Category Archives: Design Fiction

OHD_DSF_0240 Heritage Surrogates after climate disaster

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Hello welcome. My name is Hannah and today I want to take you through a couple fo examples of how our surrogates collection has helped us recreate heritage in times of great loss. 

Just for those who do not know our surrogate collection is a collection of metadata that describes a material object or site and its context. The data in the surrogate collection is groups of information like, photographs, measurements, scans of maps, descriptions, and even oral history recordings. Our initial motivation to collect this information was because certain items we were interested in would come up for auction and in some cases we would be unable to acquire it and it would end up in a private collection. The thought was that if we had enough surrogate information and this information was store a safe and secure location we might be able to recreate certain objects if we needed to. The later also started to include items that were being treated by decay or mould or we simply could no longer look after properly because of budget cuts. After storm Humboldt which significantly damage the collection of a property in the south and the lost of cliff house a year later the institute decided to up the surrogate collection policy by getting sites to actively think about which collection items might be at risk and then even more ambitious act of creating surrogates for whole sites in some cases. This also led to an increase in oral histories being recorded as part of the surrogate scheme. 

Moving on to our examples…

My first example is this bench which is a replica of a bench that was burnt during a fire caused by a severe drought we had a couple of years ago. The file on this bench in the surrogate collection had a couple of photographs but most importantly it had an oral history and some literature from the person who made the bench because they used particular techniques that are not very common knowledge. 

The second development is one of our more recent project, which comes from the surrogate file on Seaton Sluice. The village no longer exists because after significant storms throughout the late 2020s it was deemed a unsafe space to live. At the time we collected maps, oral histories and photographs. 

For the anniversary of the final resident leaving the village we commissioned a group of artists to create an audio visual experience to give an impression of Seaton Sluice before we lost it. We sifted through the surrogate data, the maps, photographs and recordings, and did a public call out for anyone who might have any material linked to the village, which led us to record new oral histories. 

From this material two visual artists and sound artist created this beautiful map of Seaton Sluice which visually showed the different eras of the village and then on the map you had links to different audio clips. These audio varied between soundscapes, music and oral histories often mixing them together. In addition because we had so much archival material we also a creative writing student make a collection of short stories about Seaton Sluice, this was an extra thing visitors could buy. This project only week live a week ago so we have not yet had time to gather or evaluate feedback. 

My last example it probably our most successful application of the surrogate collection, our local history storytellers. This does what it says on the tin. Storytellers go round visiting pubs, village halls and schools etc. telling stories of the local history. These stories are specifically about things in our surrogate collections because these are the things people do not have access to via museums or archives. We found that the surrogate collection is not used a lot by the public, so we wanted to do develop something that is a little more accessible and ended up with the storytellers. They have been great success. We are in our second year now and we have ten different storytelling programmes around the country and we are currently looking to add two new locations. People have said about the storytellers that they find it very engaging way to tell history and many have also commented on the pleasantness of the evenings and find them very relaxing. The schools similarly enjoy the storytellers. One of my favourite quotes came from Thomas, at St Mary’s Primary School saying, “I was going to go dressed up as Harry Potter for Book Day but now I am definitely going to go as Johnny the stable boy.” 

So these are just three examples of what we are currently doing with our surrogate collection but we have many more in the pipeline and hope that we are able to do more as people become more aware of the collection and its potentail. 

OHD_DSF_0239 Regional annual NT IT workshop

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After the success of last year Regional NT IT Workshop it was decided that we must do it again. Of course nothing is perfect on the first try so we have made some changes. The schedule is a little less full and we have extended an invite to the volunteers.

Arrival – 8:30

Tea and coffee available 

Lunch orders taken

Welcome – 9:00

The regional It manager will welcome everyone, do some housekeeping, and run through the schedule.

Morning Sessions 

Session one: Surrogate Collections development plan – 9:30

Regional curator will present the current progress on the Surrogate Collection and future plans. And will end this session by opening up the floor to questions and ideas. 

Break – 10:45

Session Two: Show and Tell Exhibitions – 11:00

This session is all about sharing ideas between sites by doing a ‘show and tell’ of the different exhibitions, that have taken place this last year , which utilise digital technology to engage visitors. 

Lunch – 12:30

Afternoon Sessions

Session Three: Digital Hygiene training – 13:30

This session will cover SharePoint updates, newly approved hard drives and the new and improve digital hygiene training for staff and volunteers. 

Break – 14:45

Session Four: Future of NT IT Workshop – 15:00

The workshop leads will run a series of activities which allow all to express their hopes and desires for the future of NT IT. 

