For Communications, Social Media, Website and Blog Officers
The role or roles on a committee covering communications functions – whether encompassed in one role or split to cover different elements such as social media or blogs – is a vital one.
This section provides information and resources to help you. For further help or specific training needs you can contact ARA’s Head of Communications at deborah.mason@archives.org.uk
Surveys tell us that members value contact and engagement from the committee(s) they are represented by. Committees are in a strong position to promote ARA and the benefits of membership, helping grow our community of members. Please consider ways to promote ARA and recruit new members.
The role of the Communications officer
The Communications officer ensures timely and effective communication of all committee actions. Duties include:
Provide content to ARA’s Head of Communications relating to events, officer vacancies, update on activities for dissemination via ARA Today, ARC magazine and other ARA communication channels.
Create content for social media channels (if used) in line with ARA’s Social Media Policy [see below], taking advantage of all the social media campaigns available, such as #exploreyourarchive #archivehour.
Develop content for the committee webpage, ebulletins and Blog (if a blog exists), keeping it up to date.
Ensure events and training are widely promoted using all ARA communication channels and any known local or topic-specific networks.
Support from ARA Staff
Head of Communications deborah.mason@archives.org.uk:
General advice on comms
Social media
Blogs
Membership Manager Lorraine.logan@archives.orgk
Advice on accessing your ARA Inbox,
Advice/help sending out to your group’s mailing list,
Advice/help on Eventbrite:
ARA Communications Channels
All ARA members are welcome to submit stories or content for our central communications channels and we naturally prioritise submissions from our own groups.
ARC Magazine
ARC Magazine has a long lead in time requiring content approximately 6 weeks prior to publication date.
Suitable content:
Updates on activities
Updates or call outs for pieces or work or projects (for example the Section for Archies and Museum’s Glossary Project).
Suggestions for features – if you are aware of something from your region or area of interest we are always happy to hear about it.
News items from your region/nation or area of interest
ARA LinkedIn Page
ARA has 5.5k followers on LinkedIn. We can post information to the page and we can also host articles (which can be longer).
If you don’t have your own group LinkedIn page and do not have the content to support starting one this is a great way to reach audiences outside of both the ARA Membership and the uk record-keeping sector
ARA News/blog page on website
If you are looking to reach a wider audience or just need a place to host a longer piece of information or call out for a project then you can submit an idea for a news or blog post on the website. This then provides a weblink you can use in social media posts to provide ‘further info’.
Communications Activities
Blogs
Some ARA sections are active Bloggers, for example The Section for New Professionals and Archives for Learning and Education Section are two excellent examples that may inspire others.
What insights, experiences, news and other information can you share with your ARA community?
A regular blog can help you engage with a wider audience and provides an opportunity to write in depth about topics of interest. You can use your blog content to generate social media posts.
If you don’t think you have sufficient content for a regular blog you can also submit ideas to go onto the main ARA news/blog site here: https://www.archives.org.uk/news
We are now bringing all our blogs onto the main website and if you would like to start a blog please get in touch with the Head of Communications (deborah.mason@archives.org.uk)
Email bulletins:
Mailing to your group
You can email just the members of your group via our Mailchimp account. Lorraine Logan will send the mailing out for you with the most up to date list of your members. All you need to do is send her the content. Text should be in a word document, images should be sent as separate jpeg files (indicating in the text where they should go and any captions or credits).
Directly mailing your members is a great way to stay in touch.
Mailing to the ARA Membership
If you have something you want to share with the wider membership then it can be submitted for inclusion in ARA Today. ARA Today goes out on the first Wednesday of the month with a deadline of the Wednesday before send out day. Submissions should be sent to ARA’s Head of Communications deborah.mason@archives.org.uk
You can mail your group as well as put an item in ARA Today. Items for ARA Today should be written in the third person eg
The Section for New Professionals is holding an even on Thursday 9th March and they welcome all ARA Members to attend.
Rather than The Section for New Professionals is holding an even on Thursday 9th March and we welcome all ARA Members to attend.
Social Media
Social Media (despite recent history) remains a useful tool in the communications toolbox.
The Archives and Records Association (ARA) uses social media in its work and recognises that those who are involved in its work may also use social media either as part of their role or in their private lives. A written policy is therefore required for all staff, volunteers and stakeholders on the acceptable use of social networking for ARA.
ARA encourages the use of Social Media to help spread the word about the ARA but requires the appropriate and responsible use of the channels.
Any volunteer using social media on ARA’s behalf should read the main social media policy here.
