Our resources section is a work in progress. If you find anything that you think should be included such as an organisation, guidance, further reading etc please contact us. The page has been divided into: crime and punishment websites and online resources, CaP reading list, a general collections care and management section, organisations that offer funding for archives and collections and finally, in recognition of the importance of volunteers to small museums, a volunteer support section.
Crime and punishment websites and online resources
Our Criminal Ancestors is a public engagement project, led by the University of Hull in collaboration with Leeds Beckett University, that encourages and supports people and communities to explore the criminal past of their own families, communities, towns and regions. The site also has some great resources on tracing prison, convict or police ancestors, and where to find records.
The proceedings of the Old Bailey, 1674-1913 is a fully searchable edition of the largest body of texts detailing the lives of non-elite people ever published, containing 197,745 criminal trials held at London’s central criminal court.
Prison History is a resource to expand our knowledge of the practice and experience of imprisonment in the British Isles between 1500 and 1999.
The Police History Society is a membership society with the aim of educating the public in police history.
Tracing London convicts in Britain and Australia, 1780-1925. The website allows you to search millions of records from around fifty datasets, relating to the lives of 90,000 convicts from the Old Bailey.
Courts and Tribunals Judiciary website provides a concise history of the UK Judiciary.
The Open University: History from Police Archives. Although the website is aimed at students of social history it’s a useful resource with short chapters illustrated with documents from archives. All material can be printed for reference or for handouts.
The National Archives, London, have some excellent resources for crime and punishment research. Although this gallery has been archived it can still be used. Also look at their research guides.
National Libraries of Wales: Crime and Punishment database. The database comprises data about crimes, criminals and punishments included in the gaol files of the Court of Great Sessions in Wales from 1730 until its abolition in 1830. The Court could try all types of crimes, from petty thefts to high treason. In practice, most of the petty crimes were heard at the Courts of Quarter Sessions, whose records are held by the Welsh county record offices.
More than Horrible Histories is a manifesto for ethical interpretation of crime and punishment collections. It was developed during a collaborative workshop involving the National Justice Museum, curators, professional collections interpreters and academics.
The Persistence of the Victorian Prison: Alteration, Inhabitation, Obsolescence and Affirmative Design: In England and Wales today, more than a quarter of prisoners live in Victorian-era prison accommodation. The continued operation of these historic prisons has been the subject of intense criticism, with such buildings frequently described as obsolete and unfit for purpose. This research project aims to understand the implications of the longevity and persistence of the Victorian prison.
Exploring the history of prison education: This free Open University course covers the history of prison education in the British Isles. It examines the motivations behind the provision of education, the types of learning that were offered and the experiences of prisoners, over the first 100 years of education in prisons.
Newcastle Gaol: The website has been developed by Newcastle University and is dedicated to the history of the gaol and prison life and offers a number of resources.
North East Wales Archives have produced three podcasts featuring stories from their collection of police ‘mugshot’ books: A Rogue’s gallery: Victorian criminals in North East Wales; The story of George Walters: “A wandering life;” and The story of David Francis: “Violent, ferocious and most dangerous.”
CaP reading list
CaP has compiled a comprehensive reading list around the subject of crime and punishment. If you find any omissions please let us know!
Collections care and management resources
The Heritage Digital project is supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund Digital Skills for Heritage funding stream and aims to increase the amount of free digital skills training and support available to heritage organisations.
Copyright and guidance on orphan works: The National Archives (TNA) and the Intellectual Property Office have produced this guidance to help archive services that are considering digitising their resources or using copyright materials from their collections in other ways. The guidance suggests possible approaches to registering a collection as an Orphan Work and, in particular, helps you conduct a diligent search for rights holders. TNA also have good resources offering support for archives and collections with archives.
The Group for Education in Museums supports museums in connecting and developing their knowledge and skills to deliver learning. They have supplier lists, training events and resources pages.
Naomi Korn Associates are management consultants specialising in copyright, data protection and licensing and work extensively with museum collections. They offer copyright and data protection training and under resources provide templates and other model forms which can be downloaded.
The Collections Trust helps museums capture and share the information that gives their objects meaning. Their standards and advice are widely used to make museum collections accessible. The website provides access to Spectrum – the UK’s collection management standard and they provide extensive resources around accreditation, digitisation and cultural property.
The Association of Independent Museums addresses the specific needs of the growing independent museum sector, creating a network for mutual help and support that shares good practice and provides a singular voice for independent museums, galleries and heritage organisations across the UK. You can sign up for a newsletter and they have excellent resources pages.
The Digital Preservation Coalition have published this guidance document which outlines best digital preservation practices for smaller organisations. The document includes a ten-step introduction on how small businesses can begin implementing digital preservation best practices. The guide is free to download from Archives Wales.
Funding
This section is currently being developed. It will provide details of sources of funding for archives and collections.
Volunteer and collections support
The British Association of the Friends of Museums helps, encourages, informs and advises friends, supporters and volunteers of museums, galleries, and other cultural organisations in all sections of our UK heritage.
The National Council for Voluntary Organisations represents over 16,000 voluntary organisations, charities, community groups and social enterprises across England. They offer practical resources designed to support the day-to-day running of organisations.
Museum Development South East have a volunteer management resource on their website covering recruitment, retention and management of volunteers.