Stay Engaged

Here you’ll find a whole host of other CPD ideas to consider.

You can find ARA’s own events here.

 

Plugged in, Powered Up Survey

Between 2019 and this year, The UK National Archives invested in a programme of digital capacity building for the archives sector, with strands including the commissioning of Novice to Know How from the Digital Preservation Coalition, a peer-mentoring programme and a digital engagement toolkit. This programme Plugged in, Powered Up was developed based on survey responses from archivists in 2019. Three years on, they are again asking archives staff from across the sector – from students to senior managers – to tell them about their experiences of digital practice. Your responses will directly inform initiatives and investment in this area over the next three years.  
 
Take part in the Plugged in, Powered Up survey by 14 October  

 
 
 

Plants, Places and People - specialist network

 
Royal Botanic Gardens Kew and the Museum of English Rural Life, University of Reading have announced a new subject specialist network Plants, Places and People. 

Supported by the UK National Archive’s Networks for Change scheme, the network will bring together a diverse group of archives with holdings covering collections of botanical, agricultural and horticultural archives, records of landscape preservation, landscape architecture and land management. 

The network will provide a supportive, inclusive and diverse platform that champions holdings on living landscapes, plants, their place in communities, and the people who work with them. 

Five key areas of focus are:

  • Promote visibility, wider understanding and greater use of archives in this subject area

  • Work to increase accessibility and relevance of resources, including the creation of a network website and online exhibitions.

  • Improve co-ordination of acquisitions and rescues, including developing strategies to meet challenges of born-digital records, and – by taking an inclusive approach – capturing records that would otherwise be lost

  • Act as a forum for development of funded research collaborations, enabling archives to be proactive in research and delivery of research impact relating to their collections

  • Develop a partnership vision and governance structure

Plants, Places and People currently has the support of archives including the National Trust, Black Environment Network, Bedgebury National Pinetum and Forest, Cambridge University Herbarium and Library for the Department of Plant Sciences, Garden Museum, Linnean Society, Harper Adams University, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, and The Mills Archive Trust.

They would like to invite other interested organisations to join the network - if that is you please contact the network coordinator, Lily Colgan, at l.colgan@kew.org

New guide for recording seals in archives: Focus Group meetings

Seals are crucial features of many documents (especially for the medieval and early modern periods), but as ISAD(G) provides little guidance about them, how they are recorded in catalogues varies greatly. Finding out about seals and what to do with them can be difficult for professionals and volunteers alike. Providing adequate levels of collections care can also be challenging, given the varying size and types of seals. 

A new initiative led by Charlotte Berry (Archives Manager, Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick), Philippa Hoskin (Director of the Parker Library & Fellow Librarian, Corpus Christi College Cambridge) and Elizabeth New (Reader in Medieval History, Aberystwyth University) seeks to establish guidelines for recording seals that will provide a standard cataloguing template. The guide will also contain advice and tips on handling, photographing and collections care, as well as useful glossaries and further reading. The guide will be endorsed and published by the Archives & Records Association UK & Ireland in Dec 2022/Jan 2023.

The group has already run a couple of workshops which have helped to shape the guide so far. In order to finalise the guide, a series of online Focus Group meetings will be held this autumn. These will help ‘test run’ the draft guidelines and supporting material, and to provide feedback and professional advice. No prior knowledge of seals is required - but those who know lots are equally welcome! 

The Focus Groups are open to all, including volunteers and professionals from the library, museum, archaeology and any other relevant sectors. Please do circulate this information on these workshops to any colleagues you think may be interested in attending.

Attendees are encouraged to look through the draft guidance ahead of the meeting(s) to facilitate discussion and to shape feedback, so you are asked to sign up in advance so that the draft guidance can be emailed to you in good time.

Three dates are offered, please choose the one which suits you best. All those who attended the earlier two workshops are also welcome to join again.

The Focus Group meetings will take place on:

Tuesday 13 September 2022, 2.00-3.30pm UK time
Monday 17th October 2022, 2.00-3.30pm UK time
Thursday 17th November 2022, 2.00-3.30pm UK time

PLEASE NOTE: Advanced registration is essential in order to receive the meeting link and documentation. Registration will close 24 hours before each of the sessions outlined above.

