A Short Report on the Ghana Railway Archive in Sekondi-Takoradi

Retuning Imperial IntentionsThe Gold Coast Police Band, West African Students, and a 1947 Tour of Great Britain Nate Plageman In December 1947, H. M. Collins of the West Africa Section of the British Colonial Office penned a letter to Tom Stenning, the bandmaster of the Gold Coast Police Band in Accra. The two-page letter, which Collins insisted was long overdue, concerned the Band's recently completed four-month tour of Great Britain. From early May until mid-September, the Band, which comprised 34 members of the colony's police force, had traveled throughout England, Wales, and Scotland, giving dozens of public performances, appearing on British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) radio and television programs, and gaining great fanfare in the British press. Stenning, who had overseen the ensemble since 1943, had joined Collins as one of the colonial officials charged with ensuring that the tour's audiences obtained an "education" about the Gold Coast and the wider merits of British imperialism. In fact, the Gold Coast government and Colonial Office crafted the Band's tour—likely the longest by a colonial ensemble on British soil—with the hope that its martial appearance and vast repertoire of military music, swing numbers, light operas, and popular tunes would rekindle audiences' enthusiasm for colonialism's ability to benefit and "civilize" African peoples.1 Collins insisted that their efforts had been remarkably successful; the Band, he proclaimed, had enraptured the British public and "made the Gold Coast a household word throughout Britain, the Empire and other parts of the world."2 [End Page 111] If Collins's letter embodies the unbridled optimism that British officials had in their ability to "anticipate and mould" Empire's future following the Second World War (Pearce, 1982, p. 162), it also reflects the challenge of using colonial records to reconstruct state-sponsored musical events not as acts of prepared propaganda, but as multifaceted and multidirectional popular musical happenings. Because the 1947 tour was an unprecedented imperial initiative, it is the subject of hundreds of administrative reports, circulars, and exchanges now contained in archival files held in the National Archives (TNA) in Kew, England, and, to some extent, the main repository of Ghana's Public Records and Archives Administration Department (PRAAD) in Accra. As I have discussed elsewhere (Plageman, 2016), this extensive paper trail—which constitutes the largest corpus of records on a single musical event in the colony's history—documents the tour British officials wanted to take place far more than that which actually did. Nearly two-thirds of their contents concerns the tour's planning and organization: an imbalance that amplifies officials' ambitions and mutes what occurred once the Band arrived on British soil. Remaining documents perpetuate additional silences, providing almost no insight into the physical or social settings of the Band's performances, the aural or visual aspects of individual concerts, or the songs it played onstage (such records do not, for instance, contain a single program from any of the group's concerts).3Outside of numerical estimates and blanket statements about their enthusiastic responses to the Band, they also say little about the tour's audiences, their demographic makeup, or their actual levels of engagement with the group and its music. Last, documentation offers practically nothing about the bandsmen, omitting basic material such as their full names.4 In short, the tour's vast archival record ignores—even works to erase—the human, sonic, and creative elements that give musical events significance and meaning. In the pages that follow, I analyze the 1947 tour not as a state-directed showcase of Empire, but as a creative act of Ghanaian popular music. As John Collins has so poignantly revealed, Ghanaian artists and audiences [End Page 112] repeatedly employed popular music as a medium of enjoyment and empowerment; a means of actively shaping, not simply reacting to, the wider transformations of the 20th century. In uncovering their actions and agency, Collins (1994, 1996b, 2005a) has unveiled remarkable insights into how otherwise invisible people decolonized imported cultural resources, recovered lost histories, and outlined imagined futures. Propelled by his groundbreaking work, others have explored how Ghanaians used popular music to define and debate modernity, claim connections to...

From the mid-nineteenth century, the people of the Gold Coast formed an essential component of the missionary and early colonial medical services (CMS). The labour of the people was mainly...

