When and why is a collection 'hidden'? Awakening interest in the Hornung Papers at West Sussex Record Office

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Periodical article

Title:	When and why is a collection 'hidden'? Awakening interest in the Hornung Papers at West Sussex Record Office
Author:	Court, Nichola
Year:	2013
Periodical:	African Research and Documentation (ISSN 0305-862X)
Issue:	121
Pages:	21-33
Language:	English
Geographic terms:	Mozambique Great Britain
Subjects:	archives enterprises colonial period
Abstract:	This paper uses the Hornung Papers, deposited at West Sussex Record Office in 2009, to demonstrate that an online presence is not, on its own, enough to bring specialist collections to prominence. The Hornung Papers comprise the administrative records of Hornung & Co. Ltd., whose primary concern was a swathe of sugar plantations in the Zambesia region of Portuguese East Africa (now Mozambique), which eventually became known as the Sena Sugar Estates. Given the success, extent and impact of the business, and the fact that the majority of the records pertaining to the business apparently have not survived, the collection held at West Sussex Record Office has wide research potential. However, it is largely unused and remains - despite its online presence - a 'hidden collection'. The paper examines the reasons for this, which are broadly divided into two categories: repository (recource)-specific factors, and collection-specific factors. To 'unhide' the collection, sufficient resources, effective promotion, and advocacy are of paramount importance. Notes, ref. [ASC Leiden abstract]