This policy is solely for volunteers and aims to:
give clear guidelines on what volunteers can say about the organisation;
comply with relevant legislation and protect volunteers;
help volunteer supervisors, whether they are staff or Board members manage performance effectively;
help volunteers draw a line between their private lives and their volunteering;
protect ARA against liability for the actions of volunteers;
be clear about sensitive issues such as monitoring and explain how problems with inappropriate use will be addressed.
Key points:
Keep it positive
Posts should be:
Focussed on the activities of your group and/or the subject matter it is concerned with
Celebrating the success of others within the sector
It is also OK to share news stories if they are relevant and from a reputable source and could not be construed as endorsing a particular political position or sentiment.
Avoid getting into arguments with people on social media. Direct anyone persistent to take up the point with the Head of Communications deborah.mason@archives.org.uk
Eg “This probably isn’t the forum for this discussion, please do email our Head of Communications deborah.mason@archives.org.uk to take this further.”
(they normally don’t!).
Keep it professional
This isn’t your personal account and tempting as it is to like a cute cat picture is that what your group is really about?
The tone of posts should also be engaging but professional, you will be able to judge what your audience might respond to. This might not be your ‘natural’ voice or how you post to your own accounts. Does what you are saying and how you are saying it reflect well on your group and on ARA as a whole?
Never post personal or identifying information about individuals without their consent.
Photos/media
If you plan to use a photo or a quote from someone on social media, you must obtain their consent first.
Only tag people who have consented to it, never tag vulnerable adults or anyone under the age of 18.
Where possible provide alt text if the image is important to the message (not just there to be pretty).
Protecting ARA’s reputation
Don’t post about ARA’s plans or business if it is not already in the public domain.
On any sensitive topics check with ARA’s Head of Communications before posting
If you see content in social media that disparages or reflects poorly on ARA or our stakeholders, you should report it to the CEO or Head of Communications. appropriate Board member. All volunteers are responsible for protecting our reputation.
Don’t use social media to raise your own issues with ARA – email the appropriate staff or board member.
Using the ARA logo on social media
The ARA has an easily recognisable logo which people associate with us and the work we do. It’s important that we make sure the logo stays as strong as possible, and we ask you to help us make sure of this.
Please don’t use the main ARA logo as a social media profile picture as this can be confusing for users searching for the ARA official Twitter account.
Please don’t create alternative versions or change the ARA logo in any way. Logos are available for most regions and sections. If your section does not have a logo, and you think you need one, please contact the Head of Communications to arrange this.
You can, however, use the logo as an image or part of images posted on your social media accounts if you are supporting the ARA in your activities.
If you have any questions about when or how to use the logo, please get in touch with us by calling+44 (0)1823 327077 or by emailing Deborah.mason@archives.org.uk.
If any issues arise on social media with responses or queries that you can’t answer, please escalate the query as quickly as possible to the ARA head office on +44 (0)1823 327077 for some support.
Setting up (and closing) Social Media Accounts on behalf of ARA Nations, Branches, Groups and Sections
You must get permission from either the Head of Communications or the CEO of ARA to set up a new social media account.
Setting up accounts on new platforms that require an email and password
Notify the Head of Communications that you plan to set up an account and on what platform
Use the group/region/nation’s archives.org.uk email to set up the account.
When the account is set up, send copies of the log in details to the Head of Communications and Membership Services:
Deborah.mason@archives.org.uk
Lorraine.logan@archives.org.uk
Tag the relevant ARA UK IE account in your first post so that Head of Communications can promote your presence on that platform
Setting up accounts on new platforms that require an admin
This might apply to LinkedIn or Facebook accounts for example.
Notify the Head of Communications that you plan to set up an account and on what platform
The Head of Communications will provide relevant details of their account so that you can add them as an admin to your account.
Notify the Head of Communications when you make your first post in order to gain amplification from other ARA Accounts
Gaining access to lost accounts
If the account has been set up using an archives.org.uk email address we should be able to help you recover the account.
In some cases social media operators will allow you to recover a ‘lost’ account or apply to take over the handle of a dormant account. This can take a long time and be an onerous process. Please consult with either or both Membership Services and the Head of Communications if you wish to attempt to recover an account.
By using the guidelines set up above we should always be able to recover accounts going forward.
Leaving a particular platform
We recommend that if you wish to stop using a particular platform you do not close the account itself (the account handle eg @arauk_ie) can be allocated to another organisation if you do and this could cause reputational risks.
We recommend pinning a post to the closed account indicating that no further posts or activity will take place there. This is what we pinned to the ARA main twitter/x account:
“The time has come to stop posting here. You'll find us on Bluesky (with many others in the UK archives/heritage sector) at http://araukie.bluesky.social and we are also on LinkedIn here”