This department, which was until December, 1997 known as the National Archives of Ghana, takes care of documents from northern Ghana, and has served both local and international researchers since its establishment in 1960. The Ghana Public Records and Archives Administration department in Tamale has had quite a number of visiting researchers, but there are few descriptive guide for users. This paper is intended to serve as an introductory guide in this respect.Between 1950 and 1954, the Gold Coast Archivist undertook a survey of District records in the various district headquarters of what was then the Gold Coast Colony, Ashanti, and the Northern Territories. This led to the establishment of the National Archives of Ghana, offices at Kumasi on 3 August 1959. This was intended first to serve the Ashanti, Brong-Ahafo, and Northern Ghana areas. The office was housed on the premises of the Government Agent's office at Kumase. When the Tamale office was opened, it was also housed on the premises of the Regional Administration there. The space is very cramped and there have been constant calls on the department to look for their own accommodation.The archives opens at 8.00am, but requests for documents from the repository starts only at 9.00am and lasts until 3.00pm, except for a break between 12:30pm and 1:30pm, during which no documents can be requested. The visitors' book must always be signed.An international/foreign researcher is required to bring a letter of introduction from the Ghana Public Records and Archives Administraton headquarters in Accra.

Lennart Björneborn’s famous tweet, ‘connecto ergo sum’, which means, ‘I link, therefore I exist’, puts forward the intriguing dimension of the web as a platform for link-based research, a major tenet of webometrics. Webometrics, as discussed in this study, explored the web presence, web visibility, web-impact and linkage of archival institutions in the ESARBICA region; examining the types of institutions that provide links to archival institutions in the ESARBICA region; establishing the links pointing to national archival institutions in the ESARBICA region; and examining the type of institutions that provide these links. Google Search engine and Alexa metasearch engine were used to collect data. Additionally, the formulas derived from the Statistical Cybermetrics Research Group (2016): ‘Impact=Inlinks/page’ and ‘site:Domain’ were used to collect data on the impact and web pages linking to the archival institutions. The study was underpinned by the Citation Analysis theory. Search engines, metasearch engines and web content analysis were used to collect webometrics data from ESARBICA archival websites. The findings of the study revealed that the web-impact of ESARBICA archival institutions is generally low as evidenced by the low impact factors attained. This may lead to the minimal usage of the information on the websites, undermining the importance of archival institutions. The low impact can be increased through such measures as redesigning websites to increase visibility, posting rich files on websites, and interlinking the websites to key archival associations and institutions, among others. Other findings showed that some websites were hosted by institutions other than the archival institutions The impact results further revealed that in the ESARBICA region, Southern Africa was more represented with the archival institutions from six countries (Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland and Zimbabwe), while the Eastern African region had archival institutions from two countries (Kenya and Tanzania). The findings further showed that not all archival websites attained web presence in the form of accessible websites. The link classification results revealed that the ESARBICA websites mostly attracted industry links with extensions .com and .co as the most popular Top Level Domains (TLD). A strong link relationship was noted between archival institutions and research-based activities in universities, as well as evidence of openness as archival institutions published documents with archives-related discussions on Google Scholar. The study showed that ESARBICA archival websites are not interactive in nature and have not yet embraced Web 2.0 tools on their archival websites. The implications of the study included that archival institutions without websites might consider attaining web presence through constructing websites, establishing link relationships by archival institutions, and making efforts to avail more data to enhance web presence in ranking. The study recommended that ESARBICA archival institutions host standalone websites and establish links with archives related research sites. The practical implications of the paper include: revealing the specific ways in which archival institutions can conduct web-link assessments and web-impact assessments, ways of interpreting results from web-impact assessments and link-impact assessments, assessing alternative methods of link counts.

Access by the public to archives and public records in South Africa has been significantly affected by the introduction of the National Archives of South Africa Act (No. 43 of 1996), which replaced the Archives Act (No. 6 of 1962), and the Promotion of Access to Information Act (No. 2 of 2000). This article attempts a comparative analysis of the previous and present statutes governing access to archives and public records with a special focus on the implications of the Promotion of Access to Information Act for public archives services. While the latter Act also provides for access to private records, this article focuses largely on public records. An organising theme relates to the notion that archives and public records issue from and express power relations within society. Consequently the acts of creating records, keeping them and having access to them are significant indicators of the balance of power in society. The article seeks to explore and question the extent to which the new legislation has shifted the location of power. The article commences with a general set of motivations for freedom of information legislation, and then offers some theoretical underpinnings relating to the organising theme. The previous position regarding access to public archives and official records, both in terms of statute and in practice, is discussed. The main body of the article discusses the provisions of the Promotion of Access to Information Act (in conjunction with the National Archives Act) regarding access to archives and public records with special focus on the implications thereof for public archives services. This is followed by some administrative implications and a conclusion. ESARBICA Journal Vol.21 2002: 2-16

