Stannington Sanatorium Project

End of the Stannington Sanatorium Project

21/12/202031/07/2015 by Stannington Sanatorium Project

The Stannington Project has been running for the past year but will be coming to an end this week. Over the course of the year we have catalogued all the patient files and the associated administrative files from the sanatorium. We now know that there are 5041 individual patient files and 14,671 corresponding radiographic images. Now that they have all been fully catalogued it is very easy for us to locate files and match them up to their associated radiographs, this is particularly important when dealing with requests from former patients who want to see their own files. The level of detail included in the listing of patient files makes it a useful resource for academic research and allows for the easy selection of relevant cases. Another major part of the project has been the digitisation of all the radiographs and early case files, which is now complete, and discussed in more detail in our previous blog post. The full catalogue and the attached images can all be viewed through the Archive’s online catalogue.

Working through the records over the past year we’ve learnt a lot about how TB affected children in the mid-20th century and some of the individual stories have been fascinating. We hope everyone’s enjoyed reading our blog posts as much as we’ve enjoyed writing them, and keep a look-out for future updates on Stannington and more posts from the WWI Project.

Thank you for reading!

Digitisation of Stannington

21/12/202027/07/2015 by Stannington Sanatorium Project

A major part of the Stannington Sanatorium Project has been to digitise the radiographs held within the collection, along with early case files and the significant amount of photographic material. The digitisation has taken many months, transferring 14,663 microfiche x-ray copies and original x-rays and 949 patient case files into a digital format using a digital SLR camera. These images have subsequently been redacted, removing any identifying information and thus creating completely anonymised digital images.

Archival digitisation is utilised as a means of protecting original records and preventing further deterioration. Through the creation of a digital surrogate original documents need not be produced as frequently, therefore prevent the risk of further damage to originals caused by regular handling. It also aids in the making of the records more widely accessible. By creating a digital image it is possible to utilise a number of internet resources, including social media, as a means of reaching beyond those who can physically visit the archive. Throughout the Stannington Sanatorium Project we have used a range of social media sites, such as Facebook and Twitter, as well as making use of widely accessed sites like Flickr to disseminate information covered by the collection.

The Stannington Collection, a collection pertaining to a children’s tuberculosis hospital encompassing both clinical and non-clinical records, is very specific in its own nature. As a result it has generated much interest from many fields of the academic community. Through the production of anonymised digital copies, academics can access records which, without redaction, would otherwise be unavailable under data protection law. This allows the records to be more widely disseminated as a teaching tool; a means for continuing research into tuberculosis and a way of understanding our not so distance past.

With the final stages of the digitisation process nearing completion, we have succeeded in our aims to open up this fascinating collection to those in the local area and beyond, and as a resource for future research. Copies of the images can now be viewed and purchased (if required) from Northumberland Archives electronic catalogue.

To view our Flickr stream follow this link: https://www.flickr.com/photos/99322319@N07/albums

Stannington Project Party

21/07/2015 by Stannington Sanatorium Project

Yesterday afternoon we welcomed many of the former patients and staff from Stannington Sanatorium to the Study Centre at Northumberland Archives where they were able to see the results of our latest project. Many of them had visited before as part of an oral history project last year but for some it was their first visit to see the records of Stannington Sanatorium. We were able to explain to them how the files had now been fully catalogued and organised in such a way that if any of them wished to see their own patient file this could be achieved with relative ease. They all also offered up their support to the idea of the patient files being used in the future to facilitate academic research.

With plenty of tea and cake around it was a good opportunity for former patients to meet and chat about their experiences of their time in Stannington and more importantly it was fantastic for us to finally be able to meet some of the people whose records we’ve spent so long working with and see the real people behind the fascinating story of Stannington. One former patient in particular, Betty Jewitt, also very kindly deposited some photographs she had from Stannington, which will now be held in the archive and available for the public to view.

The press were in attendance and Stannington featured on yesterday evening’s Look North and you can see a clip from this on the BBC website: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tyne-33604134 Stannington will also soon feature in the local newspapers, so look out there for more! There were a series of banners on display yesterday for everyone to read about the history of Stannington and we hope to see these tour local venues in the north east shortly and will let you all know where they’ll be going and when.

A big thank you to everyone that came along!

+ More