G.1 Organisations #
| ACAO | Association of County Archaeological Officers. |
| ADAO | Association of District Archaeological Officers. |
| ADS | Archaeology Data Service: provides services for the AHDS relating to digital resources that are created as a product of archaeological research, in collaboration with national and local agencies. |
| AGI | Association for Geographical Information. |
| AHDS | Arts and Humanities Data Service: funded by the academic community to collect, catalogue and preserve digital data and distribute these for use in teaching and research. |
| ALGAO UK | Association of Local Government Archaeological Officers. |
| ANSI | American National Standards Institute. |
| ARIA | Association of Regional and Island Archaeologists. ARIA represented the most senior archaeologists employed by or for local planning authorities in Scotland , but in 2006 merged with colleagues from England and Wales to form ALGAO UK. |
| ASLIB | Association for Information Management: promotes best practice in management of information resources. |
| ATF | Archaeology Training Forum. |
| BECTA | British Education Communications and Training Agency. |
| BGS | British Geological Survey |
| BIAB | British and Irish Archaeological Bibliography: an annual indexed list of archaeological publications for Great Britain and Ireland maintained by the CBA, with funding from national heritage agencies and others. |
| BTCV | British Trust for Conservation Volunteers. |
| Cadw | Cadw (Welsh for ‘to keep’) is the historic environment division within the Welsh Assembly Government with responsibility for protecting, conserving and promoting an appreciation of the historic environment of Wales. |
| CBA | Council for British Archaeology. |
| CCN | Countryside Character Network. |
| CHNTO | Cultural Heritage National Training Organisation, formerly the MTI. |
| CIDOC | Comitte International pour la Documentation, Conseil International des Musees: the Documentation Committee of the International Council of Museums. |
| COSLA | Convention of Scottish Local Authorities. COSLA is the representative voice of Scottish local government and also acts as the employer’s association on behalf of all Scottish Councils. |
| CREE | Contextual Resource Evaluation Environment consortium. |
| CSA | Council for Scottish Archaeology. The CSA is a voluntary membership organisation that works to secure the archaeological heritage of Scotland for its people through education, promotion and support. |
| CUCAP | Cambridge University Collection of Aerial Photrographs maintained by the Landscape Modelling Unit (formerly Cambridge University Committee on Aerial Photography): a body which has been involved in undertaking aerial-photographic surveys for archaeological and environmental research and management and which holds an important collection of air photographs. |
| CyMAL | Museums Archives and Libraries Wales. |
| DCLG | Department for Communities and Local Governement. |
| DCMS | Department for Culture, Media and Sport. |
| DEFRA | Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. DEFRA was created in June 2001 from the then Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF) and from the environmental and countryside business areas of the then Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (DETR). |
| DETR | Department of Environment, Transport and the Regions. |
| DoE | Department of the Environment. |
| EAC | Europae Archaeologiae Consilium |
| EEA | European Economic Area: includes all member states of the European Union plus some countries with associated status. |
| EEC | European Economic Community. |
| ENGAGE | National Association for Gallery Education. |
| ESRI | GIS and mapping software supplier which produces the Arc suit of products. |
| EU | European Union. |
| English Heritage (EH) | (The Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission): the statutory body which achieves, enables and promotes conservation of the historic environment in England. |
| English Nature | The statutory body which achieves, enables and promotes nature conservation in England. |
| exeGesIS SDM Ltd | A commercial company which specialises in desktop mapping and text database solutions for conservation, environmental and local government organisations including the HER application HBSMR. |
| FISH | Forum on Information Standards in Heritage (formerly FISHEN): a working party established to decide on terminology and develop wordlists and thesauri to be used in association with the MIDAS units of information. |
| FWAG | Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group. |
| GEM | Group for Education in Museums. |
| HECAS | Historic Environment Advisory Council for Scotland. |
| HEAVS | Historic Environment Advsroy Council for Scotland. The Council provides independent strategic advice to Scottish Ministers on issues affecting the historic environment. |
| HEIRNET | Historic Environment Information Resources Network: a consortium of UK bodies hosted by the CBA seeking to co-ordinate inter-operability between information systems relating to the historic environment. |
