Job Description: Project Designer (Archivist/Librarian)
Project Title: Scoping and Strategic Plan for Community History Archive

Overview
COIF has received a £10,000 scoping and feasibility-study grant to initiate a community archive project. We are seeking an experienced and detail-oriented Project Archivist or Librarian to lead this initial phase. The primary objective is to assess the archival needs of multiple Community organisations, particularly the Findhorn Foundation, and to develop a high quality and comprehensive plan that will form the basis of a full grant application.

Our vision for the Community archive project is to preserve the history of the Findhorn Foundation and Community, and to make that history attractively available to the Community and the public, in digital form in a context that supports reflection on the values of the Community.

This role requires a blend of professional archival or library science expertise, project management skills, and the ability to work collaboratively with diverse Community groups and historical materials.

Background
Since the 1960s, documentation and artefacts about the Findhorn Foundation (FF) and Community’s activities have been created by individuals, FF departments and offshoot organisations. Stored variously in private and organisational hands, there is no master list of records.

In the late 1980s the National Library of Scotland approached the FF offering secure storage for historical materials. Since 1989, the FF has been sending documents, photographs, printed material, audio tapes, video and films for safekeeping. The unindexed ‘deposited collection’ includes roughly 32 running metres of paper and audio documents and ten banker’s boxes of photo negatives plus video and film stored separately.

In the early 2000s Mike Scott compiled The Living Record, a chronicle of the FF with a collection of transcripts and articles that form a good overview of the FF’s roots and development. This work offers a ready-made beginning for an accessible archive.

In recent years, Keith Armstrong digitised several FF publications, documents, audio tapes and videos. He created the beginnings of a digitised collection which still needs to be indexed and catalogued to be fully accessible.

In 2021 a group started building the COIF (Celebrating One Incredible Family) WordPress site which offers some historical material but is not suitable for a full scale archive. The COIF group has become the holder of the archival impulse at the Ecovillage Findhorn Community.

Much historical material is in the hands of related organisations and in private hands. With the recent demise of the FF, the remainder of its records are in storage on The Park site. Meanwhile, new material of historical value is accumulated every day as the community reorganises itself. Much of the new material is already in digital form and could be immediately incorporated into the archive.

Key Responsibilities
The Project Designer (Archivist/Librarian) will be responsible for the following key tasks:

• • Project Management and Planning
    • Develop a detailed project plan for setting up a Community Archive
    • Collate all information necessary for a comprehensive funding application
    • Preparation of funding application (might be delegated)
    • Manage timelines, resources, and deliverables to ensure the design project stays on track.
    • Communicate regularly with COIF liaison to enable regular updates to participating community organisations.
  • Scoping and Assessment
    • Conduct a comprehensive assessment of historical materials from multiple community organisations, including the extensive collection at the Findhorn Foundation.
    • Evaluate the physical and digital condition of various media, such as paper documents, photographs, negatives, slides, audio/video tapes, and born-digital content.
    • Identify existing archival practices (or lack thereof) within each organisation to determine baseline needs.
  • Strategy and Framework Design
  • Create a decision matrix to systematically evaluate each type of historical material. This matrix will help determine the appropriate next steps based on criteria such as:
    • Significance: Is the material essential to the community’s history?
    • Condition: Is it fragile, damaged, or at risk of loss?
    • Format: Is it a unique physical item or a digital file?
    • Ownership/Rights: Are there clear rights and permissions for its use and publication
  • Develop a clear strategy for the safeguarding of all relevant materials, including both physical and digital preservation methods.
  • Establish criteria for the digitisation of materials that should be converted for preservation and access. This will include identifying appropriate digital standards and file formats.
  • Propose suitable publication platforms for material intended for the public domain. This could involve recommending digital archives, online exhibitions, or other public-facing platforms.
  • Project Outputs
    • Survey of relevant Community organisations’ archival status
    • Implementation plan detailing all steps for the successful setting up of the Community Archive
    • Completed plan and Funding Application for grant to set up Community Archive