This study examines the current status of national & public university archives management, focusing on Busan and Gyeongnam area. Because national public universities create public records, they must compulsorily execute the law, Public Records and Archives Act. However revised Public Records and Archives Act isn't reflected the peculiarity of university archives and the national and public universities are to be transferred to government archive. The records and archives of universities had better be preserved in universities themselves in order to use university member and other users. This paper points out the problem of university archives management and finalizes with some suggestions for national public university archives related to the systematic and efficient archives management.

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to examine the disaster management procedures and measures adopted by public institutions in managing their information resources with a view to identifying possible problems and making recommendations for their resolution.Design/methodology/approachQuestionnaires, interviews and observation were used to collect data from 65 respondents from 19 ministries and five respondents from the Public Records and Archives Administration Department (PRAAD) and the National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO). Descriptive statistics and content analysis were used to analyze the data collected for the study.FindingsIn the 19 ministries surveyed, the findings revealed high levels of unpreparedness to manage disasters concerning public records. The study also revealed the exposure of the ministries to various kinds of risks in their operations, and the lack of coordination between the heads of public sector institutions, NADMO and PRAAD. Also, inadequate budgetary allocation for the records department of the ministries and PRAAD was identified.Research limitations/implicationsThe study concentrated on the headquarters (HQ) of the ministries because they are the administrative headquarters of public sector institutions and they make policies that are complied with by all the Regional and District branches as well as the Departments and Agencies in executing their tasks. The major limitation of the study was the inability of the researcher to cover all the ministries.Practical implicationsThe recommendations made included cooperation among heads of the ministries, PRAAD and NADMO to develop a national information disaster management plan for the effective management of public records and information and a comprehensive program in public institutions to orientate staff on information disaster management.Social implicationsThe study set the tone for public sector institutions and other institutions in the same area of operation to review the processes and procedures with regard to recordkeeping. Also, the study is anticipated to draw the attention of policy-makers (management of the ministries) and regulatory bodies in the field of records and disaster management (PRAAD and NADMO) to review their plans and policies to make provision for information disaster management.Originality/valueThe study is a research paper and critically looks at the disaster preparedness of public sector institutions in managing their records/information. It also examines whether there are any collaboration and coordination among public sector institutions in Ghana in having disaster preparedness and management plan to safeguard public records/information.

Using the critical emancipatory paradigm grounded on the power elite theory that addresses issues of oppression and power relations, the paper was able to show, among other issues, how African nationalism created leaders who were against societal plurality, which takes diversity into consideration and celebrates it. Also the critical emancipatory paradigm along the power elite theory made it understandable that those who are oppressed would always find a way of expressing themselves and try to shape the world they want to live in. For example, in addressing the decimation of their self-identity by those in power, the minority groups in Zimbabwe and South Africa are seen forming ‘dissident’ community archives parallel to the so-called mainstream national official archives such as National Archives of Zimbabwe and National Archives and Records Services of South Africa which are presided over by ‘ruling political party government bureaucrats’ pushing the agenda of their elite leaders who are obsessed with ‘only’ preserving their history and ignoring the histories of the minority groups, as the paper revealed. This phenomenon in this paper was considered through national mainstream archives and selected community oral history methodologies. The paper concludes that even in critical emancipation, there is elitism as those in power will always push their own agendas. In decolonising the archives through a collection of oral histories, archival institutions in both countries have further perpetuated the marginalisation of minority groups by covering only stories of elite members of society.