| HER Forum | Historic Environment Records Forum, co-ordinated by English Heritage and ALGAO (and formerly named SMR Forum), is a discussion forum for HER professionals. Discussions are held through an e-mail discussion list and twice-yearly meetings. Its Newsletter HER News is now part of the Heritage Gateway. |
| Historic Scotland | Historic Scotland is an Agency within the Scottish Executive Education Department and is directly responsible to Scottish Ministers for safeguarding the nation’s built heritage, and promoting its understandjng and enjoyment. |
| HLF | Heritage Lottery Fund. |
| lcomos | International Council on Monuments and Sites: the international body responsible for preparing reports on sites proposed for inclusion on the World Heritage list for consideration by the World Heritage Committee. |
| IFA | Institute of Field Archaeologists: is the professional organisation for archaeologists in the United Kingdom. It promotes professional standards and ethics for conserving, managing, understanding and promoting enjoyment of heritage. |
| IGGI | Inter Governmental Group on Geographic Information. |
| IHBC | Institute of Historic Building Conservation. IHBC is the professional institute which represents conservation professionals in the public and private sectors in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The Institute exists to establish the highest standards of conservation practice to support the effective protection and enhancement of the historic environment. |
| liP | Investors in People: the national standard for investing in all employees. It was drawn up after research into the UK's most successful organisations found common factors in their success: good communication, effective planning, and valuing every member of staff. |
| ISO | International Standards Organisation. |
| LaMIS | Land Management Information Service. |
| LGA | Local Government Association. The LGA promotes the interests of English and Welsh local authorities. It aims to put local councils at the heart of the drive to improve public services and to work with government to ensure that the policy, legislative and financial context in which they operate supports that objective. |
| LGMB | Local Government Management Board. |
| LSC | Learning and Skills Council.The LSC is responsible for funding and planning education and training for over 16-year-olds in England |
| mda | A UK-wide organisation which supports the development and application of cultural information-management standards for museums and similar organisations (formerly the Museums Documentation Association). |
| MAFF | Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. |
| MGC | Museums and Galleries Commission: the national body with responsibility for promoting standards in museums. The MGC was replaced by MLAC and then renamed Resource: The Council for Museums, Archives and Libraries in April 2000. |
| MLA | Museums, Libraries and Archives Council: established to replace the former MGC on 1 April 2000 and immediately renamed Resource: The Council for Museums, Archives and Libraries, The name Resouce has since been droPped in favour of MLA. MLA is the strategic body working with and for museums, archives and libraries, tapping the potential for collaboration between them. The organisation replaces the Museums and Galleries Commission (MGC) and the Library and Information Commission (LIC) and now includes archives within its portfolio. |
| MOD | Ministry of Defence. |
| MSC | Manpower Services Commission: a government agency which funded programmes with the aim of giving work experience to people who had been unemployed for long periods of time. Many local government organisations ran MSC-funded schemes to capture information into SMRs. |
| MTI | Museums Training Institute, later CHNTO. |
| Natural England | Natural England brings together English Nature, the Countryside Agency and the Rural Development Service. |
| NISO | National Information Standards Organisation. |
| NMGW | National Museums and Galleries of Wales. |
| NMRE | National Monuments Record (England): an information resource for England's historic environment established by the RCHME and now maintained by English Heritage. The NMR contains major collections of aerial photographs, ground photographs of buildings and archaeological monuments, plans, sketches and drawings and databases of monuments, events and archives. |
| NMRS | National Monuments Record for Scotland. |
| NMRW | National Monuments Record (Wales) |
| NOF | New Opportunities Fund: one of the agencies established by the Government to distribute funds from the National Lottery. |
| NoSAS | North of Scotland Archaeological Service. |
| ODPM | Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, see DCLG |
| OS | Ordnance Survey. |
