into working practices.
K6: Archives, records management and information governance terminology and its appropriate use.
K7: Professional standards and guidance, including for records management, cataloguing, preservation (including digital preservation) and access, for example PD BS 4971:2017 Guide for the storage and exhibition of archival materials and the requirements of Archives Accreditation standards https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/archives-sector/archive-service-accreditation/.
K8: Information legislation and regulations, including access legislation, privacy regulations, data protection legislation, freedom of information, evolving copyright and intellectual property legislation for example http://uklaca.org/), licensing and creative commons, as they apply to the function and/or organization.
K9: The application of broader legislation and regulations including health and safety, equality, diversity and inclusion to the archives and records sector.
K10: Physical care, protection and preservation of analogue, digitized and born-digital records including security, environmental impacts and administration, disaster management principles and procedures and evolving best practice guidelines.
K11: Risk identification, assessment and mitigation; how this relates to organizational risk appetite
K12: IT software/systems and databases used to support the daily running and management of archives and records services.
K13: Outreach strategies for archives or records management services, including: identifying internal/external audiences, initiatives to make public-facing service elements more accessible and inclusive
K14: A range of oral and written communication techniques, including negotiation and influencing
K15: Service delivery and project management principles and processes
K16: Funding streams, income generation to support archive and records management projects
K17: Contractual arrangements which support archives and records management for example deposit agreements, commercial licensing.
K18: Research methodologies and techniques appropriate to the organisation, services or collections
K19: Specialism(s) relevant to the organisation or collections, for example: languages, palaeography, coding or other advanced digital skills, advanced information governance, working with a specific audience (e.g. children/young people)
K20: The alignment of the development and management of archives, records and collections to the business strategy of the organization. This may include: key functions that records and archives support, retention and disposal of records, the acquisition of new collections
K21: Business planning processes and strategies, including: working within a set budget, continuity plans
K22: People and/or volunteer management policies and processes such as: performance management, training needs as required by the organization.
Skills
S1: Negotiate with depositors/donors regarding acquisitions, and with internal and external colleagues/stakeholders regarding security, maintenance and disposal of records
S2: Confirm that the archives and/or records are stored correctly and they are monitored in accordance with legislation, guidelines and regimes for example PD BS 4971:2017 British Standard Guide for the storage and exhibition of archival materials.
S3: Develop and maintain archives and records management policies, procedures and processes ensuring their application.
S4: Consider and implement selection, acquisition, retention, appraisal, classification, audit and disposal principles to records.
S5: Organise and manage the digitisation of archival material, including identifying suitable records, scanning, creating metadata, and making images available online.
S6: Manage the care of born-digital and digitised records, including their management, appraisal, classification, storage, access and, where appropriate, long term preservation.
S7: Arrange, describe and classify analogue, digitised and born-digital records in a variety of formats in accordance with professional standards
S8: Confirm that accurate paper and digital location records are kept considering the use of different processes such as barcoding.
S9: Manage compliance with legislation and regulations as appropriate to the service and situation, for example health and safety, Data Protection legislation, copyright and intellectual property.
S10: Organise and manage audits to make sure that the materials are identified and are stored as safely and securely as possible. This includes making sure that flood, fire, preservation and conservation plans are identified and adhered to by the organization.
S11: Work in partnership with other specialists for example conservators, sound technicians, or software engineers/developers and other IT experts to arrange for work to be carried out.
S12: Develop/maintain risk assessment(s) and undertake regular reviews to identify and prioritise risks including mitigation actions
S13: Use IT software and systems to accurately store, interrogate, interpret and analyse information as required by the archives/records service or by internal/external stakeholders.
S14: Use appropriate technology and specialist equipment relevant to the collections or services for example workstations or software suites to support digital preservation.
S15: Develop/manage outreach strategies to engage, develop and maintain internal and external audiences and communities such as open days, social media use or accessible exhibitions to ensure accessibility for as wide an audience as possible.
S16: Use influencing skills with key decision makers in the sector to enhance the archives and records management service.
S17: Commission, undertake and disseminate research to support the archives and records management service and/or facilitate research requests from stakeholders ensuring timely and accurate responses.
S18: Share best practice and/or deliver training to internal staff/external organisations regarding archival or records management activities
S19: Identify potential funding streams, present ideas, analysis and content and make recommendations, usually in the form of reports, to support the submission of various types of funding applications and future funding strategies.
S20: Apply project and budget management principles to plan, priorities and balance workload to meet agreed timescales, cost and quality objectives, observing and acting within relevant delegated expenditure authorities and resource streams
S21: Create content and present information about the collections and/or services for relevant internal or external audiences. Keep up-to-date with sector and wider trends for digital engagement, making recommendations for implementation of changes identified.
S22: Apply specialism(s) relevant to the organisation or collections, for example: coding or other advanced digital skills, advanced information governance, languages, paleography, working with a specific audience (e.g., children/young people).
S23: Identify and communicate with various internal/external stakeholders with shared strategies, goals and objectives to identify and overcome barriers to service improvement and collection development.
S24: Undertake business planning processes including continuity planning and apply legislation and regulations as appropriate to the service and situation, for example health and safety, Data Protection legislation.