Round off and networking – 16:00

OHD_DSF_0238 Oral history project retention table

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Title of item Item typeBrief DescriptionRetention Condition
SDH_PP_001_AUDIOWAVOral history recording of Seaton Delaval Hall volunteer. Part of the Research Group. Some memory of the hall before the National Trust.File to be kept for 25 years and then destroyed. UNLESS accessed and listened to more than five times OR use in a publication, exhibition or similar within the 25 year retention period. If so retention is extended by another 15 years and then reviewed. 
SDH_PP_002_AUDIOWAVOral history recording of Seaton Delaval Hall staff member. Discusses the COVID-19 pandemic and the Curtain Rises restoration project.File to be kept for 30 years and then destroyed. UNLESS accessed and listened to more than five times OR use in a publication, exhibition or similar within the 30 year retention period. If so retention is extended by another 15 years and then reviewed. 
SDH_PP_003_AUDIOWAVOral history recording of previous resident of Seaton Delaval Hall. Lived at the hall from 1947 to 2018.File to be kept for 40 years and then destroyed. UNLESS accessed and listened to more than five times OR use in a publication, exhibition or similar within the 40 year retention period. If so retention is extended by another 20 years and then reviewed. 
SDH_PP_004_AUDIOWAVAuto-oral history recording of PhD student memories of Seaton Delaval Hall. The student is the interviewer in the other SDH_PP recordings.File to be kept for 20 years and then transcribed and the audio is destroyed. UNLESS accessed and listened to more than five times OR use in a publication, exhibition or similar within the 20 year retention period. If so retention is extended by another 10 years and then reviewed. 
SDH_PP_005_AUDIOWAVOral history recording of Seaton Delaval Hall volunteer. Possibly the first National Trust volunteer. Discusses the fundraising for acquisition and the hall before the National Trust. File to be kept for 20 years and then destroyed. UNLESS accessed and listened to more than five times OR use in a publication, exhibition or similar within the 20 year retention period. If so retention is extended by another 10 years and then reviewed. 
SDH_PP_006_AUDIOWAVOral history recording of Seaton Delaval Hall volunteer.  Discusses the fundraising for acquisition and the hall before the National Trust. Also mentions activist work in local surrounding villages.  File to be kept for 25 years and then destroyed. UNLESS accessed and listened to more than five times OR use in a publication, exhibition or similar within the 25 year retention period. If so retention is extended by another 15 years and then reviewed. 
SDH_PP_007_AUDIOWAVOral history recording of a person who lived in Seaton Delaval during the war and remembers walking past the Seaton Delaval Hall to Seaton Sluice.File to be kept for 20 years and then transcribed and the audio is destroyed. UNLESS accessed and listened to more than five times OR use in a publication, exhibition or similar within the 20 year retention period. If so retention is extended by another 10 years and then reviewed. 
SDH_PP_008_AUDIOWAVOral history recording of a person who did a variety of jobs at Seaton Delaval Hall both before and after the National Trust this included working in the market garden and architectural jobs.  File to be kept for 30 years and then transcribed and the audio is destroyed. UNLESS accessed and listened to more than five times OR use in a publication, exhibition or similar within the 30 year retention period. If so retention is extended by another 15 years and then reviewed. 
SDH_PP_009_AUDIOWAVOral history recording of the eight vicar of the Seaton Delaval parish telling tales of the Church of Our Lady on the Seaton Delaval Hall property.  File to be kept for 40 years and then transcribed and the audio is destroyed. UNLESS accessed and listened to more than five times OR use in a publication, exhibition or similar within the 40 year retention period. If so retention is extended by another 20 years and then reviewed. 
SDH_PP_010_AUDIOWAVOral history recording of Seaton Delaval Hall volunteer. Discusses a lot of the fundraising for acquisition and research into the hall.File to be kept for 20 years and then transcribed and the audio is destroyed. UNLESS accessed and listened to more than five times OR use in a publication, exhibition or similar within the 20 year retention period. If so retention is extended by another 10 years and then reviewed. 