| OS Archaeology Division | The division of the Ordnance Survey, established by O G S Crawford in the 1930s, which identified and recorded archaeological sites and monuments for inclusion on Ordnance Survey maps. |
| OUCA | Oxford University Committee for Archaeology |
| Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) | Established by the DCMS with the British Museum to promote the recording of archaeological objects found by metal-detector users and others. |
| Public Record Office | The national organisation responsible for curating archive collections that include national government papers. |
| RAF | Royal Air Force: the RAF has been engaged in aerial photography and other remote-sensing techniques since its inception. In the ten years after World War II, the RAF undertook routine aerial-survey programmes to produce vertical photographs for use by the OS in mapmaking. |
| RCHME | Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England: the national body established by Royal Warrant in 1908 to compile a record of ancient and historical monuments in England and make recommendations concerning their preservation. In 1999, the RCHME was merged with English Heritage. |
| RCAHMS | Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland. |
| RCAHMW | Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales. |
| RDA | Regional Development Agency. |
| Resource | Resource: The Council for Museums, Archives and Libraries: established as MLAC in April 2000 and later launched with a new name. This national body replaces the former MGC and takes on national responsibilities for libraries and archives. a second name change has since occurred and the organisation is now known as MLA. |
| RNIB | Royal National Institute for the Blind |
| RNID | Royal National Institute for the Deaf |
| SCAUM | Standing Conference of Archaeological Unit Managers. |
| SCONUL | Society of College, National and University Libraries |
| SDD | Scottish Development Department |
| SMR | Sites and Monuments Record. |
| SMR Forum (Scotland) | A forum formed in order to implement the recommendations of the Baker Report (1999) in Scotland’s 18 SMRs. |
| U3A | University of the Third Age |
| UNESCO | United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation: a specialised agency of the UN which works to preserve our cultural heritage, bringing together those who can help all nations set the course towards co-operation, development and peace. |
| WAG | Welsh Assembly Government. |
| WAT | Welsh Archaeological Trusts. |
| WI | Womens Institute. |
| WoSAS | West of Scotland Archaeological Service. |
| XML UK | United Kingdom Forum for Structured Information Standards |
| YAC | Young Archaeologists Club. |
G.2 Projects and information resources#
| AIP | Archaeological Investigations Project: an English Heritage funded project which monitors archaeological fieldwork generated through planning advice as a result of PPG 16. |
| Archive | ‘The documents created or received and accumulated by a person or organisation in the course of the conduct of affairs and preserved because of their long-term value’ (International Council on Archives). |
| ARENA | Archaeological Records of Europe Network Access: a project to search for archaeological sites and monuments from six European countries: UK, Denmark, Norway, Iceland, Romania and Poland. The UK is represented in the project by the ADS. |
| ASPIRE | Archaeological Standard Protocol for the Integrated Reporting of Events (Scotland) |
| BAR | British Archaeological Reports. |
| BAR | Buildings at Risk. |
| CANMAP | A map enabled query system for Canmore. |
| Canmore | Canmore is the name given to the RCAHMS database. It contains details of c.250,000 archaeological sites, monuments, buildings and maritime sites in Scotland, together with an index to the drawings, manuscripts and photogrphs ion the NMRS collections. Images of some of the photographs or drawings in the collection are also available in Canmore. Searches can be made on name, location, site type or collection, or by using the Canmore mapping service, CANMAP. |
| CARN (Wales) | Core Archaeological Record Index. CARN is being developed as the public entry point to the Extended National Database for Wales, a national information resource for archaeology and architecture compiled by archaeological organisations across Wales. |
| CIS | Countryside Information System |
| Coflein | Coflein is the online databse for the National Monuments Record of Wales (NMRW) – the national collection of information about the historic environment of Wales. The name is derived from the Welsh cof (memory) and lein (line) |
| CORINE | Land cover data. |
| DOB | CBA's Defence of Britain project. |
| EAB | Environmental Archaeology Bibliography. |
| ELC | European Landscape Convention |
| ELS | Entrry Level Agri-Environment Scheme |
| END | Extended National Database for Wales |
| Environmental record | Records of the natural environment. |
