Find+Your+Family

In addition to their normal services the Rothwell Arts and Heritage Centre (RAHC) provides a genealogical service, as such we have designed an additional policy which we feel would complement their existing collection. The Find Your Family service is intended to provide a comprehensive catalogue cross-referencing all images and documents contained within the centre, this catalogue would include information concerning the people found in these images and documents. As such it would be possible for visitor to consult the catalogue and locate material relevant to their family history. The material provided to us by the RAHC included a video tour of the centre itself, during this video mention was made of a large photograph in the front room which people have marked their names on, we feel that similar displays could increase interest in the centre and that the Find Your Family service could act as an extension of this.

The purpose of this service is primarily to increase footfall in the centre rather than to generate revenue. We feel that attracting visitors is more important at this stage, but also that an increased number of visitors allows for other opportunities and would also prove useful when applying for additional funding at a later date. It is therefore vital that visitors are asked to sign in or that similar means are used to record numbers.

In order to provide this service the RAHC must first compile a complete catalogue of their collection, while this is necessary for the purposes of accreditation, it is also central to the Find Your Family service. In this catalogue shall be contained information relevant to the objects such as accession number, date received and current location. In addition to this the RAHC will record any existing information concerning the individuals represented in images or documents. This latter information shall be made available in printed format to the public.

With regard to future acquistions the RAHC shall endeavour to collect such relevant information when receiving further items. As there is a considerable backlog visitors to the centre will be able to identify family members and notify a member of staff. Efforts shall be taken to verify this information. There will of course be the option to be excluded from the service.

The printed catalogue shall be available for use by visitors upon entering the centre. While the service is intended to help them navigate the materials contained within the centre they may also make use of the reference tools provided if they wish to perform further research.

Both the service and the reference tools will be free to use, however any donations will of course be appreciated.

With regard to copying of images and documents contained within the collection, due to the potentially fragile nature of the materials a mastercopy shall be created, all further copies shall be made from this.

While use of the service is free the use of printing facilities shall be charged at 50p per sheet.

There is the possibility that the service will grow in the future to include additional information about the individuals represented such as profession, date of birth, death and anything else that may be of interest to visitors to the centre.

The following is an example of how the catalogue may work:
 * = === Family Name === ||= === Image/Document Number === ||
 * = Ball ||= Album Two: IMG005 ||
 * = Bull ||= Album Two: IMG003 ||
 * = Chambers ||= Album Two: IMG003 ||
 * = Chapman ||= Album Two: IMG003 ||
 * = Claridge ||= Album Two: IMG003 ||
 * = Dines ||= Album Two: IMG003 ||
 * = Gamble ||= Album Two: IMG003 ||
 * = Linnit ||= Album Two: IMG003 ||
 * = Phipps ||= Album Two: IMG002 ||
 * = Read ||= Album Two: IMG003 ||
 * = Spittle ||= Album Two: IMG003 ||
 * = Stokes ||= Album Two: IMG003 ||
 * = Willis ||= Album Two: IMG003 ||
 * = Wright ||= Album Two: IMG003 ||
 * = Tresham ||= Album One: IMG001 ||

