Recording the past: heritage inventories in England

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present an overview of the history of heritage inventories in England and look at the requirements for a future vision of networked, digital heritage inventories to support heritage protection in England as outlined in the Heritage Information Access Strategy (HIAS). The strategy, led by Historic England, the UK Government-funded agency for heritage in England, is proposing a more formalized network where the prime sources of data relating to non-designated heritage assets will be the local authority historic environment records. Design/methodology/approach – This paper looks at the historic development of the inventories from paper-based publications to digital data sets and the proliferation of data. The Monument Inventory Data Standard Heritage will also be discussed in the context of providing a common framework. Findings – The present loose network presents several challenges for the multiple organizations maintaining similar data sets on disparate IT software, namely, the duplication of content, ownership of content and different approaches to recording practice and standards. There is a need for common data standards and controlled vocabularies in order to facilitate data exchange and interoperability across the network. Practical implications – The findings are based on the common experience of heritage inventory providers in England, but are relevant to any country where multiple inventories exist. It is anticipated that the implementation of the HIAS will provide a future-proofed environment for a shared national inventory. Originality/value – This paper presents the HIAS in its historic context. It is hoped that this may be of value to inventory programmes from outside the UK.