Master’s student Rachel has spent 20 days working in the Library as part of her placement on the Revans Collection for Action Learning. Reginald Revans, a key figure in the development of action learning, left behind a wealth of materials, including hand-drawn graphs and tables. During his lectures, he frequently used flip charts to present facts and figures in a clear and accessible way.
Through this project, Rachel has had the unique opportunity to engage directly with these historical documents, gaining valuable insights into Revans’ contributions to education and leadership. In this interview, she discusses the significance of the Revans collection, reflects on her experience working with the archive, and shares some of the fascinating discoveries that have made this journey both enriching and inspiring.
Background and role
Tell us a bit about your background and what interests you about archives and special collections?
I’m currently studying for a Masters’ degree in Library and Archive Studies at the University of Manchester. My undergraduate degree was in English Language and Literature at the University of Leeds. During my undergrad degree, I often visited the Special Collections at the university and this is where I fell in love with archives.
I love how archives can let us see into the lives of people who are maybe long gone, or into places that have changed. I am particularly interested in ‘ephemera’, which is material that was never intended to be kept for a long time. This could include brochures, tickets, or adverts – all things that might not have been considered culturally or historically important at the time, but in hindsight can give us an insight into a particular time or culture.
What is your role in the project, and what are your main responsibilities?
For my placement, I was given the task of researching and promoting the Revans Collection for Action Learning. I started by reading about Reginald Revans and his career to find out more about the collection. He’s a really fascinating character – he apparently met Einstein during his studies at Cambridge and his principles of action learning were inspired by watching nuclear physicists hold seminars to develop their ideas. He was also an Olympic long jumper!
After researching Revans and digging around in the collection, I created metadata for the flipcharts that have been digitised. The images and data were then uploaded onto Salford Digital Archives and I have been working on the web content and promotion for this collection. I’ve been reaching out to academics and history societies that may benefit from the collection and I’ve had some really positive responses.
Experience and process
Describe the archive collection you are working on. What makes it unique or significant?
When I initially heard about the collection I’d be working on, I didn’t think I would engage much with it. Business and economics are not my strong points! But as I learned about Revans’ life and read about his career and his ideas behind action learning, I have found myself really drawn to this collection and wanting to find out more about action learning.
So much can be learned from Revans’ flipcharts. He collected and plotted quantitative data meticulously, but he also focused on qualitative data. Many of the flipcharts aren’t just about facts and figures of workplaces, they’re also about opinions and attitudes of workers. Action learning is an approach to business which encourages communication through all levels of a business hierarchy, not just orders from the top.
The way the flipcharts are drawn is really unique. Even though they span decades, Revans had a particular format he used so they are all quite consistent in style. He was an artistic person and this comes through, as each graph is labelled and coloured in such a distinctive way.
Have you come across any particularly interesting or surprising items in the archives?
As well as graphs and charts related to business, healthcare and economics, there are a selection of flipcharts which seem to be Revans’ personal doodles. There are some hand-drawn takes on popular optical illusions, such as a drawing that could be viewed as either an old or a young woman. There are also some pen drawings of cows which show that he was very gifted artistically.
What surprised me most about the collection is the sheer amount of work Revans did throughout his career. He developed the idea of action learning whilst working for the National Coalboard, but then went on to apply it to so many different fields. There are graphs about hospitals, schools, economies, manufacturing and loads more. It’s interesting to chart his career through the items in the collection.
Closing thoughts
What have you learned about history, preservation, or storytelling through this experience? What has been the most rewarding part of this experience for you?
Through this experience, I’ve learned not to judge an archival collection by its cover! Something that seemed very straightforward and data-driven to me has actually opened up some really interesting pathways in my research. It’s so valuable to learn that a story can be told from any collection. This project has also been a good lesson in preservation, as the physical flipcharts are stored rolled up and each time they were unrolled and rolled back up they were getting more damaged. By digitising them, we’re now able to view them in great detail whenever we like, without harming the originals.
The most rewarding part of this experience has been the engagement the collection has received. I have had great feedback from some community groups that have taken an interest in the collection. I’m really looking forward to promoting it more widely so others can get involved in the collection and learn more about it.
What can this collection be used for?
As Reginald Revans was a management and business consultant, students and academics in the Salford Business School may be interested in viewing the collection. Action learning is still used as an approach today in many fields, including business, education and social work. Anyone in these fields would benefit from learning more about action learning.
The attention to detail and consistent formatting of the flipcharts may be of interest to students in fine art or graphic design. Revans was undeniably an artist and it’s interesting to see this talent applied in such a methodical way. Now we click a button in Excel to create a graph or chart, but it’s interesting to think about hand-drawn ways to visualise data and the amount of time and effort that must have gone into it.
The collection of flipcharts on Salford Digital Archives can be a bridge to viewing more of the full collection in person in the archives. If there’s something that takes your interest in one of the flipcharts, there are so many books, letters and papers in the archive that will be able to provide more information.
Is there anything else you’d like people to know about working with archives?
Many people think of working in archives as being alone in a dark room, looking at shelves and shelves of old books. But this experience has been the opposite! I’ve been able to work with Alexandra Mitchell, the University Archivist, and the wider Library team to learn more about working in a university archive. As well as working on the Revans Collection for Action Learning, I’ve learned about other collections and what it means to be a university archive. The careers and professional advice I’ve received from staff has been invaluable.
People using and working in archives come from all sorts of backgrounds, so I’d encourage anyone with an interest in the field to get involved. Many people don’t realise that everyone is welcome to use archives, you don’t need to be a researcher or historian!
Interested in exploring more of our remarkable archives? View the Salford Digital Archives.