Required Qualifications and Skills

• • Professional experience in Archival Science, Library and Information Science, or a related field.
  • Proven experience in project management, ideally within a cultural, heritage, or non-profit setting.
  • Demonstrable knowledge of archival and preservation standards for both physical and digital materials.
  • Experience with metadata standards (e.g., Dublin Core) and content management systems.
  • Excellent communication, organisational, and interpersonal skills.
  • The ability to work independently, problem-solve, and manage multiple tasks simultaneously.
  • Familiarity with the National Lottery Heritage Fund or similar grant-making bodies to create a high-quality funding application

Introduction

From its earliest days, the Findhorn community has been documented through photographs capturing its people, celebrations, ecological innovations, and spiritual life. Many of these photographs have been gathered and are now stored digitally by Celebrating One Incredible Family (COIF) on a 2TB Google Drive.

This proposal outlines a plan to transform that collection into the Park Ecovillage Findhorn (PEF) Photo Library – a structured, accessible, and sustainable digital archive of the community’s visual heritage.

Purpose

The Photo Library will provide a single, central location to preserve and share the collective photographic history of PEF. It will:

• • Safeguard the community’s visual heritage for future generations.
  • Provide images for internal organisations to use in publications, exhibitions, education, and communications.
  • Support intergenerational storytelling, education, and creative expression. • Strengthen community identity by making its history more visible and accessible.

Aims and Objectives

The PEF Photo Library will:

• • Collect and preserve photographs that reflect the evolution and life of the Findhorn Community.
  • Ensure secure, long-term digital storage of images.
  • Establish clear metadata and cataloguing standards for usability and searchability.
  • Provide access to images for PEF organisations.
  • Celebrate and share heritage through curated albums, exhibitions, and community events.
  • Encourage ongoing contributions to create a living, evolving archive.

Scope of the Archive

The archive will include:

• • Historic photographs: founders, community members, early buildings, gardens, building projects, spiritual practices, festivals, and ecology initiatives.
  • Contemporary photographs: community life, events, environmental projects, and celebrations.
  • Thematic albums: e.g., The Early Years, Festivals and Celebrations, Ecological Innovation, Daily Life, People of Findhorn.

Future possibilities:

• • Expansion to include video and sound archives.
  • Collecting and digitising analogue photographs from private collections.
  • Pairing photographs with oral history recordings.

Technology and Workflow (Google Drive)

The existing 2TB Google Drive account will serve as the central digital archive.

Workflow

• • Collection
    • New contributions will be emailed to a dedicated contact address (e.g., submissions@oneincrediblefamily.org.uk).
    • Submitted photos are then added to the archive by the Photo Library volunteer(s).
  • Processing & Organisation
    • Volunteers review, rename, and tag files consistently (e.g.2025_BeltaneFestival_by_Mark_Richards.jpg).
    • Metadata spreadsheet records dates, events, people, and themes.
  • Archival Storage
    • High-resolution master copies stored securely.
    • Access copies created for sharing and viewing.
    • Regular backup procedures implemented to prevent data loss.
  • Access
    Access to the archive will be managed through a simple registration process for users.

Copyright, Consent, and Licensing

• • Contributors will complete a submission form confirming ownership and acceptance of licence terms.
  • Licence: CC0 1.0 Universal (public domain dedication).
  • Good practice: always credit photographers wherever possible.
  • Consent and privacy: special care will be taken with identifiable individuals, especially children. A take-down policy ensures that contested or sensitive images are handled respectfully.

Governance and Community Involvement

• • A Photo Library Coordinator (volunteer role) will oversee intake, metadata standards, access permissions, and long-term management.
  • A small advisory group (3–4 community members) will provide oversight, ensure continuity, and guide future development.
  • Volunteers will catalogue, add metadata, tag, etc.

