As part of our work to provide inclusion resources and our efforts to improve diversity, equity and inclusion in the archive sector, we have conducted and commissioned research in this area. The results of this research are available to access for free – find out more below.
Research includes:
Mapping inclusive practice across English regions
Between January and March 2022, The National Archives undertook a research initiative to understand inclusion work being undertaken in archives across England in different regions. Six investigators explored inclusion work in the North East, North West, Midlands, East/South East, South West and London.
Language and the Catalogue – Offensive Terminology in Archival Descriptions – a video presentation
Grace van Mourik, Senior Archivist within the Cataloguing, Taxonomy and Data team at The National Archives focuses on the research and analysis work she’s been conducting in relation to offensive terminology in archival descriptions. This research has looked inwards at The National Archives’ current approaches and practices towards cataloguing offensive terminology, as well as across the archives and heritage sector more generally.
Start watching Language and the Catalogue – Offensive Terminology in Archival Descriptions
Agency in the Archive: Repositioning ‘records subjects’ as ‘records agents’ – UK Research Institute report, 2020/21
Eleanor’s research looks into participatory practice in the archive sector, and stakeholder agency in participatory archiving. The report hopes to support best practice across the sector and address barriers to inclusion in examples of participatory practice.
The aim of this research is to explore dialogues between archives and stakeholders, observing how agency is exercised in relation to participatory archiving in order to produce a resource for identifying barriers to inclusion in participatory practice.
Contact asd@nationalarchives.gov.uk for a copy of the full report.
“Wow, we are archives!” – UK Research Institute report, 2019/20
Archives attract few Black and Minority Ethnic people as audiences or as workers within the sector. Hajra’s research looks to provide insight into perceptions that young British women of Pakistani descent have of archives, as a section of the larger BAME group of people in the UK. Hajra’s report presents the initial stages of work undertaken prior to COVID-19 interruptions to understand their perceptions, attitudes and experience of archives and the barriers they may face. The purpose of this report is to give voice to the opinions and perspectives of these women and to guide further research.
Contact asd@nationalarchives.gov.uk for a copy of the full report.