SDH_PP_001_TRANSCRIPTPDFTranscript of oral history recording of Seaton Delaval Hall volunteer. Part of the Research Group. Some memory of the hall before the National Trust.File to be kept for 40 years and then printed off. UNLESS accessed and listened to more than ten times within the 40 year retention period. If so retention is extended by another 20 years and then reviewed. 
SDH_PP_002_TRANSCRIPTPDFTranscript of oral history recording of Seaton Delaval Hall staff member. Discusses the COVID-19 pandemic and the Curtain Rises restoration project.File to be kept for 40 years and then printed off. UNLESS accessed and listened to more than ten times within the 40 year retention period. If so retention is extended by another 20 years and then reviewed. 
SDH_PP_003_TRANSCRIPTPDFTranscript of oral history recording of previous resident of Seaton Delaval Hall. Lived at the hall from 1947 to 2018.File to be kept for 40 years and then printed off. UNLESS accessed and listened to more than ten times within the 40 year retention period. If so retention is extended by another 20 years and then reviewed. 
SDH_PP_004_SUMMARYPDFSummary of auto-oral history recording of PhD student memories of Seaton Delaval Hall. The student is the interviewer in the other SDH_PP recordings.File to be kept for 30 years and then printed off. UNLESS accessed and listened to more than ten times within the 30 year retention period. If so retention is extended by another 20 years and then reviewed. 
SDH_PP_005_TRANSCRIPTPDFTranscript of oral history recording of Seaton Delaval Hall volunteer. Possibly the first National Trust volunteer. Discusses the fundraising for acquisition and the hall before the National Trust. File to be kept for 40 years and then printed off. UNLESS accessed and listened to more than ten times within the 40 year retention period. If so retention is extended by another 20 years and then reviewed. 
SDH_PP_006_TRANSCRIPTPDFTranscript of oral history recording of Seaton Delaval Hall volunteer.  Discusses the fundraising for acquisition and the hall before the National Trust. Also mentions activist work in local surrounding villages.  File to be kept for 40 years and then printed off. UNLESS accessed and listened to more than ten times within the 40 year retention period. If so retention is extended by another 20 years and then reviewed. 
SDH_PP_007_SUMMARYPDFSummary of oral history recording of a person who lived in Seaton Delaval during the war and remembers walking past the Seaton Delaval Hall to Seaton Sluice.File to be kept for 30 years and then printed off. UNLESS accessed and listened to more than ten times within the 30 year retention period. If so retention is extended by another 20 years and then reviewed. 
SDH_PP_008_SUMMARYPDFSummary of oral history recording of a person who did a variety of jobs at Seaton Delaval Hall both before and after the National Trust this included working in the market garden and architectural jobs.  File to be kept for 30 years and then printed off. UNLESS accessed and listened to more than ten times within the 30 year retention period. If so retention is extended by another 20 years and then reviewed. 
SDH_PP_009_SUMMARYPDFSummary of oral history recording of the eight vicar of the Seaton Delaval parish telling tales of the Church of Our Lady on the Seaton Delaval Hall property.  File to be kept for 30 years and then printed off. UNLESS accessed and listened to more than ten times within the 30 year retention period. If so retention is extended by another 20 years and then reviewed. 
SDH_PP_010_SUMMARYPDFSummary of oral history recording of Seaton Delaval Hall volunteer. Discusses a lot of the fundraising for acquisition and research into the hall.File to be kept for 30 years and then printed off. UNLESS accessed and listened to more than ten times within the 30 year retention period. If so retention is extended by another 20 years and then reviewed. 
SDH_PP_METADATAPDFSpreadsheet of the SDH_PP oral history recordings’ metadata, includes interview length, location, equipment, and tags. File to be kept for 30 years and then printed off. UNLESS accessed and listened to more than ten times within the 30 year retention period. If so retention is extended by another 20 years and then reviewed. 
SDH_PP_PROJECT_SUMMARYPDFDocument by the SDH_PP interview on the project. Includes a brief summary on process and their reflection on the project. File to be kept for 40 years and then printed off. UNLESS accessed and listened to more than ten times within the 40 year retention period. If so retention is extended by another 20 years and then reviewed. 