Christopher Baruth was appointed interim director of the American Geographical Society at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee. Courtney C. J. Bond, author of many map-related articles and books and Head of the Canadian Section, National Map Collection, Public (now National) Archives of Canada, 1968-1971, died 16 November 1995, aged 85. David Bosse, Curator of Maps and Newspapers at the William L. Clements Library, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, left to become head of the library at Historic Deerfield, Massachusetts. David Cobb, Head of the Harvard Map Collection, was appointed editor of Meridian, published by the Map & Geography Round Table of the American Library Association. Michael R. C. Coulson was appointed editor of Cartographica, in succession to Bernard Gutsell. Edward H. Dahl was succeeded, after 12 years, as chairman of the International Society for the Curators of Early Maps by Robert W. Karrow. The election took place at the biennial meeting in Vienna in September 1995. Ed Dahl has also stepped down as associate editor of Cartographica. Oswald Dreyer-Eimbcke was appointed president of the International Map Collectors' Society. John Dwyer, Chief, Cartographic and Architectural Branch, National Archives and Records Administration, retired in September 1995. Matthew Edney was appointed Faculty Scholar of the Osher Map Library and Smith Center for Cartographic Education of the University of Southern Maine in September 1995. At the 1995 conference of the International Cartographic Association he was appointed Chair of the History of Cartography Commission, in succession to Monique Pelletier. F. G. Emmison, County Archivist of Essex, 1938-1969, and editor of the Catalogue of Maps in the Essex Record Office, 1566-1855, died 9 November 1995. Gunter Hamann, Professor of Modern History and the History of Science, University of Vienna, died 13 October 1994, aged 70. Francis Herbert was recipient of the IMCoS-R. V. Tooley Award for 1995. 228 Ralph Hyde, Curator of Prints and Maps at the Guildhall Library, London, won the second Alan Godfrey award, made in association with the British Cartographic Society, for a librarian who has furthered the use, appreciation and understanding of maps in an exceptional way. Julian Janczak, Professor of History at Wroclaw University, former Chairman of the Working Group on the History of Cartography, Institute of the History of Science, Polish Academy of Sciences, died 11 January 1995. He was succeeded as Working Group Chairman by Stanislaw Alexandrowicz. Robert W. Karrow's, Mapmakers of the Sixteenth Century and Their Maps has been listed as one of the 'Best Bibliographies in History' by the Bibliography and Indexes Committee of the History Section of the Reference and Adult Services Division of the American Library Association. The work was also named by Reference Quarterly as one of the best history bibliographies for 1995. William L. D. Ravenhill, former Professor of Geography at the University of Exeter, died 9 October 1995. See obituary p. 212. Stephanie A. Roper, doctoral candidate in American History at the University of Kansas, won the 1995 Ristow Prize for Cartographic History and Map Librarianship with 'Image is everything: English maps of colonial North America as promotional tools, 1530-1660'. The runner-up was Martin J. Coulter, a graduate of the University of Aberdeen, with 'John Wood's plan of the cities of Aberdeen, 1828'. Harald Sigurdsson, National and University Library of Iceland, and author of Kortasaga Islands, died 20 December 1995, aged 87. Thomas R. Smith, former professor of geography at the University of Kansas, died 7 January 1996, aged 86. At his retirement in 1981, the university map collections were named in his honour. He was the author of Maps of the 16th to 19th Centuries in the Libraries of the University of Kansas: An Analytical Cartobibliography and of studies on the Thames School of chartmakers. Themis Strongilos was elected president of the Society for Hellenic Cartography in October 1995. David Woodward has been named Arthur H. Robinson Professor of Geography at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. He was also appointed a Corresponding Fellow

