Unboxing the boxer: cataloguing papers relating to sport at De Montfort University Special Collecitons (360G-Wellcome-215425_Z_19_Z)

This project will facilitate access to a number of significant collections relating to the history of sport in the United Kingdom held in De Montfort University Special Collections, which are not being used to their full potential because they are difficult to retrieve and access. These comprise papers of the Amateur Boxing Association, Sir Norman Chester, Ski Club of Great Britain and the Special Olympics. Together these collections reflect research themes including widening participation in physical activity for health and wellbeing, elitism, exclusion and the place of minority groups in sport, and addressing societal ‘illness’ such as violence and aggression. The item-level cataloguing of these collections will provide invaluable teaching and learning resources for the university and open up the archives for investigation by the international research community. The objectives of the project are to: create an item-level ISAD(G) compliant catalogue of each collection, hosted online rehouse the collections in appropriate archival packaging identify at-risk items and seek conservation treatment if necessary conduct migration to different formats where necessary publicise the project to internal and external research audiences and the general public assist the Heritage Centre Coordinator with a sports heritage exhibition