OHD_DSF_0183 Intangible and Digital Heritage Consultant

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Intangible and Digital Heritage Consultant

The National Trust looks after one of the world’s largest and most significant collections of art and heritage objects set within their historic context. As ideas around heritage change enveloping not only the tangible but intangible heritage. We realise our duty of care extends beyond objects to the non-physical heritage such as folklore, traditions, and language that make our sights so unique. In addition we recognise the increasing amount of born digital material that will one day become the heritage of the future. We are therefore looking for a person to help us collect, manage, and curate the intangible and digital heritage of our sites in the region.

We expect this person to be experienced in collecting, managing and curating intangible heritage such as oral histories and be confident in their digital skills.

What it’s like to work here

The National Trust Consultancy is home to specialists in every field of our work. It’s a place where resources are shared across disciplines and boundaries, and it’s a great repository of skills, talent and experience. The diversity and quality of expertise within the Consultancy enable our properties and places to benefit from creative and innovative thinking, as well as deep expertise in all matters relating to our twin purpose of caring for the nation’s heritage and landscapes and making these accessible to all. The Intangible and Digital Heritage Consultant role sits within the Consultancy.

What you’ll be doing

You will be advising sites on their collecting and managing of intangible and digital heritage, supporting them during their intangible heritage projects and organising the collection of object metadata for surrogate collections. You will work between regional IT and the sites to ensure the needs of sites are considered, while simultaneously ensuring IT is able to keep a secure and stable digital infrastructure. You will also manage relationships with third party archives, to help guarantee access to material for staff and volunteers.

You will also provide tactical and strategic advice to the sites on how move modern opperation files to the archive, while also ensuring sites adhere to the National Trust policies around climate friendly storage. 

Who we’re looking for

  • excellent communications skills: verbal, written and presenting
  • developing and delivering an internal communication (or similar) strategy and plan
  • proven experience of communicating appropriately with a wide range of colleagues in different roles
  • being a brilliant networker and influencer
  • great project management skills, ideally including some experience of event management
  • extensive experience of successfully managing diverse and varied workloads with tight timeframes and budgets
  • being an excellent multi-tasker and self-starter
  • excellent IT skills, including a good working knowledge of Microsoft, Sharepoint

Update meeting on Intangible and Digital heritage at Seaton Delaval Hall

26/09/2028     

13:00

Seaton Delaval Hall

Participants

General Manager

Regional Curator

Project Lead

Intangible and Digital Heritage Consultant

Agenda

Introduction

Status Update

Discussion Topic 1: Dialect dictionary

Discussion Topic 2: Auction Items

Decision 1: Film Archive

Agenda for next meeting

Summary

Everything is ready to go with Storyland. Three institutional oral history recordings taken. Student project for a dialect dictionary is on track. Possibly will lose out on Garden Painting at Auction but metadata collected. Need to revisit somethings in Film Archive arrangement.

  1. Institutional Oral History
    1. Interview done with retiring cafe staff member
    1. Interview done with Gardening volunteer and Research group volunteer
      1. Possible follow up needed for gardening volunteer
      1. Not got copyright yet from research group volunteer
    1. Need to organise Oral history sessions with recent student project
  • Storyland
    • Everything is ready for 1st October
    • Food trucks have been booked
    • Storyteller was asking for some extra tickets
  • Dialect dictionary
    • Student has managed to get funding for archive visits
    • Need to grant access to on site oral history recordings
    • Need to find illustrator
      • Rainham used a good illustrator
  • Auction items
    • Mahogany chairs
      • Photographer has been arranged
      • Curator says likely to win chairs
    • Garden Painting
      • Unlikely to win
      • Meta-data already been collected
  • Film Archive
    • IT very enthusiastic
    • Do we want to donate all material?
      • Unsure about footage taken by volunteer
    • Another meeting with General manager and Intangible and Digital Heritage Consultant
  • Agenda for next meeting
    • Update on Film archive
    • Oral history interviews with students secured
    • Progress on Dialect Dictionary
    • Summer project 2029
    • Adaptive release plan

Decisions

DecisionNotes
Dialect Dictionary IllustratorUsing the illustrator Rainham
Donating (some) items to Film ArchiveDefinitely happy to donate some material but unsure about some footage take by volunteer.

Actions

ActionPersonDeadline
Contact students for Oral History interviewProject LeadWithin the next three months
Check with interviewer of gardening volunteer if they think another interview is requiredGeneral ManagerAs soon as possible
Send extra tickets to storytellerProject LeadBy the end of the week
Talk to volunteer about archiving film footageGeneral ManagerBefore meeting with film archive
Arrange another meeting with film archiveIntangible and Digital Heritage Consultant  Within a month

OHD_DSF_0181 Adaptive Release Report

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Adaptive Release Report

1.0 Site

This section addresses the entire physical National Trust site, including buildings, gardens, offices, cafes, and any other facilities on site. 

1.1 Unplanned damage

This section will include any damage that was done to the property in the last year that was not mentioned in the previous year’s Adaptive Release Report including the Watching Brief.

This is likely to include weather damage, accidents, and unforeseen wear and tear done to the property’s site.