Resources Required

• • Google Drive (2TB) – already in place.
  • Volunteers – cataloguing, metadata entry, processing.
  • Possible Future needs: scanner and digitisation equipment, AI-assisted tagging tools, training sessions for volunteers.

Expected Outcomes

• • A secure, centralised archive of PEF’s photographic history.
  • A resource for internal organisations (education, outreach, communications).
  • Long-term preservation of community heritage for future generations.
  • Opportunities for exhibitions, digital showcases, and community storytelling.
  • Strengthened community identity and connection across generations.

Next Steps

• • Appoint a Photo Library Coordinator and form an advisory group.
  • Approve contribution, licensing, consent, and take-down policies.
  • Design Google Drive folder structure and metadata template.
  • Pilot a registration and access system.
  • Launch a trial archive folder for internal use.
  • Evaluate pilot and expand gradually.
  • Seek out individuals who are called to help with cataloguing the existing photo database

Conclusion
The PEF Photo Library will be a living community archive, preserving photographs of the community’s past and present while making them accessible for its future. By building on the existing Google Drive infrastructure with clear policies, volunteer coordination, and sustainable workflows, the project can begin immediately in a cost-effective way.

This initiative will safeguard the collective memory of the Findhorn Community, celebrate its identity, and ensure its stories remain alive for generations to come.

***

A BIG Thank You! to Colin Wilson for this initial work. We hope to move this forward when the appropriate people and resources materialise.

Number of responses
358 emails were delivered, 258 opened the email. 45 readers participated in the survey (17.4% – this is not bad as a response rate in general for an unsolicited questionnaire but also not a fantastic engagement).

Section most likely to be read
Our News – 93%
Our Topic – 60%
Curator’s Choice – 24%
Community Quiz – 8%

Section least likely to be read
Community Quiz – 77%
Curator’s Choice – 18%
Our Topic – 4%

Clicking Hyperlinks
Yes – 75%

Which ones?
New Additions – 79%
Topic – 50%
Curator’s Choice – 38%
Family Announcements – 38%
Quiz – 6%

Are Hyperlinks easy to see?
6 respondents said NO

How often would you like to receive the COIF Newsletter?
4 times a year – 8%
6 times a year – 33%
8 times a year – 18%
12 times a year – 29%
Is there anything else you would like to tell us about the COIF Newsletter?

• • Brilliant initiative!
  • I Love it xxx
  • I have noticed that I never really look at the newsletter. It would be good, even though I live here, but it just does not happen. But I also do not want to unsubscribe. I could easily be that at some point I’d like a distance view on something the matters to me.
  • Have been very unaware of it – thought it related to the 60th birthday so haven’t noticed the emails
  • I love the personal stories best of all.
  • Thanks for creating and distributing!
  • A marvelous archive, though with so much coming my way via internet, I may not access it very often…..
  • Yes for me it would be great if you didn’t use COIF as the sender / name if it. Every time you send me an email I wonder who COIF is and why they are spamming me. Even now I cannot remember what it stands for despite having looked it up multiple times – could the title be something clearer / not an acronym?
  • No thanks
  • As I’ve only just subscribed I can’t answer a lot if your questions but look forward to reading news of Findhorn. Thank you Lee
  • Great contribution to building community for Findhorn lovers far and wide
    When we’ll meet again on ZOOM?
  • I would like to read more about the day to day life within the Findhorn Eco village .
  • No, thanks
  • warm regards – looking forward to the next newsletter
  • I think it will make a great archive if it remains permanently available .
  • COIF makes me think of hairdressing, not Findhorn. I have almost deleted the newsletter several times before I remembered. “Findhorn Family” or similar would be a better name, IMO.
  • Thank you, site growing nicely
  • Thank you for your effort to keep connecting us❣️even like me in the farest east!
  • I would like to thank you for your labours
  • I find it touching that those who work to make it happen are contributing to “community glue”.
    thanks for your work!
  • It’s lovely, you’re doing a great job!
  • Grateful for what you are doing. This work is a blessing.