DALHS - Past, Present and Future

The next meeting of the Society takes place on Thursday 8th November at 7:30 pm at Dudley Archives & Local History Service, Mount Pleasant Street, Coseley.

Gillian Roberts [senior archivist] and Diane Matthews [local studies librarian] will be talking about the service as it evolved from fragmented beginnings to the establishment of a centre in the old Mount Pleasant Secondary School in 1992, and how this is coping with the demands of today’s family and local historians.

The speakers will also look to the future. With ever more donations and deposits such a repository has to meet national standards for users and the safe keeping of archive material. Modern computers systems and storages facilities will be needed for easier access to an incredible range of documentation including census returns, parish registers, newspapers, industrial archives, local government records and the nationally important Earls of Dudley collection. All these challenges the service is eager to tackle.

As usual visitors are invited to come along. Individual talks cost £1 or take a full year’s membership - a bargain at £4 with free access to the programme of talks.