| Environmental Stewardship | Includes Entry-level Scheme (ELS) and Higher Level Scheme (HLS) in England, Tir Cynnal and Tir Gofal (in Wales) and Rural Stewardhsip Scheme in Scotland. Environmental Stewardship schemes are agri-environment schemes which provide funding to farmers and other land managers who deliver effective environmental management on their land. |
| ESA | Environmentaly Sensitive Area. |
| Excavation Index | English Heritage's record of archaeological interventions in England maintained by the NMR |
| HBR | Historic Buildings Records: a name used for local-authority records providing an information-management tool for both listed buildings and other buildings of local and regional historical interest. |
| HELM | Historic Environment – Local Management./ HELM provides accessible information, training and guidance to decision makers in local authoritirs, regional agencies and national organisations whose actions affect the historic environment. Working with key partners, HELM aims to provide the tools to manage change in the historic environment with increased skill and confidence. English Heritage promotes the need for properly resourced and actively consulted historic environment departments, conservation officers, archaeologists and historic environment records. More than 40% of local authorities have now appointed historic environment champions to provide leadership on heritage issues. |
| HER | Historic Environment Record: a name used for records which provide an information-management tool for both archaeology and historic buildings. |
| HER News | Former newsletter of the HER Forum, published twice a year by English Heritage now part of the Heritage Gateway. |
| Heritage Gateway | English Heritage is currently co-ordinating a project in partnership with ALGAO and the IHBC to build a ‘Heritage Gateway’ This will act as a portal to the resources of English Heritage including the new Heritage Protection Reform (HPR) Register of Historic Sites and Buildings of England (RHSBE), the National Monuments Record (NMRE) and local authority Historic Environment Records (HERs) and the wider sector (including national and thematic recording projects) by facilitating distributed searches to provide a rich and diverse experience to users wishing to explore England’s archaeological and architectural heritage. |
| HLA | Historic Landuse Assessment: an analysis of past and present land use in Scotland |
| HLAMAP | HLAMAP is a web-based presentation of HLA data for Scotland that allows the user to view the data by Historic Land-use Type, Period or Category as well as by Relict Period and to print out a report of any selected area. |
| HLC | Historic landscape characterisation: English Heritage programme to inform landscape-conservation strategies in the context of planning and agricultural policies. It is aimed at ascertaining and presenting the historic character of the present day landscape, in a form which accurately represents the complexity of the evidence. |
| HLS | Higher Level Agri-Environment Scheme. |
| HPR | Heritage Protection Review. |
| IFP | Informing the Future of the Past. |
| ILFA | Inspiring Learning For All: an MLA produced framework that enables the ways in which museums, archives and libraries engage users in learning to be examined and evaluated. |
| Images of England | Images of England is an EH, HLF funded project to put a photograph of every Listed Building on the internet |
| IRIS | Association for Industrial Archaeology's 'Index Record for Industrial Sites'. |
| ISBN | International Standard Book Number. |
| LBS | English Heritage's Listed Building System: a computer database of the List of Buildings of special architectural or historical interest. |
| LCA | Landscape Character Assessment. (See also HLC above) |
| LCT | Landscape Character Types |
| LHI | Local Heritage Initiative: a national grant scheme funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and the Nationwide Building Society to help people care for their local landscape, landmarks and traditions. The national scheme followed Countryside Agency pilot projects, which ranged from lime-kilns to local histories, wildlife sites to walls and way marks. |
| Macaulay | Institute which researches the interactions between society and land use. |
| MAGIC | Multi-Agency Geographic Information for the Countryside: this brings together spatial information form a number of key environmental schemes and designations from six government organisations. The MAGIC partners are: DEFRA (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs), English Heritage, Natural England, Environment Agency, Forestry Commission, Department for Communities and Local Government.. |
| MARS | Monuments at Risk Survey: funded by English Heritage and run by Bournemouth University. |
| MPP | Monuments Protection Programme: an English heritage programme of site evaluation with the aim of adding to the schedule of nationally important Scheduled Monuments. |
| NAR | National Archaeological Record: based on the card index developed by the OS's Archaeology Division, formerly maintained by the RCHME and later incorporated into the NMR. |