The Public Record Office (PRO) has been (since 1958) a ministerial department under the Lord Chancellor, who has responsibility for the public records system and the PRO. In June 2003 the Prime Minister announced the forthcoming abolition of the post of Lord Chancellor. It is, however, intended that the ministerial responsibilities relating to the public records system will be reassigned to the Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs during the coming year. As the national archives for England, Wales and the United Kingdom, the PRO houses records from across the UK central government and, in smaller numbers, from the central courts. A separate national record office for Scotland (The National Archives of Scotland) holds records of departments which are wholly or mainly concerned with Scotland and the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) contains records of the Northern Ireland courts and departments, and local government records. On 2 April 2003 the Public Record Office joined together with the Historical Manuscripts Commission (the UK central advisory body on archives and manuscripts relating to British History) to form a new organization, The National Archives. The responsibilities of the National Archives: PRO are set out in the Public Records Act of 1958. The Act makes government departments responsible for the safe-keeping and selection for preservation of their own records, but under the guidance, supervision and coordination of the National Archives: PRO. The 1958 Act provides for storage of public records outside the National Archives in places where they have a particular local or regional interest, or where as national specialist records they belong naturally with other specialist collections, or require specialist skills or knowledge to manage them. Over one-fifth of all permanently preserved public records are stored and open for public use in these ‘places of deposit’ found in more than 245 locations throughout England and Wales. These include local authority record offices, scientific bodies, museums and libraries. All places of deposit need formal approval from the Lord Chancellor and before designation undergo rigorous testing The Cartographic Journal Vol. 41 No. 1 pp. 55–57 June 2004 © The British Cartographic Society 2004

Archival records exist for the benefit of society; therefore, people are at the very centre of the purpose of keeping archives. The South African government developed the Batho Pele principles to embrace them as a charter for public service to ensure a reliable and customer-oriented public service. Archival institutions such as the National Archives and Records Service of South Africa and the provincial archives are not exempted from this responsibility. These repositories form a part of the South African Public Service and play a crucial role in promoting the preservation and access to significant records that have enduring value. The National Archives and Records Service of South Africa and the provincial archives are responsible for preserving public and non-public records and promoting them to the public. In this quantitative study, an online survey completed by 20 archivists from these repositories helped establish whether archivists from the National Archives and Records Service of South Africa and the provincial archives utilised public programming initiatives to fulfil the Batho Pele principles. The analysed data indicated that the public archival institutions struggle to conduct public programming initiatives, and their limited efforts were not effective. This implies that most of these repositories did not consider public programming initiatives as tools to implement the Batho Pele principles. The study recommends that South African public archival institutions take advantage of the ‘window of opportunity’ presented by the Batho Pele principles to strengthen their outreach strategies to improve archival service quality.

Tushonka: Cultivating Soviet Postwar Taste

One aspect of administrative history that was bequeathed by British colonialism in Northern Ghana from 1898 to 1950 was that of tax collection. This came in two phases: the first commenced from 1898 to1930. This study is concerned with the second period that lasted from 1930 to 1950. Within this period the purpose or objective of the study argues that a clear tax policy was formulated for Northern Ghana which marked the re-introduction of direct taxation that was systematically imposed under a system of Native Administration based on the principles of indirect rule. Much archival material was obtained in the Public Records and Archival Administration Department both in Accra and Tamale. Oral interviews were carried out that engaged elderly people who hail from the North. Information was equally gathered from chiefs and educated elites who come from the area. Some of the latter are teachers in universities in Ghana. Secondary source material such as books and journals enhanced the study. Thorough preparations were made by the British regime towards the re-introduction of direct taxation culminating in its return. The study outlines the nature and method of collection, the expenditure that was entailed, and the social effects that direct taxation bestowed on the traditional social life of the inhabitants. The article concludes that tax collection in Northern Ghana was thus one of the most successful policies that was carried out by the British and that actual developments resulting in the provision of social infrastructure began with the re-introduction of direct taxation under the Native Administration systemKeywords: Native Administration, Customary Tribute, Nominal Rolls, Native Authorities, Metal Discs

