The Institute of Historic Building Conservation (IHBC) seeks a conservation specialist or service to identify, select, research, collate and prepare papers for our developing ‘IHBC Research Notes’, mostly based on existing IHBC information resources, with submissions to be received at admin@ihbc.org.uk before 17.00 on 13 December 2013 .
Context: Conservation is changing rapidly
As the lead professional body for built and historic environment conservation specialists, the IHBC needs a support service that will help us expand and develop our services and advocacy, and so ensure that we remain at the forefront as we support our diverse communities of interest. Those interests include in particular our members, but also the wide range of other users of our services – our suite of web sites has some ¼ million visits a month – as well as the wider public interests that participate in and benefit from our charitable operations.
Background: Whoever helps us develop the IHBC Research Notes will help us achieve even more!
Since the IHBC was established as a professional body in 1997, the organisation has revolutionised its role and standing across all our areas of operation. In particular, we now have a remarkable web-based infrastructure supporting our wide-ranging activities that include training support, educational programmes, research consultancy, event organisation & information management. These services have been built up around a rich and valued network of staff and volunteers who work through our national office and Branches and right across our UK operations.
More recently, the IHBC has carved out a specialist service niche that extends across the diverse disciplines that underpin successful conservation, from history and archaeology to management, planning, architecture, and development. Indeed our Linkedin site has a cross-section of members that maps well to our internal membership profile, with about 60% of members there leading conservation in planning, architecture, construction and development sectors.
At the same time dramatic changes have also swept across the sector, from the recent destruction of value in so much of the UK’s public conservation services to the dramatic expansion of specialist interest in conservation, as represented not least by the RIBA’s development of a conservation register.
From our earlier origins the IHBC has been keeping our members and wider sector interests informed of relevant, current and specialist issues, through our Branches, networks, publications, consultations and, more, recently through our NewsBlogs. Over this time we have developed also an extensive body of primary research from which a small sample of IHBC research notes – only two published to date– have been culled. It is on this body of information that we hope to build.
Today, with a new capacity underpinned by even more members and our own expanding services, we have the resources to build on our achievements. We want to secure additional capacity to help us continue to improve our research resources through our developing IHBC Research Notes.
Need: What you can do for us!
The Institute of Historic Building Conservation (IHBC) is looking to expand its research profile and now seeks a skilled conservation professional or service provider to help shape the institute’s research infrastructure by collating, drafting and helping deliver to our members a suite of new ‘IHBC Research Notes’ analysing current or recent conservation practice and based on existing, or more easily accessible, research data.
We are extremely fortunate in that we hold a body of material suitable for developing and/or recasting in the format of IHBC Research Notes, though at present we have only 2 such notes: LINK
We believe that an experienced conservation professional with excellent research and related credentials will be able to mine our resources, and as required add to them, to produce a suite of papers that will form the core of what will be a defining resource for IHBC members in the future.
The detail of the IHBC Research Notes will be agreed in discussion with the successful applicant and representatives of the IHBC, both staff and trustees. Priorities for content must reflect the range of activities relevant to our multidisciplinary membership while also anticipating the advocacy that the IHBC Research Notes will be able to achieve.
Service description: What you need to be able to do for us!
We anticipate that the successful service provider will supply copy-ready texts to standards according with current practice and in line with the programme principles agreed between the service provider and the IHBC. These may include, as appropriate, formal peer review.
We anticipate that the work at this stage will consist primarily of secondary research, primarily developing format, themes and content that together facilitate easy access to our existing information. Primary research will become a priority at a later date.
It is important to appreciate that, as a charity, the institute works closely in partnership with its service providers and consultants, benefiting substantially from efficiencies that mutual trust and respect consistently deliver. We would expect such practices to serve as a model for the new service sought here.
Application Stage 1: First notes of interest
To apply to deliver this service please submit your note of interest in the form of a cover letter alongside a CV or other comparable statement of credentials; one report, article or paper etc., that reflects what you consider you have to offer, and a list of FIVE potential future topic titles that you think you could use to demonstrate the range, finish and capacity that you can bring to this critical consultancy service for the IHBC.
Applications, in the form of notes of interest, should be emailed to Lydia Porter, IHBC Administrator, at admin@ihbc.org.uk, to arrive before 17.00 hours on 13 December 2013.
Currently we anticipate responses to applicants to be circulated early in 2014, or possibly sooner depending on interest.
Application Stage 2: Service assessment
Successful applicants from Stage 1 will be asked to draft an IHBC Research Note based on data supplied, with details to be confirmed.
Queries
Queries on issues not covered here may be sent to director@ihbc.org.uk
Indicative criteria for IHBC Research Notes service support
- ·Informed in breadth and depth by UK policy and practice relevant to IHBC’s membership profile
- ·Knowledge and understanding of the heritage sector
- ·Capacity to write in accordance with current and evolving practice in the ‘IHBC Research Notes’
- ·Commitment to developing the resource
- ·Awareness of heritage policy and wider related agendas
- ·Membership of the IHBC, or other relevant professional body
- ·Ability to write based on the rapid identification, assimilation and interpretation of information
- ·Practical ability and business capacity to work to strict weekly deadlines
- ·Ability to the take the initiative in developing the resource
Terms
- ·Work from agreed location (not IHBC)
- ·Delivery of agreed programme of IHBC Research Notes, in timely fashion and appropriate format
- ·Monthly invoicing: the rates payable will be on a monthly retention basis
- ·The IHBC will review the situation at 6-month intervals, while service providers should ensure they are able to carry out this work for the next year with a view to continuing beyond that.
- ·Copyright, and all rights in the nature of copyrights in so far as they apply, in the material produced in the performance and during the currency of the contract shall remain with The Institute of Historic Building Conservation.
For the IHBC’s Research Notes see: LINK
For other sample IHBC research and resources please follow the links from: LINK