1.2 Adaptive release actions

This section will include:

  1. Adaptive release actions on the property’s site that were noted in the previous year’s Adaptive Release Report
  2. Adaptive release actions on the property’s site that were planned and completed after the previous year’s Adaptive Release Report was submitted
  3. Any adaptive release actions on the property’s site mentioned in the previous year’s Adaptive Release Report but were not completed and the reason they were not completed

1.2.1 Opportunities of adaptive release action

This section includes the opportunities found in each of the adaptive release actions that were done on the property’s site.

1.2.2 Environmental impact of adaptive release action

This section includes how the adaptive release actions on the property’s site follow National Trust policy around climate friendly storage and the overall environmental impact of the adaptive release actions. You also need to include how the adaptive release actions influence the site in achieving carbon neutrality.

1.3 Future adaptive release plan

This section needs to include all plan adaptive release actions for the coming, the reason for the actions and predicted opportunities and improvement to environmental impact of the site.

1.3.1 Watching brief

This section includes any part of the property’s site that is not part of an adaptive release action but whose state needs to be observed as a possible area for an adaptive release action.

2.0 Digital collection

This section addresses all the digital files that are held within the National Trust IT network, which includes hardware storage and cloud space. Digital files include word documents, spreadsheets, film and audio files that have been acquired by the site. The surrogate collection is also included in this section.

2.1 Unplanned damage

This section will include any damage that was done to the digital collection in the last year that was not mentioned in the previous year’s Adaptive Release Report including the Watching Brief.

This is likely to include file migration, file corruption, dead links, and software updates that have made the files unreadable.

2.2 Adaptive release actions

This section will include:

  1. Adaptive release actions in the property’s digital collection that were noted in the previous year’s Adaptive Release Report
  2. Adaptive release actions in the property’s digital collection that were planned and completed after the previous year’s Adaptive Release Report was submitted
  3. Any adaptive release actions in the property’s digital collection mentioned in the previous year’s Adaptive Release Report but were not completed and the reason they were not completed

2.2.1 Opportunities of adaptive release action

This section includes the opportunities found in each of the adaptive release actions that were done in the property’s digital collection.

2.2.2 Environmental impact of adaptive release action

This section includes how the adaptive release actions in the property’s digital collection follow National Trust policy around climate friendly storage and the overall environmental impact of the adaptive release actions. You also need to include how the adaptive release actions influence the site in achieving carbon neutrality.

2.3 Future adaptive release plan

This section needs to include all plan adaptive release actions for the coming, the reason for the actions and predicted opportunities and improvement to environmental impact of the site.

2.3.1 Watching brief

This section includes any part of the property’s digital collection that is not part of an adaptive release action but whose state needs to be observed as a possible area for an adaptive release action.

3.0 Material collection

This section addresses the materiel collection that is held on site. This includes all collection object such as painting and furniture, and archived paper documents kept on site.

3.1 Unplanned damage

This section will include any damage that was done to the material collection in the last year that was not mentioned in the previous year’s Adaptive Release Report including the Watching Brief.

This is likely to include mould damage, water damage, wood worm, accidents etc.

3.2 Adaptive release actions

This section will include:

  1. Adaptive release actions in the property’s material collection that were noted in the previous year’s Adaptive Release Report
  2. Adaptive release actions in the property’s material collection that were planned and completed after the previous year’s Adaptive Release Report was submitted
  3. Any adaptive release actions in the property’s material collection mentioned in the previous year’s Adaptive Release Report but were not completed and the reason they were not completed

3.2.1 Opportunities of adaptive release action

This section includes the opportunities found in each of the adaptive release actions that were done in the property’s material collection.

3.2.2 Environmental impact of adaptive release action

This section includes how the adaptive release actions in the property’s material collection follow National Trust policy around climate friendly storage and the overall environmental impact of the adaptive release actions. You also need to include how the adaptive release actions influence the site in achieving carbon neutrality.

3.3 Future adaptive release plan

This section needs to include all plan adaptive release actions for the coming, the reason for the actions and predicted opportunities and improvement to environmental impact of the site.

3.3.1 Watching brief

This section includes any part of the property’s material collection that is not part of an adaptive release action but whose state needs to be observed as a possible area for an adaptive release action.

4.0 Third party collection holders

This section addresses all the partnerships with institutions that hold material donated by the site.

4.1 Current relationships

This section will include a list of all long-standing partnerships established before the submission of the previous year’s Adaptive Release Report, what material they hold and any issues or opportunities within the partnership.

4.2 New relationships

This section includes all partnerships that have been established since the submission of the previous year’s Adaptive Release Report, what material was donated and any issues or opportunities within the partnership.

4.3 Future relationships

This section includes any possible future partnerships that the property is interested in, what material they are looking to donate, and any issues or opportunities within the partnership.