Elizabeth Oxborrow-Cowan   B.Sc., M.Sc., RMSA - Consultant Archivist

Elizabeth is a highly experienced archivist with extensive knowledge of both the technical and strategic issues involved in running and developing archive services.  She is also very active within the archive profession at the national level.  She brings a dynamic and individual approach to her work employing both technical archival knowledge and management consultancy skills.  Previous clients include the worlds of heritage consultancy, archive services, policy making and archival training. She works with individual institutions, local and regional bodies and on the national scale.

Archive Consultancy Services

• Access reviews
• Archive building assessment and design against BS5454 Recommendations for the Storage and Exhibition of Archival Documents and individual archive service needs. 
• Collection reviews  of content, condition and significance
• Consultation  with stakeholders institutionally, regionally and nationally
• Feasibility and evaluation studies and options appraisals
• Heritage Lottery Fund documentation and evaluation 
• Integrating archive services into museum and library services
• Training in the principles of caring for and accessing archives

Previous consultancy work

Elizabeth is an experienced archive consultant.  She has worked with archive repositories, museums and libraries, and policy bodies at both the technical and strategic levels.

Architectural work

Hull History Centre – judging the first round of architectural submissions for the new building. 

Tyne and Wear Archives Service –an options appraisal for accommodation analyzing potential within existing accommodation (a Grade 2 Listed building shared with the large Discovery Museum) and new build.

Heritage Lottery Fund documentation and evaluation

Access and Audience Development Plans

Aberdeen University Special Libraries and Archive Collections – creating an Access and Audience Development Plan to open up collections to a wider audience both within and outside the University.

Kent Archives Service– creating an AADP for a major capital bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund for this very large local authority service spread across three sites.

Conservation Management Plans

The Keep (East Sussex Record Office, Brighton and Hove Museum, University of Sussex inter alia) –delivery of a conservation management statement for a 5-partner bid to the HLF (Heritage Lottery Fund) for a Round 1 capital bid.

Hull University Archive, Hull City Archives and Hull Local Studies Library– a major project analyzing the content, care and access to these three collections to create a detailed action plan and data for a major bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund for a Hull History Centre.  The HLF consequently awarded Hull £7.7million, the largest ever HLF award to an archive project or to a project in Hull.

Kent Archives Service –delivering a CMP for a very large local authority archives service housed across three sites ahead of a possible move into a new building to be shared with the library service.  Elizabeth also advised on the Access and Audience Development Plan and Training Plan.

Rambert Dance Company –a CMP was required for this world famous contemporary dance company to inform both collection care in a possible new location and also provide solutions for the long-term care of the collections in existing accommodation.

Strategic Planning

The Boat Museum, Ellesmere Port– surveying collections for content and significance, and developing a costed 5-year action plan and volunteer programme to support the Museum’s wider strategic goals.

Northampton NHS Trust –on-going advice on developing the small archive held at the General Hospital, which is run by volunteers

Salford City Council– developing a series of costed options for the development of their archives, with the aim of vastly improving access and collection development based on analysis and potential of the service and detailed consultation. 

National Waterways Museum, Ellesmere Port– enabling the Museum to understand and manage archive collection content by detailed assessment of holdings and development of five year strategic plan as well as creating a statement of significance and delivering an outline volunteer programme.

The Science Museum- reviewing all aspects of the Museum’s archive service and creating a development plan to deliver collection care to professional standards, manage the collection content to ensure the long-term development and relevance of material and significantly improve access.

Tyne and Wear Archives Service –Options appraisal for a very large local authority service housed within a Class 2 listed building, shared with a large museum.  The options appraisal assessed the potential and outline costs to improve physical and intellectual care and improve access. 

West Yorkshire Archive Service– a large project involving the analysis of the content, care and access of collections and a detailed action plan to develop the service, which is spread over five sites, including advice on staffing requirements. 

Emergency Response Plans

The Harris Museum, Preston– guiding the development of a disaster management plan through analysis of the current situation, developing a framework plan and advising on good practice.

Stewardship

SEMLAC– implementing the SEMLAC Stewardship Strategy by creating a detailed action plan through gathering and analyzing stewardship data, identifying gaps in knowledge and consulting with key partners.

Learning and Education

The Parliamentary Archives– developing a feasibility study for a national outreach programme working with regional partners and the Parliamentary outreach team, and investigating potential for working through the Internet and social software.

Heritage Builds Bridges– evaluating an HLF funded project to catalogue collections of Hillingdon Borough, Brunel University and the British and Foreign School and develop online access with educational content.

MLA North West– advising on the issues facing archives in the creation of a Learning Strategy for the North West of England was used to implement ‘Inspiring Learning for All’.

MLA North West– providing induction training on the popular Learning Links Project.

MLA South West– analysing the current capacity within local authority archive services across the South West for delivering education and proposing means of creating a sustainable network to support educational work within the archive sector as well as investigating ideas for programmes of activity within the requirements of the Strategic Commissioning framework.

Evaluation

MLA North West– assessing the Logjam Project, which quantified and analyzed the cataloguing backlog in the North West of England. The methodology went on to be used by other regions. 

MLA North West- Evaluating the impact of the Archives Awareness Campaign 2004 in the North West through wide consultation.

Training

LiverpoolUniversityCentre for Archive Studies (LUCAS) – creation of a long-distance learning package for the Certificate/Diploma in Archives and Records Management.

Museums Documentation Association –creation of on-line resources giving guidance on caring for archives on the ‘Collections Link’ website.

YorkshireMLA & MLA North West– developing a training day on archive collecting policies and devising subsequent support material.

YorkshireMLA & MLA North West– Developing advice sheets for supporting community-based archives.

Previous Professional Posts

• Deputy County Archivist, Greater Manchester County Record Office
• Archivist, Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester

Professional Activity

• Expert Adviser to the Heritage Lottery Fund
• Publicity and Communications Director for the National Council on Archives
• Mentor and Assessor for the Society of Archivists' Assessment Scheme for Registered membership
• Member of the UK Working Group for the United Nation’s Memory of the World Programme

Qualifications

• Registered Member of the Society of Archivists
• Diploma in Management Consultancy jointly awarded by the Institute of Business Consulting and the Certified Management Institute
• An endorsed programme by the Institute of Leadership and Management on Leadership and Management, equivalent to an NVQ Level 4.
• M.Sc. (Econ) Archive Administration, University of Wales
• B.Sc. (Hons) Modern History, Economic History and Politics, University of London
• Assessor and Internal Verifier for the National Vocational Qualification (NVQ) in Archive Studies

Publications and Papers Given

• A National Archives Awareness Campaign for the UK, Comma The Journal of the International Council on Archives Autumn, 2003
• Photographic Care at the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester, Journal of the Society of Archivists April 2002
• ‘The Archive Service of the Future’ – the Society of Archivists’ Conference, 2007.
• ‘The Dark Side of the Moon – Communicating the archives’ message to public policy makers’ – Society of Archivists Regional Sub-committee November, 2007