Equity, Diversity and Inclusion at ARA’s 2025 Conference
Inherent in this year’s theme Next Generation: Innovation and Imagination in Record-keeping is the question of how do we make our sector more diverse, more equitable and more inclusive?
To ensure a viable and proactive future for our associated groups of professions, it is imperative that any forward-looking discussions must be through the lens of Sustainability, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion. We must view them as fundamental pillars of the next generation of the recordkeeping sector and ensure that we move beyond well-meaning but tokenistic gestures.
The conference takes place in Bristol and online from 27-29th August.
You can find full information here https://openingdoors.eventsair.com/ara2025/
Registration closes 5th August
Below is a selection of sessions focussing on equity, diversity and inclusion.
Wednesday
Keynote: UnClusion — a keynote designed not for comfort but for courage.
The Wednesday keynote will be delivered by Julz Davis - Creativist at Curiosity Unltd, a grassroots think and do tank for positive social change
“I'm joining the conference not to tick a box but to break one wide open. To challenge. To connect. To build. If you're ready to unlearn, imagine, and act together, let's co-create a braver, better, and less UnClusive future for the people who make and shape history for good.”
Julz Davis
Interfacing Information Governance with the Ethical Agenda
Mr Reynold Leming, Managing Director, Informu Solutions Ltd
Any organisation needs to ensure that it is meeting its operational goals in a manner that does not adversely impact planet and people. Good practice in data governance, records management and information rights can directly support this. Pulling together knowledge of international standards, accreditation schemes, law and sector initiatives, this talk will set out thoughts on a strategy and action plan to interface information governance with the ethical agenda,
Record-keeping Strategy 2025 onwards
This session will launch ARA's 2025-30 strategy following the consultation that took place at the end of 2024 and through the Spring of 2025.
Reimagining Trauma in Archives: Recordkeepers' Insights on Managing War and Conflict Related Archives. What can the sector do next?
Ms Megan Joyce, Senior Curator, Iwm
This paper will present research from the first empirical study to explore the perceptions and experiences of recordkeepers specifically managing trauma in war or conflict related archives. With ongoing war and conflict around the world, this paper will demonstrate that there is a need for institutions, and the wider sector, to work with recordkeepers in this field to implement necessary support and guidance for future recordkeepers managing trauma in the archive.
Distant Voices: Identity, Memory and Trauma in the Terence Davies Archive
Dan Copley, Archivist, Edge Hill University
This paper is a case study in real time of an ongoing project, relating to the archive of internationally acclaimed filmmaker, Terence Davies (1945-2023), which is held at Edge Hill University. It will reflect on discussions and work we are doing with partners and key stakeholders, addressing issues of diversity, trauma, identity and our responsibility as custodians of a personal and professional archive.
How can archive services support staff who encounter challenging records unexpectedly? Introducing the Challenging Records Toolkit
Sarah Wood, Assistant Archivist, University of Leicester
Traditional roles in archives such as appraisal, cataloguing, digitisation, enquiry handling, and exhibition curation can expose staff to challenging records, potentially impacting their emotional wellbeing. The impact of these records varies greatly among individuals, based on their personal experiences. While it is impossible to anticipate and mitigate every potential emotional trigger, organisational support should be in place for when such instances occur.
This paper introduces a Toolkit designed to support staff by facilitating conversations about their experiences and promoting active listening. The Toolkit aims to improve staff wellbeing by initiating discussions, suggesting practical adjustments, and signposting organisational support services. It bridges the gap between archive sector guidance and organisational support, focusing on staff who encounter emotionally challenging records unexpected
Unlocking the BILNAS Archive: Advancing Discovery and Access through Person-Centred Archival Innovation
Dr Anne Marie Williamson, Archivist, The British Institute For Libyan And Northern African Studies
The British Institute for Libyan and Northern African Studies (BILNAS) maintains a historically significant archive, primarily documenting British archaeological projects in Libya since the early 20th century. This project reimagines archival access through a person-centred approach. It seeks to create detailed, interconnected records for underrepresented contributors, including essential but often overlooked individuals, such as site labourers, field technicians and finds specialists.
