About This Project

In 2022 we supported The National Archives to gather examples of inclusive practice from other public-facing cultural organisations. This was to inform their national leadership role in relation to local authority and independent archives, in particular their role in relation to the national accreditation scheme for archives.

Inclusive practice is particularly challenging as archives often hold materials which originate from periods when norms and expectations about inclusivity and representation were very different from now. Sometimes there are documents and records that represent the antithesis of contemporary practice, for example, materials documenting activities which today would be considered unjust or illegal. It is also challenging because the current users of archives, and the staffing of archive services, do not always reflect the diversity of the communities whose records they hold. There are further practical issues around inclusion such as rurality, as well as resource pressures which limit the ability of archives to invest in change, engagement, and outreach.

Our work resulted in a challenge paper which presented a set of issues to stimulate discussion among The National Archives and its local archive partners. These included: international examples of practice around indigenous communities in Canada and Australia which could provide lessons for UK practice; challenges around building a more inclusive workforce; lessons for collections management and for ensuring materials are accessible; and new challenges around digital archives for example newly recognised communities whose archival footprint is entirely digital. We followed up this work with a series of workshops to test these challenges with practitioners from local and specialist archives to test their relevance and to identify opportunities for progress and change.

Archive Service Accreditation: Challenge paper on inclusive practice can be found here.