AIM25 (Archives in London and the M25 area) commenced in January 2000 and is supported by two rounds of funding from the Research Support Libraries Programme. The principal objective of AIM25 is to prove a single point of networked access to descriptions of the archives of AIM25 consortial partners (listed below). These comprise more than fifty institutions, consisting of the principal colleges and schools of the University of London, other universities and Higher Education institutes in the area, and some of the most important royal colleges and societies of medicine and science based in London.
The institutional records of the partner organisations, traditionally a neglected historical resource, have a local, metropolitan, national, colonial and international perspective. They may be used for a vast array of different research topics, ranging from biography to studies of social mobility, professionalisation and gender as well as for the history of individual disciplines. Deposited collections held by our partners represent some of the premier groupings of archival material in the country relating to anthropology, politics, law, economics, social and cultural history, education (from primary to tertiary levels), languages and literature, religion, missionary studies, military history and the history of science and medicine.
AIM25 hopes to encourage greater awareness and cross disciplinary use of these archival collections, to facilitate research planning and access for users of archives in the project area, and to enhance understanding of the broad social, demographic and historical significance of higher education in the nation’s capital city and environs.
The project is directed by Patricia Methven, Director of Archive Services at King’s College London. A central team of peripatetic archivists, compile descriptions for the HE partners, led by Robert Baxter, the Project Coordinator who also provides editorial support for descriptions submitted by the ‘external’ or non HE partners. All team members are professional archivists. The project team and partners prepare descriptions in a format known as the General International Standard Archival Description (usually known as ISAD(G)). Smaller archive collections are usually covered by a single description; for larger collections (particularly in the case of institutional records), a description is produced for each discrete sub-collection.
Frances Blomeley and colleagues at the University of London Computer Centre have developed the AIM25 website, which uses a MySQL relational database. The website allows researchers to browse ISAD(G) descriptions by repository and to conduct searches using two types of text search engine or the indexes of personal, corporate and place names and a subject thesaurus based on the UNESCO Thesaurus.
Interoperability has been achieved with the National Register of Archives. AIM25 is compliant with Z39.50 and with the OAI (Open Archives Initiative). Work is currently being done to achieve cross-searching of AIM25 and InforM25 (the online search facility of the M25 Consortium of HE libraries). Technical development has also been undertaken to ensure compatibility with the UKOLN Collection Description Format and with EAD (Encoded Archival Description).
Researchers can view complete or significant coverage of archival holdings for, amongst others, the Courtauld Institute, Imperial College, the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, King’s College London, the London School of Economics, Royal Holloway, the Royal Institution, the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, the School of Oriental and African Studies, University College London, the University of London Library and the Wellcome Library. Further work will be undertaken on indexing descriptions, with improvement of the subject thesaurus by incorporating terms from other relevant thesauri. The web interface has recently undergone a user evaluation through a detailed questionnaire, and a number of refinements have been made. A more detailed evaluation of AIM25’s technical architecture and webs interface will be made towards the end of the project in mid 2002. AIM25 Data is structured to be platform independent and is expected to map to any forthcoming development of the National Archives Network.
Researchers can now view complete or significant coverage of archival holdings for many of our partners. Researchers are also able to access AIM25 descriptions from the National Register of Archives. Further work has been undertaken on indexing descriptions, with improvement of the subject thesaurus by incorporating terms from other relevant thesauri. The web interface has recently undergone a major user-evaluation, funded and published by Resource (the Council for Museums, Archives and Libraries) in conjunction with other strands of the National Archives Network. AIM25 may now provide the model for a much larger database of collection descriptions for repositories across the London area.
Tel: 020 7848 2011
E-mail: robert.baxter@kcl.ac.uk
Association of Anaesthetists
Birkbeck College
British Library of Political and Economic Science at London School of Economics
Brunel University
City University
Courtauld Institute of Art
Goldsmiths College
Imperial College
Institute of Advanced Legal Studies
Institute of Classical Studies
Institute of Commonwealth Studies
Institute of Education
Institute of Germanic Studies
Institute of Latin American Studies
King’s College London
Kingston University
London Business School
London Guildhall University
London Institute
London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
Middlesex University
Queen Mary & Westfield College
Royal College of Art
Royal College of General Practitioners
Royal College of Music
Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists
Royal College of Physicians
Royal College of Surgeons of England
Royal Free Hospital
Royal Geographical Society
Royal Holloway, University of London
Royal Institution of Great Britain
Royal London Hospital
Royal Society
Royal Society of Arts
Royal Statistical Society
St George’s Hospital Medical School
St Bartholomew’s Hospital
School of Oriental and African Studies
School of Slavonic and East European Studies
South Bank University
University College London
University of East London
University of Greenwich
University of London (Library - Senate House)
University of North London
University of Surrey
University of Westminster
Wellcome Library
Content: Gill Davenport
Last updated 2 July 2002