| NLAP | National Library of Air Photographs: a collection of vertical and oblique aerial photographs providing complete national coverage of England. Maintained by the NMR. |
| NMP | National Mapping Programme: an English Heritage project to map the archaeological resource known from aerial photography and to provide a more reliable framework for classifying and dating sites. |
| National Heritage Datasets | A series of computer-based records maintained by English Heritage, including: National Monuments Record (the AMIE database); Record of Scheduled Monuments (RSM database); List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest (LBS database); Register of Parks and Gardens; Battlefields Register; Buildings at Risk Register; Protected Wrecks and list of World Heritage Sites. |
| OASIS | On-line Access to the Index of Archaeological Interventions: a partnership project between English Heritage and the ADS funded by the Research Support Libraries Programme. |
| OGAR | Online Guide to Archaeological Reasearch: maintained by the CBA. |
| Pastmap | A map enabled query system for Scottish National Archaeological and Architectural Datasets. |
| PastScape | Online resource developed by English Heritage’s National Monuments Record (NMR) which provides an easy-to-use way to find information about many of England’s ancient and historical sites, buildings and monuments. The information within PastScape is taken directly from the NMR’s national historic environment database. These records contain descriptions of any interesting archaeological details, pictures (where available) and links to maps and aerial photographs on other websites. |
| PLANARCH | Planning and Archaeology in North West Europe, european funded progect. |
| Research frameworks | An assessment of land use, settlement, environment, economy and society in a regional context which provide a framework for curation, decision-making and research. |
| RSLP | Reasearch Support Libraries Programme: a national initiative, funded by the four higher education funding bodies to bring together both forms of access to library information, with specific reference to support for research. |
| RSM | Record of Scheduled Monuments: maintained by English Heritage. An RSM number identifies a scheduled monument within that system. |
| SCAPE | Scottish Coastal Archaeology and the Problem of Erosion. |
| SCRAN | Scottish Cultural Resources Access Network. |
| SWAD | Scottish Wetland Archaeological Database. |
| Ty Gofal | All Wales Agri-Environment Scheme. |
| TORC | Training Online Resource Centre. |
| UAD | Urban Archaeological Database. |
G.3 Legislation and conservation measures#
| AONB | Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. |
| Conservation area | An area of historical and architectural character whose boundaries have been designated in local plans. Local planning authorities have special planning powers covering these areas which aim to preserve and enhance their character. |
| Conservation plan | A plan produced by a local authority which identifies a conservation area and sets out plans for preserving and enhancing it. A Conservation Plan provides a single approach to understanding and managing the cultural significance of a place. It explains why a site is significant and how that significance will be retained in any future use, alteration, development or repair. The same approach can be used for historic gardens, landscapes, buildings, archaeological sites, collections or even a ship and is particularly relevant when a site has more than one type of heritage. |
| DC | Development Control. |
| DDA | Dissabilities Discrimination Act: 1995 Act of Parliament seting out equal rights of the dissabled. |
| DPA | Data Protection Act: 1998 Act of Parliament setting out the obligations of the holders of personal data to the subjects of that data. |
| EIR | Environmental Information Regulations, 2004. |
| ELS | Entry Level Agri-Environment Scheme. |
| ESA | Environmentally Sensitive Area (designated by MAFF). |
| HLS | Higher Level Agri-Environment Scheme. |
| FOI | Freedom of Information Act, 2000. |
| HPR | Heritage Protection Review |
| Listed buildings | Buildings of special architectural or historical interest included in the Lists published by the DCMS. |
| Listing | The process of identifying buildings of architectural or historical interest and publishing them on the Listed Buildings list. |
| NPPG | National Planning Policy Guideline (Scotland) |
| PaG | See Registered Parks and Gardens also used as short hand for the Parks and Gardens Registraion System. |
| PAN | Planning Advice Note (Scotland) |
| PPG | Planning Policy Guidance Note: a series of guidance notes issued by the DoE identifying issues to be taken into consideration by local planning authorities. (England) |
| Protected Wreck | These are wreck sites in UK waters which have been identified and designated for protection by the DCMS. |
