Community Engagement and the Olympics

Louis Ray
{"title":"Community Engagement and the Olympics","authors":"Louis Ray","doi":"10.1080/00379816.2012.666170","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"I vividly recall, as a child, the thrill when our ‘local hero’, the athlete Steve Ovett, visited my primary school and allowed each one of us to hold his Olympic 800m Gold Medal. The next time I felt that same visceral engagement from touching a historically significant object was probably on my first day working in an archive service. Therefore, I was delighted when, in my capacity as Convenor of the Archives & Records Association’s Public Services Quality Group Sub-committee on Volunteering, I was given the opportunity by the Editorial Board to act as guest editor for this themed edition on ‘Community Engagement and the Olympic and Paralympic Games’. Although for me there is an irony in that it has been Steve Ovett’s arch track rival, Sebastian (now Lord) Coe, who has masterminded London’s successful bid for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games and overseen its delivery, thus allowing me this opportunity. At this point in time we do not know whether this summer’s upcoming sporting spectacular will be considered a success or not—it is still very much a work in progress. The same is true of some of the projects and initiatives highlighted by contributors to this edition. Indeed the role of archives in community engagement, and the ability of archive services to successfully involve communities is, in itself, a continuing work in progress. As Victor Gray asserted in 2002, reflecting back on the past achievements of the sector and looking to the future, ‘For the rising generation, the primary challenge is going to be that of demonstrating that this has all been worthwhile, a challenge that will be met by forceful advocacy, by practical demonstration of what archives can mean and do for society, and above all, in my view, by forging relationships with professional partners, with wider social agencies, with the media, and through all these, with society at large’. Ten years on from the Society of Archivists’ conference where he set out this vision, the articles in this edition could be seen as an indicator of how well this generation is stepping up to that challenge. Whilst we await judgement on the achievements of the Games, what we do know is what made London’s bid, to host the Olympics and Paralympics in 2012, successful. In much part, this was because it emphasized that legacy was key to the aims, planning and delivery of the project. Not just through a sustainable Olympic Park","PeriodicalId":81733,"journal":{"name":"Journal of the Society of Archivists. Society of Archivists (Great Britain)","volume":"33 1","pages":"1 - 8"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0000,"publicationDate":"2012-03-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/00379816.2012.666170","citationCount":"2","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of the Society of Archivists. Society of Archivists (Great Britain)","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1080/00379816.2012.666170","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"","JCRName":"","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 2

Abstract

I vividly recall, as a child, the thrill when our ‘local hero’, the athlete Steve Ovett, visited my primary school and allowed each one of us to hold his Olympic 800m Gold Medal. The next time I felt that same visceral engagement from touching a historically significant object was probably on my first day working in an archive service. Therefore, I was delighted when, in my capacity as Convenor of the Archives & Records Association’s Public Services Quality Group Sub-committee on Volunteering, I was given the opportunity by the Editorial Board to act as guest editor for this themed edition on ‘Community Engagement and the Olympic and Paralympic Games’. Although for me there is an irony in that it has been Steve Ovett’s arch track rival, Sebastian (now Lord) Coe, who has masterminded London’s successful bid for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games and overseen its delivery, thus allowing me this opportunity. At this point in time we do not know whether this summer’s upcoming sporting spectacular will be considered a success or not—it is still very much a work in progress. The same is true of some of the projects and initiatives highlighted by contributors to this edition. Indeed the role of archives in community engagement, and the ability of archive services to successfully involve communities is, in itself, a continuing work in progress. As Victor Gray asserted in 2002, reflecting back on the past achievements of the sector and looking to the future, ‘For the rising generation, the primary challenge is going to be that of demonstrating that this has all been worthwhile, a challenge that will be met by forceful advocacy, by practical demonstration of what archives can mean and do for society, and above all, in my view, by forging relationships with professional partners, with wider social agencies, with the media, and through all these, with society at large’. Ten years on from the Society of Archivists’ conference where he set out this vision, the articles in this edition could be seen as an indicator of how well this generation is stepping up to that challenge. Whilst we await judgement on the achievements of the Games, what we do know is what made London’s bid, to host the Olympics and Paralympics in 2012, successful. In much part, this was because it emphasized that legacy was key to the aims, planning and delivery of the project. Not just through a sustainable Olympic Park
社区参与和奥运会
我清楚地记得,当我还是个孩子的时候,当我们的“当地英雄”,运动员史蒂夫·奥维特访问我的小学,并允许我们每个人拿起他的奥运800米金牌时,我的激动之情。我第二次因为触摸具有历史意义的物品而感受到同样发自内心的投入,可能是在我在一家档案服务机构工作的第一天。因此,当我作为档案记录协会公共服务质素小组义工工作小组召集人,获编委会邀请担任本期“社区参与与奥运及残奥会”专题的特邀编辑时,我感到十分高兴。不过对我来说,具有讽刺意味的是,正是史蒂夫•奥维特(Steve Ovett)的田径主要竞争对手塞巴斯蒂安•科(Sebastian Coe,现为勋爵)策划了伦敦成功申办2012年奥运会和残奥会,并监督了申办过程,才让我有了这次机会。在这个时间点上,我们不知道这个夏天即将到来的体育盛会是否会被认为是成功的——它仍然是一个正在进行的工作。这一版本的贡献者强调的一些项目和倡议也是如此。事实上,档案在社区参与中的作用,以及档案服务成功地让社区参与的能力,本身就是一项持续进行的工作。正如维克多·格雷(Victor Gray)在2002年回顾该部门过去的成就并展望未来时所断言的那样,“对于正在成长的一代来说,主要的挑战将是证明这一切都是值得的,这一挑战将通过强有力的倡导、通过实际展示档案对社会的意义和作用来应对,最重要的是,在我看来,通过与专业合作伙伴、更广泛的社会机构、媒体建立关系,并通过所有这些,与整个社会。”十年过去了,他在档案工作者协会的会议上提出了这一愿景,本期的文章可以被视为这一代人如何很好地应对这一挑战的一个指标。当我们等待对奥运会成就的评价时,我们所知道的是伦敦申办2012年奥运会和残奥会成功的原因。在很大程度上,这是因为它强调遗产是项目目标、计划和交付的关键。不仅仅是通过可持续发展的奥林匹克公园
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
求助全文
约1分钟内获得全文 求助全文
来源期刊
自引率
0.00%
发文量
0
×
引用
GB/T 7714-2015
复制
MLA
复制
APA
复制
导出至
BibTeX EndNote RefMan NoteFirst NoteExpress
×
提示
您的信息不完整,为了账户安全,请先补充。
现在去补充
×
提示
您因"违规操作"
具体请查看互助需知
我知道了
×
提示
确定
请完成安全验证×
copy
已复制链接
快去分享给好友吧!
我知道了
右上角分享
点击右上角分享
0
联系我们:info@booksci.cn Book学术提供免费学术资源搜索服务,方便国内外学者检索中英文文献。致力于提供最便捷和优质的服务体验。 Copyright © 2023 布克学术 All rights reserved.
京ICP备2023020795号-1
ghs 京公网安备 11010802042870号
Book学术文献互助
Book学术文献互助群
群 号:481959085
Book学术官方微信