Catalogue of seals in the Public Record Office: monastic seals, Volume I Compiled by Roger H. Ellis London: HMSO, 1986 viii + 104 pp., 56 plates. £25 The records of a commission of sewers for Wiggenhall, 1319‐1324 Edited by A. E. B. Owen William Asshebourne's book Edited by D. M. Owen Norfolk Record Society Publications, Volume 48, 1984 for 1981 122 pp. Calendar of entries in the Papal Registers relating to Great Britain and Ireland. Papal Letters, Vol. XVIII. Pius III and Julius II: Vatican Registers (1503‐1513), Lateran Registers (1503‐1508) Edited by Michael J. Haren Dublin: Stationery Office for the Irish Manuscripts Commission, 1989 lxxiii + 751 pp., illus. IR£50 The commissions for building fifty new churches: the minute books, 1711‐27, a calendar Edited by M. H. Port London Record Society Publications, Volume XXIII, 1986 xl + 193 pp. £12 to non‐members Papers of British politicians 1782‐1900 London: HMSO for the Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts, Guides to Sources for British History 7, 1989 xi+ 125 pp. £10.95 Women's words. A guide to manuscripts and archives in the Alexander Turnbull Library relating to women in the nineteenth century Compiled by Diana Meads, Philip Rainer and Kay Sanderson Wellington: Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, 1988 xi + 137 pp., illus. NZ$22 Manuscript sources for women's history: a descriptive list of holdings in the Special Collections Department, revised edition Atlanta: Special Collections Department, Robert W. Woodruff Library, Emory University, 1987 27 pp. Free Guide to the Sources of Asian History International Council on Archives India 3.1: National Archives. New Delhi: National Archives of India, 1987. 165 pp. Indonesia 4.1: National Archives (part 1, institutional archives; part 2, local archives). Edited by Mona Lohanda. Jakarta: National Archives of Indonesia, 1989. 214 pp. Guide to the sources of Korean history. Seoul: Government Archives and Records Service, 1990. 738 pp. National History Guide Committee (Nepal) Source Manual Series, nos. 1‐3. Edited by Shaphalya Amatya. Kathmandu: National Archives, 1988‐90. 105 + 166 + 150 pp. The role and resources of national and university repositories. Report and discussion document Society of Archivists/Standing Conference on National and University Libraries, 1989 80 pp. £6 Electronic records management and archives in international organizations: a RAMP study with guidelines Charles M. Dollar Paris: UNESCO, 1986 (PGI‐86/WS/12) iv + 160 pp. How to manage your records: a guide to effective practice Edited by Peter Emmerson Cambridge: Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators, 1989 ix + 190 pp. £27.50 Records management handbook Doncaster: Fellowes Manufacturing (UK) Limited, 1988 20 pp. Les archives des entreprises. Conseils pratiques d'organisation, 2nd edition Isabel Guérin‐Brot Paris: Archives Nationales, 1989 87 pp.60F A guide to tracing the history of a business John Orbell Aldershot and Brookfield, Vermont: Gower, 1987 x + 116 pp. £15 Aus der Arbeit der Archive. Beiträge zum Archivwesen, zur Quellenkunde und zur Geschichte. Festschrift für Hans Booms Edited by Friedrich P. Kahlenberg Boppard am Rhein: Harald Boldt Verlag, 1989 xxii + 988 pp. DM96

W artykule dokonano przeglądu definicji pojęcia archiwum cyfrowe oraz przedstawiono typologię funkcjonujących archiwów cyfrowych. Zwrócono uwagę na odmienność archiwów instytucji pamięci i archiwów sektora biznesu bądź administracji. Szczegółowo omówiono problematykę oceny wiarygodności archiwów cyfrowych i wymieniono cechy identyfikacyjne, zapewniające im status serwisów wiarygodnych. Artykuł ma charakter dokumentacji dotychczasowych ustaleń w zakresie procesów organizacji, funkcjonowania, audytu i certyfikacji wiarygodnych archiwów cyfrowych. Ustalenia te są efektem międzynarodowej współpracy takich organizacji i instytucji, jak: DCC — Digital Curation Centre, OCLC - Online Computer Library Center, RLG - Research Library Group, NARA - National Archives and Records Administration, NESTOR - Network of Expertise in Long-term Storage of Digital Resources oraz CRL - U.S. Center for Research Libraries. Są one dostępne w dwóch wersjach językowych; angielskiej: Trustworthy Repositories Audit & Certification. Criteria and Checklist (TRAC), oraz niemieckiej: Kri- terienkatalog vertrauenswiirdige digitale Langzeitarchive.