26 April
The first gathering of trainees selected for the Opening up Archives programme took place last week at London Metropolitan University. Opening up Archives is a collaborative project to develop a new route into skilled work in the archives sector.
The 13 successful Opening up Archives trainees were selected from over 795 applicants and have now begun their full-time one year workplace traineeships at a host of archives throughout England. The traineeships cover a range of specialist areas, including collection development, community engagement, online engagement, palaeography and digital preservation.
Topics for discussion at the event included the challenges facing the archive sector and what could be done to engage users of archive services more effectively.
One trainee, Nicola Gauld, based at the Birmingham Archives, commented: 'I feel really positive about being a part of the Opening up Archives training programme. I recently met with my fellow trainees - it was great to meet everyone and it helped me feel part of the wider group.'
Opening up Archives is supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund, The National Archives, the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) and archive services from across England. The key aim is to diversify the workforce by opening up an alternative to the postgraduate diploma as a way into working in the archive sector.
