NBA History of Science Seminar

Peter Harper, "Contemporary Scientific Archives: Investing in the Future of the History of Science"

Peter Harper, Director of the National Cataloguing Unit for the Archives of Contemporary Scientists (NCUACS) at the University of Bath, UK

The UK National Cataloguing Unit for the Archives of Contemporary Scientists (NCUACS) has over thirty years experiences in locating, cataloguing and finding permanent homes for the archives of leading contemporary British scientists, thus preserving and making accessible the original source materials for the history of science.

Its present Director, who has been associated with the work for over twenty years, will consider some of the particular challenges of the work including relations with the scientific community, the changing nature of scientific communication and record keeping, and the securing of the necessary resources to fund the archival programme.

The work of the NCUACS in the UK will be placed in a wider international context drawing on its Director's experience with the CASE (Cooperation on Archives of Science in Europe) group and the IUHPS DHST Bibliography and Documentation Commission.