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Catalogue description Public Record Office (PRO) Conservation Database: 1995-2003 dataset
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| Reference: | PRO 80/8 |
|---|---|
| Title: | Public Record Office (PRO) Conservation Database: 1995-2003 dataset |
| Description: | This dataset is a database record of conservation work carried out for the years 1995-2003. The database design allowed for greater flexibility in data entry than the 'flat' MS Excel spreadsheets previously used, and enabled such things as automated calculations for dates and time spent on work, and offered various reporting functions. Other than this, the content of the dataset is broadly the same as the previous datasets in this series. The Conservation department treated every document as a 'piece', that is a discrete physical object requiring work. This was broadly true even when several pieces belonged to a single record with the same reference. The database worked on this same basis, and assigned a unique reference - the 'Conservation_Ref' field - to each piece. This key field occurs in all the tables which describe any repair and conservation work done. The workflow was further managed by breaking down the work into one of 15 'Aspects', to classify the application used. The principal data table is 'PIECE', which contains most of the contextual detail on each conserved piece, where it came from, when it was received, etc. The table 'Applications U' identifies the application(s) used in conservation, and contains a free text description of work done. Further descriptive text on work done can be found in the table 'Condition'. The table 'Historical description' contains a descriptive text of the historical context or significance of the piece. The table 'Processes U' details the technical processes used in conservation and repair, and the amount of time spent on the job. Occasionally documents were repaired especially to be loaned to exhibitions, either in The Public Record Office / TNA or elsewhere. The tables 'Exhibitions' and 'Exhibition Documents' were used in this capacity. There are also tables used for the internal storage and retrieval of related registered files, and of electronic documents; the pathnames listed in the tables 'Images' and 'Exhibition Documents' refer to the fileplan of the internal electronic document management system. The 'Image' table also presumably relates to an internal resource or collection, although there are no images stored within this database or transferred with the dataset. The data referred to above are unique to this dataset, and will not be found in the previous datasets in this series. The table NADFAS describes work on a single series of Admiralty records, reference ADM 36 (Admiralty: Ships' Musters Series I 1688-1808), and the table may have recorded a conservation project using workers from the National Association of Decorative and Fine Arts Societies. The remaining tables in the dataset are mostly lookup tables. The dateset consists of 31 tables. |
| Date: | 1995-2003 |
| Held by: | The National Archives, Kew |
| Former reference in The National Archives: | CRDA/71/DS/8; PRO 12/32 |
| Legal status: | Public Record(s) |
| Closure status: | Open Document, Open Description |
| Access conditions: | Open on Transfer |
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