Keeping cricket history online when volunteers change

A cricket club's history can be spread across scorebooks, programmes, team photographs, match reports and the files behind an old website. One volunteer may know where everything is, which caption needs checking and who supplied a particular scan. The next person needs that knowledge written down.

A useful handover makes three things possible: finding a record, understanding what it shows and recovering it if a website or storage account changes. Clubs and independent history groups can begin with a modest collection and a clear record of how it is managed.

Keep the website address and the archive separate

A domain name, a website platform and a collection of historical files are different parts of an online archive. Record who manages each one. Changing the website's address does not automatically move the files, and keeping the address registered does not preserve every document once published there.

A group researching an existing .uk or .co.uk address can use DomainSabre's resources on UK domain auctions to understand acquisition routes and transfer questions. DomainSabre publishes buying and research guidance while preparing its auction marketplace.

If an address is offered through a domain auction, establish exactly what the sale includes. A domain-only purchase does not automatically supply old scorecards, website files, photographs or permission to reproduce them. Plan the address and the historical collection as separate responsibilities.

Begin with the material already in your care

Make an inventory before reorganising folders or replacing a website. Identify the records held by the club or archive group, the copies held by individual volunteers and the sources that remain with outside publishers or collectors.

Useful starting points may include original scorebook scans, season summaries, fixture cards, programmes, newsletters and photographs. A published match report may refer to an attachment or image that is stored somewhere else, so check those connections as well.

Give priority to material that would be difficult to replace and to files whose location depends on one person's memory. Where the original remains with someone else, distinguish the copy you hold from the externally held original, and record its source and any agreed contact arrangements.

Give every item enough cricket context

A spreadsheet can provide a workable first catalogue. Give each item a reference that stays with it, then record enough information for another person to understand and locate it.

• Item reference: a unique identifier linked to the relevant files.
• Match or event: the teams, competition, venue or occasion, where established.
• Date and season: the event date, publication date and later scanning or upload date, kept distinct.
• Description: what the item contains and which details remain uncertain.
• Source: the creator, contributor or collection from which it came, as far as known.
• Location and use: where the original and digital copies are kept, with the current publication decision or restriction.

Preserve distinctions that matter to cricket records. A first-XI performance is different from a second-XI record; a proposed team in a programme is different from the side that actually played. Keep the relevant category and source beside the figure.

Our guide to photographs, scorebooks and archive collections explains why dates and captions need careful reading. If a season or identification has not been established, say so in the catalogue.

Preserve the original alongside the website version

Keep the original file you received and create separate working copies for editing or publication. A smaller photograph prepared for a web page may omit the edges, reverse-side notes or other information visible in the original scan.

Connect those versions through the item reference. Record significant changes, such as cropping an image or producing a transcription, so a later reader can distinguish the source from the work done to present it.

When moving between website platforms, inspect what an export contains. Check the text, photographs, downloadable documents, captions and links to external records. A file labelled as a website backup needs to be understood before anyone relies on it to recover the complete collection.

For transcribed scorecards or handwritten notes, keep the source image available to the people checking the transcription. Mark unclear characters or unresolved readings rather than silently filling the gaps.

Record publication rights with the material

The historical value of an item and permission to publish it are separate questions. The Intellectual Property Office explains that photographs are generally protected by copyright and that copying or sharing them online will usually require the rights holder's permission, unless a licence or relevant exception allows the use.

Record who supplied an image, what is known about its creator and the terms under which it may be reproduced. Keep any permission correspondence with the archive's administrative records and note the relevant conditions in the catalogue.

Possessing a print or receiving a scan does not automatically settle those questions. If an item is already published by its rights holder, a source link may provide a useful route for readers while reproduction permission is investigated.

Keep separate copies and check that they can be recovered

The Digital Preservation Coalition recommends keeping independent copies in different locations, using a mix of storage approaches and checking the material over time. Build those principles into a plan that the volunteers responsible can maintain.

Keep a managed working collection and separate backup copies, including a copy protected from changes made during everyday editing. An offline copy can help limit the effect of a deletion that spreads through synchronised folders.

Record where the copies are, who can access them and how restoration works. Check a selection of photographs, documents and attachments by recovering them to a separate location and opening them. Ask whoever manages the storage to include checks for unexpected changes or damaged files.

Include the catalogue, source notes and publication records in the preservation plan. Recovering a photograph without its caption or provenance can leave much of its historical usefulness behind.

A handover example: an undated team photograph

This example is fictional and does not describe a particular Langleybury photograph.

A departing volunteer has a full scan of a team photograph. The website displays a smaller crop, and its caption includes a season that the volunteer remembers but has not confirmed. The page was uploaded many years after the photograph was taken.

A useful handover connects the scan and crop under one item reference. It records the remembered season as an unconfirmed suggestion, preserves any original caption and identifies where the print came from. The upload date remains a separate piece of information.

The incoming volunteer can then look for supporting evidence, such as a dated programme or another documented image from the same occasion. The handover has preserved both the photograph and the question still needing an answer.

Prepare a short handover pack

Keep the instructions practical enough for someone to use without the departing volunteer beside them. The pack should identify:

• The collection: its scope, catalogue and main storage locations.
• The website: the publishing platform, supplier details and the process for making an authorised update.
• The domain: the registrar, renewal responsibility and the people authorised to manage it.
• The recovery process: the backup locations, restoration instructions and date of the most recent recovery check.
• The unfinished work: uncertain dates, missing captions, permissions awaiting clarification and records still to locate.

Transfer account access through the relevant services and keep passwords and recovery codes out of any public catalogue. Agree who will maintain the records, respond to corrections and review the arrangements when another volunteer takes over.

For readers following a historical claim, a source trail is just as useful as a well-organised file store. Our sources and research notes show how links to underlying records can sit alongside explanations of uncertainty.

Complete the handover with a practical exercise: ask the incoming volunteer to locate one photograph and one scorecard, explain where each came from and recover the relevant files. Any missing step becomes a specific task to finish while the knowledge is still available.