Updated 11/05/20: With people spending a lot more time at home at this time of coronavirus lockdown, the Archive of Market and Social Research (AMSR) is asking researchers to clear out and donate their historical papers.
Phyllis Vangelder – a supporter of, volunteer for and contributor to the Archive – has written an article in which she underlines why it’s so important that we don’t throw out those old papers and files stuffed up in the attic, without first checking whether it might have value to the Archive.
Read Phyllis Vangelder’s article here.
(Published in Research Live, the Market Research Society’s daily news feed)
Confined to Barracks
During the lockdown, we have all gone into a ‘lateral thinking’ mode. We suggested in our recent article on ‘Hoarders and Chuckers’ that even if you unearth relevant material for the Archive, we can wait for the actual reports and papers until our ‘engine room’ at Ipsos MORI in Harrow is once again available for scanning.
However, we have now realised that some scanning – of short reports and papers – could be done by the contributors themselves, before they are sent to the Archive. Alternatively, Colin McDonald, our cataloguing/scanner guru, has offered to scan some material at home.
Another job for those isolated at home, who might want a change from clearing cupboards, Zoom meetings, gardening and Netflix, is to join the groups of researchers who are indexing some of the Archive Collections, amalgamating our own index with input from academic sources. Those who are already immersed in it are finding it extremely interesting. They are also getting nostalgic kicks as they remember the exciting research that has been conducted over the years, helping decision makers in companies and government. Training will be available for those joining the team.
Please email our team at admin@amsr.org.uk if you have unearthed any relevant material and want to talk about it, or if you are interested in Indexing.
Date posted: 27th April 2020