To register please contact Dr Elizabeth New ean@aber.ac.uk

 
 

Continuing the COP26 Conversations


The Scottish Community Heritage Conversation series is an online bimonthly event series bringing together volunteers, community groups and heritage professionals. All conversations are hosted on Zoom, are free to attend and comprise a blend of talks followed by Q&A, informal coffee break out rooms, live polls and a lively concluding discussion. 
 
Their next event on Wednesday, 9th of November 10-12.30 will focus on Cop26 - One Year On. 

Find out more here 

 
 
 

Understanding the landscape of trauma and archives

The Understanding the Landscape of Trauma and Archives project is led by the ICA's Section for Education and Training. This project is undertaking an international survey to raise awareness of, and better understand, the issue archivists face regarding trauma; gauge current understandings of these issues; and ask what training, education and resources are needed. 

This survey is for people who work, study, or volunteer in the archival profession or related fields.

Complete the survey here.

The survey is designed to be anonymous and will take 10-15mins to complete. The survey will close on 26th October 2022. 

This project is supported by the International Council on Archives (ICA) through the Programme Commission. 

 
 

3D Data, CAD files and GIS Data:

Three DPC Technology Watch Guidance Notes now available on general release

The Digital Preservation Coalition (DPC) has made the next three Technology Watch Guidance Notes in the new 'Data Type' series available on general release today. The topics covered in the set are: 3D Data, CAD files and GIS Data.

Authored by staff at Artefactual Systems in collaboration with the DPC and developed in conjunction with the UK Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, each of the Guidance Notes in the Data Type series is designed to provide a primer on the current state of community knowledge about types of data commonly encountered by those seeking to preserve digital holdings.

Paul Wheatley, Head of Research and Practice for the DPC and co-editor of the series, says: "There is so much information about the preservation of different types of data out there, but it can be hard for the practitioner to know where to start or to find the right resources. These notes are intended to provide a basic level of information but also point people to other useful references on the topic. We are really keen to hear feedback from the community both now and in the future so that we can maintain these notes as a useful resource for the community."

Click here to

 

Novice to Know-How: Digital Preservation Skills for Beginners

Registration Now Open

The Digital Preservation Coalition is pleased to announce that registration is open for "Novice to Know-How: Digital Preservation Skills for Beginners" and the additional course "Providing Access to Preserved Digital Content".

Part of The National Archives' digital capacity building strategy, 'Plugged In, Powered Up,' the Novice to Know-How learning pathway aims to provide beginners with the skills required to develop and implement simple digital preservation workflows within their organisation.

It starts with a broad introduction to digital preservation issues and describes the measures we can take to address these. It then delves into potential workflows in more detail, examining the issues to consider, steps to take, and simple technological solutions that can deployed. An emphasis is placed on free, easy-to-use solutions, and includes a number of tool demos. Course content is provided as mix of video, text, and quizzes. The course on "Providing Access to Preserved Digital Content" aims to provide learners with an understanding of the broad range of issues to be considered when providing access, as well as the ability to implement simple access provisions.

"Providing Access to Preserved Digital Content" has been part of the main learning pathway for those registering for the April 2021 intake onwards. The course is also available as a stand-alone for those who completed the original learning pathway prior to April, and for those specifically interested in the topic of providing access but do not want to complete the full learning pathway.

Priority places are available for learners from the UK Archives Sector or DPC Members and registration is free for all learners.

Click here to register for the full Novice to Know-How learning pathway

 
 

Latest Archives for Learning and Education Section (ALES) ARA Learning Blogs

Archives are resources for teaching anti-racism

London Metropolitan Archives (LMA) is a public research centre which specialises in the history of London. We are currently focusing on work with our audio collections as part of a UK-wide project 'Unlocking Our Sound Heritage’. LMA aims to digitally preserve almost half a million rare and at-risk sound recordings, keeping seminal speeches of Londoners safe for future generations.

Find out more from Hannah Welch-Kemp Unlocking Our Sound Heritage: Learning and Engagement Coordinator London Metropolitan Archives on our blog here.

After Law: Atrocity Archives, Dialogue, Young People Learning and Active Participation

More than two decades of trials at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda led to the creation of a vast and diverse archive. This somewhat side-lined archive has great potential to contribute towards dialogue and community repair in Rwanda.

