[The deadline for this form is 5pm, 31 July 2025]
Last April, The National Archives delivered an impact seminar in collaboration with The London Archives to explore inclusive cataloguing. Positive feedback from the sector highlighted a need for further opportunities to explore inclusive archival practice. To address this, The National Archives is facilitating a network to share inclusive practice from across the UK.
We are inviting organisations from the archive sector to apply to join a steering group of active members. The steering group will be responsible for deciding the direction of the network and supporting deliverables, such as events and guidance.
As facilitators, The National Archives will be responsible for communications and logistics related to network meetings and deliverables. The initial meetings will be chaired by The National Archives. The Steering Group will then decide how the network will be chaired going forward.
Expressions of interest will be reviewed by the current 4 panel members: the Archives and Records Council Wales, the Archives and Records Association’s Diversity and Inclusion Allies, The London Archives and The National Archives.
Applicants are welcome to apply either through their professional role or through a voluntary position that they hold. In any case, we request that, if applicable, you acquire approval from your organisation or voluntary body first.
We define inclusive archival practice as various ways of working that support an inclusive service to nurture a sense of belonging, opening up access to records by addressing barriers, working with others to bring meaningful change, and enriching the workforce, users, and collections through diversity of thought and experience.
Please send any questions to ASL@nationalarchives.gov.uk
Assessment criteria
The form consists of four questions. The first question will ask you about your contact details and requires written answers. The second and third questions will ask about your interest and experience and require written answers/ The fourth question will ask about your capacity and requires a tick-box and written answer, if applicable.
Applications will be assessed against the following criteria in relation questions two and three:
- Knowledge
We define knowledge as the depth of your experience and/or understanding in relation to inclusive archival practice.
- Impact
We define impact as the ways in which understanding, experiences and learning and resources generated can be disseminated. Sharing knowledge can be both formal and informal, whether it is communicating to another network or social media posts. The scale of impact will be relevant to your circumstances and will not affect your application score.
The question will be scored numerically against the above criteria, according to the following scale:
1 Poor
2 Low
3 Good
4 Excellent
5 Outstanding
An outstanding answer may also cover other points as appropriate to the applicant and their experience.
All responses will be stored securely and treated confidentially. Any personal information you chose to provide will be handled in accordance with The National Archives' privacy policy.