LAUSR

be found on a technical drawing. It is a key interpretive feature, especially for correctly dating a drawing that might have undergone many changes over many years since the date it was first signed off. Of equal importance is the material of a drawing’s carrier, and the drawing’s method of production or reproduction upon it. The guidance rightly notes that this information can inform conservation needs. But it can also have value for the cataloguing archivist. The choice of carrier material and creation process used can be diagnostic for dating an undated drawing or draft. They also often indicate a drawing’s Stage of Realisation — an initial draft, working production drawing, or final presentation illustration, for example. Such deficiencies no doubt derive in part from the particular types and sources of records that the Trust has experienced. However, technical records occupy a very much wider world, functionally as well as literally. As an internal document, this guidance is no doubt of value, but its broader application is less so. Similarly, Appendix D, a ‘Core List for Shipbuilding Plans’, is simply that. An afterthought advises that dyeline prints and blueprints need not normally be retained, where the originals survive. It is a rare mention of what are often the most commonly found forms of technical drawing. Despite these concerns, the book does fulfil its aims, outlined above. Priced at a remarkably low £5, it is attractively laid out and printed on heavier-weight semi-gloss paper. The many illustrations are especially well reproduced although a few, illustrating named Trust workers, are unaccountably out of focus. Where this publication is less complete is in its treatment of archival processing practices for technical records. Given the Trust’s thirty years of hands-on experience, these must surely be deficiencies in drafting the text rather than in actual professional practice. There remains scope for more well-rounded practical guidance for processing a broader range of technical records. The Ballast Trust seems to be a leading contender to provide such a companion volume, especially if produced to the same high presentational standard and price.