Find out more from Dr Benjamin Thorn and keep an eye out for part 2 of his blog on ARA Learning here. 

 
 
 

The UK National Archives' Data Protection Toolkit for Archivists

The UK National Archives' Data Protection Toolkit for Archivists, delivered by Naomi Korn, provides an options-based approach to making decisions about when and how to provide access to personal data held in archives.

Click here to find out more and request free access to the toolkit here.

 

Community Archives training videos available on YouTube       

Community Archives has added recorded versions of its recent training sessions to the Norfolk Record Office’s YouTube channel. This comprises the new Collections Management and Preservation sessions plus updated versions of the Cataloguing, Oral History and Digitisation sessions that we ran last year.

All of the videos on the Community Archives project playlist can be found here

Each recording will link to the relevant section on our Community Archives Toolkit, and also has an optional survey for viewers to complete.

 
 
 

AURA Workshop 3 videos now online

In March, the AURA network hosted its third workshop, organised by the University of Edinburgh. This workshop was titled "Artificial Intelligence and Archives: What comes next?" I am writing to you to let you know that presentations given at the workshop are now available online.

This third workshop had speakers from a range of specialisms, discussing topics from the ethics of AI use in archives, traditional AI techniques such as machine learning, and reflections on digital humanities.

Recordings and slides are available here.

The keynote presentation was given by Professor Andrew Prescott from the University of Glasgow and asked, "Can Archives make AI Better?" His talk is available here.

Click here to join the AURA mailing list and receive the latest updates.

 
 

eArchiving Technical Info Session

Recordings and slides now available online

EU Institutions are digitalising (secure) services and processes, powered by CEF Building Blocks and Managed Services. The aim of eArchiving is to

provide the core specifications, software, training and knowledge to help data creators, software developers and digital archives tackle the

challenge of short, medium and long-term data management and reuse in a sustainable, authentic, cost-efficient, manageable and interoperable way.

The CEF eArchiving Technical Info Session on 10th March was an opportunity to learn how to implement eArchiving into your project. If you missed the session, you can now catch up on the slides and recordings here.

Find out more about the CEF eArchiving Building Block here.

 

Archives for Learning and Education Section (ALES)

ARA Learning Blog - Learn with Lorna

The Highland Archive Service, operated by High Life Highland, cares for historic documents dating from the 1200s to the present day in its four archive centres in Inverness, Wick, Fort William and Portree. When the UK went into lockdown in March 2020, the service needed to find different ways to proactively engage with its local and international audiences across its digital platforms – maintaining the service’s profile and raising awareness of the important role of archives in society.A series of weekly collection-based films was developed. Delivered by Community Engagement Officer, Lorna Steele, under the banner ‘Learn with Lorna’, there are now 52 films available to watch on the High Life Highland YouTube channel. Find out more about Learn with Lorna series here.

 
 
 

The UK National Archives

Fundraising training videos now online

The UK National Archives recently ran two online training courses called 'Advanced Bidwriting' and 'Crowdfunding and Digital Fundraising'. These courses have been recorded and are now available to watch for free on The UK National Archives YouTube channel.

Each course is divided into four modules of an hour or less so that they can be viewed at a time and place that suits you. All of these videos also have captions, which you can turn on in YouTube using the subtitles button.

  • Cultural Diversity Competency: A free workshop where you’ll be challenged to examine personal perceptions that might surprise you and you’ll be introduced to strategies that will increase your ability to practice inclusion. This webcast provides the four skills to employ CDC and the five stages individuals and organisations can implement to improve relations with internal and external communities. https://www.pathlms.com/saa/courses/4839 

  • Australian Society of Archivists: A Trauma-Informed Approach to Managing Archives: a new self-directed, globally accessible online course for archivists and recordkeeping professionals. Trauma-informed practice is a useful model to consider for professional archival practice that puts the focus on people within archives ensuring best practice access regimes, improved policies and practices, and support for everyone who works and uses the archives. You can watch a webinar about the course here. The course helps raise awareness of the effects of vicarious trauma and emotional labour and the need for resources to support people within the archival profession.

    https://www.archivists.org.au/learning-publications/online-courses?utm_source=ASA&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Trauma-Informed%20-%20OLPage&utm_content=ARA%20UK%20and%20Ireland#Toolkits