Purpose

This paper aims to evidence the perspectives of information professionals in the UK in relation to environmental sustainability and climate action to catalyse collaborative action.

Design/methodology/approach

This study takes an interpretivist stance. Research into archive and record management literature was conducted to establish key themes on climate change within the information sector. These themes informed research questions included in a survey cascaded to UK archivists, conservators, records managers and cultural heritage professionals via national mailing lists. The results were then codified and analysed. The study had research ethics and data protection approval from University College London.

Findings

Using professional ethics as a framework, this paper argues that climate action can protect records from the impact of climate change, ensuring future access. The information professionals surveyed were motivated by duties to preservation and access to mitigate the impact of the information sector on the environment. However, sector-specific climate action, such as introducing passive storage conditions or decreasing collection sizes, is limited by insufficient resources, organisational hierarchies and cultures, sector support and a perceived conflict with the duty to preservation.

Originality/value

To date, there is a growing body of literature from other countries on archival practices and the natural environment. However, the UK in general and the records management sector in particular, have not yet fully engaged in the discussion. This study reviews these knowledge gaps for the UK information sector to appropriately respond to climate change.

中文翻译：

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地狱或高水位：英国档案、记录和文化遗产专业人士的气候行动

目的

本文旨在证明英国信息专业人员在环境可持续性和气候行动方面的观点，以促进合作行动。

设计/方法/方法

本研究采取解释主义立场。对档案和记录管理文献进行了研究，以确定信息部门内气候变化的关键主题。这些主题为调查中包含的研究问题提供了信息，该调查通过国家邮件列表向英国档案工作者、保护人员、记录管理人员和文化遗产专业人士发送。然后对结果进行编码和分析。该研究获得了伦敦大学学院的研究伦理和数据保护批准。

发现

本文以职业道德为框架，认为气候行动可以保护记录免受气候变化的影响，确保未来的访问。接受调查的信息专业人员的动机是保护和访问以减轻信息部门对环境的影响。然而，特定部门的气候行动，例如引入被动储存条件或减少收藏规模，受到资源不足、组织等级和文化、部门支持以及与保护义务的感知冲突的限制。

原创性/价值

迄今为止，来自其他国家的关于档案实践和自然环境的文献越来越多。然而，英国，尤其是档案管理部门，尚未完全参与讨论。本研究回顾了英国信息部门在适当应对气候变化方面的这些知识差距。