Explore Your Archive is back!
Explore Your Archive week is back from 20th – 28th November 2021
Last year Explore Your Archive, the UK and Ireland-wide initiative which aims to celebrate the richness and variety within archives – saw more than 3,000 social media posts reaching over 8 million people. Even the Royal Family took part with their @theroyalfamily account on Instagram taking part every day in Explore Your Archive week. The annual focus week returns from 20-28th November 2021.
The campaign, which was first established in 2014, is an all-year-round initiative which aims to engage with the general public to showcase the richness and variety within archives and demonstrate why they are relevant to our world today, what they can tell us and how they can entertain us.
The goals of Explore Your Archive are to encourage the public to explore archives and to urge archivists, records managers, conservators, researchers and lovers of archives of all kinds to share their experience and promote their collections and work throughout the year and particularly during Explore Your Archive week.
Each year the Explore Your Archive week of activities sets a daily theme and encourages archives around the UK and Ireland (and further afield) to post to those themes. The public can engage via the hashtag #ExploreYourArchive and find theme related content for each of the specific days – listed below.
Explore Your Archive is on the three main social media platforms:
Twitter: @explorearchives
Instagram @exploreyourarchive
Facebook @ExploreYourArchives
The website provides additional resources and a host of fascinating blogs from archives across the UK and Ireland https://www.exploreyourarchive.org/discovering/
The campaign is managed and led by a team of people working in the archives and record-keeping sector who give their time to the initiative on a voluntary basis. Archives and Records Association Board Member, Karyn Williamson has been leading the project for a number of years and she says:
“This project is so important to me. I really believe that archives are for everyone and I am keen to encourage my colleagues in the sector to show off the treasures they are keeping safe for us all. I think the public are becoming more aware of the value of archives through TV programmes such as House Through Time, Secret Scotland and Who Do You Think You Are and can see that archives have a really wide variety of purposes and a real value to the general public. Public engagement programmes and ongoing acquisition strategies also mean that archives aren’t just for ‘old stuff’ and many archives work with local communities to ensure that the voices of the present are saved for future historians. I hope everyone will get involved with #ExploreYourArchive week and enjoy the wonderful things the sector has to offer”
Daily themes (and hashtags) for #ExploreYourArchive from 20th – 28th November
20th November: Small #EYASmall
21st November: Big #EYABig
22nd November: Handwriting #EYAHandwriting
23rd November: Archive Selfie #EYAArchiveSelfie
24th November: Collaboration #EYACollaboration
25th November: Conservation Nightmare #EYAConservationNightmare
26th November: Watch This Space #EYAWatchThisSpace