Colloquia

Outputs and Findings

The AC+erm project organised a number of free colloquia to facilitate further data collection and ongoing dissemination of results. These events also proved to be valuable focal points for discussion and interaction between records professionals, academics in the recordkeeping disciplines, and experts and users from a wider base of disciplines and groups.

The first aim of the colloquia was to validate and extend the Delphi studies through face-to-face discussions between a larger audience of participants. The two methods (of e-Delphis and colloquia) provide a sound balance in terms of data collection enabling expert opinion, experience and views on each issue to be gathered; practical solutions to be shared and refined, and partnerships to be built. The second aim was to keep delegates informed of our research progress and to share ongoing findings.

The first colloquium, focused on the outputs of the e-Delphi study on the ‘People’ issues of ERM, took place in London on 09 October 2008. Just under 50 delegates attended and contributed to a series of discussion forums, adding to and extending the e-Delphi data.

The second colloquium, based on the e-Delphi study on the ‘Process’ aspects of ERM, was held in Birmingham on 26 March 2009. Over 30 delegates contributed to discussion forums and to a workshop in which they examined and commented on a number of prototype vignettes / tools based on the data gathered to date.

The third colloquium, dealing with the results of the Delphi study on the ‘Systems and Technology’ issues, was held in Edinburgh on 24 September 2009. About 30 delegates explored the issues and solutions through discussion and use of some of the project vignettes / tools.

The fourth and final colloquium was a more substantial event, presented as the latest in the well-received Northumbria Witness Seminar Conference series (http://www.northumbria.ac.uk/sd/academic/ceis/re/isrc/conf/). It was held on-campus at Northumbria University in Newcastle upon Tyne on 04 March 2010. A group of 50 delegates and witnesses discussed and debated the links and synergies, actual and desired, between research and practice in the field of Records and Information Management.

The agendas for all the colloquia, along with summaries of the proceedings of Colloquia 1, 2 and 3, can be found in the document 'Colloquia 1–3'  at the right of this page. Salient aspects of the discussions and suggestions, and of the comments on and trials of the vignette prototypes, have been incorporated in relevant project outputs.

The full proceedings of Colloquium 4 are published separately as the Proceedings of the Third Northumbria Witness Seminar Conference, and comprise the written publication available through the link on the right of this page. In addition, audio files of selected sessions of the colloquium/Witness seminar are available from the Witness Seminar pages.