Academic inductions

We provide free academic inductions at The National Archives for groups of between 15 and 25 postgraduates and researchers.

These sessions last about an hour; we will take you on a tour of our reading rooms and cover the following:

Advice on research
How to access references
Using the online catalogue
Ordering documents
An overview of the work of The National Archives, which will include document selection and retention

Some students will be unable to attend the visit arranged by their own college and others may not be coming as a member of a group visit. If space allows these individuals can join another group's induction. Please contact us regarding availability, on the phone on +44 (0) 208 392 5330 extension 2057, or via email academicinductions@nationalarchives.gov.uk

While we do not organise 'specialist' academic inductions on particular themes or periods of history, if a group of 15 or more should consist entirely of, for example, medievalists, then every effort will be made to ensure that a suitable speaker is found. If tutors wish to examine and discuss specific documents with their students then the student visits room in the main reading room can be reserved for this purpose, subject to availability. If this facility is used we can pre-order up to 10 documents on your behalf. Please give us at least 5 working days' notice if you'd like to order documents in this way.

Regional inductions

In recognition of the difficulty and expense of travelling to The National Archives for an academic induction, we can arrange for these courses to be held at your university or college. The number of participants can then be significantly increased according to the available accommodation. The sessions are available in term time and normally run between 14:00 and 16:00; however, other times can be arranged by mutual agreement.

Regional inductions consist of:

A presentation on how to start research at The National Archives
An introduction to our specialist services for academic users
A demonstration of our online Catalogue that includes a keyword search and browsing facility of over 9 million records
An introduction to some of the key archival websites, such as Access to Archives (A2A), which currently contains catalogues describing archives maintained and made available by various organisations (national and local government, universities and private) across England, many of which are not available elsewhere on the Internet.
The opportunity to ask the presenter detailed questions

If you are interested in discussing or arranging any of the above sessions or are an individual wishing to attend one please contact us.