S25: Apply the people/volunteer management policies for example assessing work plans and training needs and managing performance
Behaviours
B1: Authenticity: for example, adhere to relevant codes of practice and professional ethics; apply an ethical approach to professional issues and work activities, including cataloguing, engagement and user access.
B2: Attention to detail: for example, be thorough and accurate; plan and manage complex tasks carefully.
B3: Decision-making: for example, exercise a significant degree of autonomy and judgement in delivering the service/function, referring matters to more senior members of staff where their input is needed.
B4: Problem solving: for example, conceptualise and address problematic situations and mitigate risks with sound solutions while foreseeing possible consequences.
B5: Relationship building, for example establish effective working relationships with internal and external stakeholders and get along well with others.
B6: Commitment to continuing professional development (CPD), for example proactively keep industry and best practice knowledge and skills up to date.
B7: Innovation and change management: for example, identify and initiate change, pro-actively welcome others’ ideas and experiment with technology.
B8: Innovation and change management, for example identify change, pro-actively welcome others’ ideas and experiment with technology.
Duty 1
DUTY: Manage the integrity of current, semi current and permanent records/archives both analogue and digital across the organisation, ensuring relevance to business needs and supporting good information governance and digital continuity. This will include reference to current standards and legislation including those relating to Freedom of Information, Data Protection and intellectual property.
K2
K5
K6
K8
K19
K20
S4
S7
S16
S22
S23
B1
B2
B7
B8
Duty 2
DUTY: Make professionally informed recommendations to manage selection, retention, appraisal, classification and disposal of records and archives based on an understanding of their operational and enduring value, including their historical significance
K1
K3
K4
K7
K19
S2
S4
S7
S13
S16
S17
S22
B1
B2
B4
Duty 3
DUTY: Develop archive collections in-line with organisational/stakeholder requirements by taking in more materials or additional deposits to existing collections which may include acquiring new collections and transferring in-house records.
K3
K4
K14
K17
K19
S1
S4
S16
S17
S20
S22
S23
B3
B5
B7
Duty 4
DUTY: Manage the process to ensure that the archives and records can be located, managed and accessed by using techniques such as inventorying, retention scheduling and cataloguing to professional standards, metadata enhancement and developing file plans.
K3
K4
K7
K12
K19
S4
S5
S8
S9
S10
S13
S14
S22
B1
B4
Duty 5
DUTY: Plan and manage, where appropriate, the digitisation of analogue records to professional standards for the continued access and/or preservation of that material, and licensing for its publication or re-use.
K7
K10
K15
K20
S5
S6
S7
S11
S14
S22
B2
B3
B4
Duty 6
DUTY: Identify and assess the ongoing preservation needs of analogue, digitised and born digital records and archive material ensuring it is maintained. When appropriate, manage arrangements for conservation work to be carried out by specialists who could include conservators, digital records experts, and sound technicians
K3
K4
K7
K10
K11
K14
K15
K18
K19
S1
S6
S9
S10
S11
S12
S17
S22
S23
B2
B3
B4
B5
Duty 7
DUTY: Identify and manage the physical and virtual storage conditions for analogue and digital records and archives in accordance with the relevant professional standards including controlled environments, security controls and risk management. This will include using professional judgement to manage contingency planning as well as investigations.
K5
K8
K10
K11
K15
K19
S1
S2
S6
S10
S12
S22
B2
B3
B4
Duty 8
DUTY: Advise stakeholders on the compliance aspects of record keeping, including relevant legislation, standards and industry regulations, including Data Protection legislation and intellectual property rights, influencing their decisions and approach.
K2
K3
K4
K5
K6
K7
K8
K11
K19
S1
S2
S9
S12
S18
S22
S24
B1
B2
B5
B6
B7
B8
Duty 9
DUTY: Develop, manage and implement archival and records management policies and procedures for example access to collections, to ensure best practice, identifying changes as required.
K3
K4
K5
K6
K7
K18
K19
S3
S9
S18
S22
B6
B8
Duty 10
DUTY: Develop, monitor and update the business continuity plan for archives and records management which may include the disaster recovery plan.
K11
K12
K19
K21
S6
S13
S22
S24
B4
Duty 11
DUTY: Research and implement new technologies and innovative practice to enhance the preservation and access to both digital and analogue archives and records.
K2
K3
K4
K18
K19
S6
S10
S11
S17
S18
S20
S21
S22
S23
B6
B8
Duty 12
DUTY: Co-ordinate, through staff/volunteers, the provision of a professional and compliant service to internal/external stakeholders to allow the end-user or public appropriate access to the service.
K9
K12
K22
S9
S16
S18
S20
S21
S23
S24
S25
B1
B5
B7
Duty 13
DUTY: Identify and secure resources to enable their work to continue, which may include budget management, writing bids/internal business cases, funding applications, crowdfunding in accordance with budget and finance policies and procedures.
K14
K16
K19
K20
K21
S16
S17
S18
S19
S20
S22
S24
B5
B6
B7
B8
Duty 14
DUTY: Work in partnership, contribute to outreach, learning and engagement activities to promote stakeholder engagement with records and archives for example publications, websites, blogs, social media, exhibitions, events, workshop, lectures. This may include selecting material, writing captions, hosting, providing access to digital collections.