| Registered Battlefields | A register of battlefields of special historical interest, to draw attention to the importance of these sites. For English battlefields it has been compiled by English Heritage. |
| Registered Parks and Gardens | A register of parks and gardens of special historical interest, to draw attention to the importance of these sites. For parks and gardens in England it has been compiled by English Heritage. Parks and Gardens dating from 1939 or earlier are included in the register and the gardens are graded (I, II* or II) to indicate their interest. |
| RHSBE | Register of Historic Sites and Buildings of England, the new protection register proposed in HPR. |
| RIGS | Regionally Important Geological Sites. |
| ROW | Rights of Way, footpaths and other routes along which members of the public have the right to pass. |
| RR(A)A | Race Relations Amendment Act, 2000. |
| RSS | Regional Spatial Strategy. |
| SAM | Scheduled Ancient Monument: Scotland and Wales (for Emgland see SM). |
| SDA | Sex Discrimination Act, 1975. |
| Scheduling | The process of identifying, assessing, reviewing and recommending monuments to the Secretary of State fbr Culture, Media and Sport for the purpose of inclusion in the Schedule of Monuments. Scheduling of monuments in England is currently incorporated in the Monuments Protection Programme. |
| SM | Scheduled Monument (England), formerly Scheduled Ancient Monument (SAM): a monument included in the Schedule of Monuments and protected under the terms of the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979. For Scotland and Wales see SAM. |
| SPP | Scotish Planning Policy: guidance issued by the Scottish Executive. |
| SSSI | Sites of Special Scientific Interest. |
| Statutory instrument | Any designation to which the Statutory Instruments Act 1946 applies. |
| SEA | Strategic Environment Assesment |
| TAN | Technical Advice Note (Scotland): guidance produced by Historic Scotland. |
| Also Technical Advice Notes (Wales) which supplement "Planning Guidance (Wales): Planning Policy". | |
| TPO | Tree Preservation Order. |
| Treasure Act | The 1996 Act that defines which finds or objects should be reported to local coroners as Treasure. |
| UDP | Urban Development Plan (Wales). |
| WHS | World Heritage Site: A site which is identified on the list of cultural and natural properties protected under the UNESCO Convention on World Heritage agreed by the World Heritage Committee. |
G.4 General#
| Adoption of the HER | Refers to the adoption by a local authority of a HER as the information resource on which planning decisions concerning the archaeological environment will be based |
| AIFA | Associate member of the Institute of Field Archaeologists. |
| BestValue | A national Government initiative which sets out a duty for local authorities 'to deliver services to clear standards, covering both cost and quality, by the most effective, economic and efficient means available' (IDEA 2000). |
| BVPI | Best Value Performance Indicator. |
| Codes of Practice | Guidance notes issued by trade associations, professional associations and the like, regarding the conduct of their members. |
| CPA | Continuous Performance Assessment |
| CPD | Continuous Professional Development |
| Co-operation Statement | A 1998 statement on behalf of the RCHME, ALGAO and English Heritage setting out the current position relating to SMRs and a shared vision for their future development (RCHME, ALGAO and English Heritage 1998). |
| HEIRS | Historic Environment Information Resources: organisations with information systems relating to archaeology and the historic environment. |
| HER | Historic Environment Record. |
| HWM | High Water Mark. |
| Lead Role | Refers to the lead role in respect of HERs in England for national Government currently held by English Heritage. |
| LGR | Local Government Reorganisation. |
| MIFA | Member of the Institute of Field Archaeologists. |
| NOS | National Occupational Standards, form the basis of the Government's strategy for vocational qualifications and training. |
| PDP | Personal Development Plan |
| Public Enquiry | A process in which evidence may be presented by members of the public and other parties to an official body for review and for their recommendations. The location of new developments (such as roads or airports) is an example of a subject which may go to public enquiry. |
| PIFA | Practitioner member of the Institute of Field Archaeologists. |
| SMR | Sites and Monuments Record, now know as HERs particularly in England, some individual records still use the title SMR. |
| SMR Assessment Report | Report commissioned by ALGAO from David Baker, with funding from the RCHME, giving an assessment of the condition of SMRs in England in 1998 (Baker 1999a). David Baker produced Simillar reports for Scotland and Wales. |
| Walsh Committee | The 1968 Committee of Enquiry into the arrangements for the Protection of Field Monuments by County Planning Authorities. |
| Walsh report | The report prepared by the Walsh Committee and published in 1969. |