Uncovering Diversity: New finding aids for Shakespeare’s Globe developed with new community partners
Dr Philip Milnes-Smith, Archivist (digital), Shakespeare's Globe
With the support of a Research and Innovation grant from TNA, Shakespeare’s Globe spent 2024 developing new thematic finding aids to its collections, surfacing a diversity that was previously hidden by the catalogue and creating new starting points for thematic research on disability, gender, queerness and race. In this presentation, the project manager and editor of the new guides will share the journey, introduce some of the format and content, and underline the importance of community consultation. He will also be sharing lessons learned that could benefit others considering revisiting their collections to improve the discoverability of those previously underserved and under-represented.
10 Practical Steps for Uncovering Diversity in Archives: A Case Study at LSE Library
Emma Pizarro, Archivist & Daniel Brambilla-Payne, Politics Curator, LSE Library
This paper will focus on 10 practical, actionable steps that institutions in similar situations can take to uncover diversity and ensure that historically marginalised perspectives and experience are more fully represented in their archive collections.
Inaccessible Education/Inaccessible Profession: Presenting Lived Experiences of Disability, Chronic Illness, and Neurodiversity in Archival Education Programs
Dr. Michael Marlatt, Archival Accessibility Consultant
Accessibility in the archival profession has been overlooked. Very little quantitative and qualitative research exists that examines the lived experience of disabled archivists, neurodivergent archivists, and archivists with a chronic illness. The inaccessibility of the field arguably begins in the classroom. This conference presentation looks to open a collaborative dialogue between the UK, Ireland and North America about how to better implement accessibility strategies into our archival education programs to create a more accessible and equitable field.
Thursday
Keynote: Accessible Cultural Heritage Education – Starting Small Thinking Big
Professor Christina Young, Professor of Conservation and Technical Art History, University of Glasgow
Panel Session: Lighting the fire: securing conservation education for the future
Mrs Victoria Stevens, Subject Lead Tutor, Books Programme, West Dean College Of Arts, Design Craft and Conservation, Mrs Alexandra McGuire, Head of Paper Conservation, Hartwell Document Restoration Services Archive Conservation Training Scheme representative
'Education is not the filling of a pail, but rather the lighting of a fire.' This panel discussion aims to bring together three different options for achieving a legacy of excellence in conservation education within the UK archive sector. The first speaker will present a case study on the benefits of an apprenticeship pathway, and the opportunities and challenges this may offer to the employer. The second speaker will detail the important role of the ARA Conservation Training Scheme programme in conservation education as a mature and viable educational tool for existing employees in the sector. Finally, the third speaker will demonstrate the benefits of the taught route into conservation and the role of a robust and comprehensive conservation education through college study.
My Experiences as a student on the ARA Archive Conservation Training Scheme
Laura Anderson, Trainee Archive Conservator, Jersey Archive
ARA’s Archive Conservation Training Scheme consists of work placements in various archives across the country, and students receive one-to-one tuition from their instructors. Students get to learn both in depth theory and develop their practical bench skills, as well as gain an insight into how other institutions function and meet many new people in the archive sector.
Translating theory into practice: Postmodernism and the description of LGBT+ records in UK archives
Miss Jasmine Hide, Collections Management Technician, University Of Edinburgh
Rising numbers of projects investigating the application of ‘inclusive’ terminology suggest attitudes to cataloguing within UK archives are changing. The intent of this research was to investigate the origins of discourse on how LGBT+ records should be described in archive catalogues, tracing the origin of the debate around archival descriptive work and how language choices came to be contested in archival practice
Getting it on the Record: Expanding Representation in SNAC (Social Networks and Archival Context)
Ms. Helice Koffler, Rare Materials Cataloguer Iii, New York Public Library
I will discuss my experiences as a volunteer editor for SNAC (Social Networks and Archival Context) through the lens of a practicing archivist with a longstanding commitment to recovering and sharing untold stories.
Prejudice in Power: working positively with challenging collections
Sarah Aitchison, Director of Special Collections and Erika Delbecque, Head of Rare Books and Academic Liaison, UCL
How do we use collections that address challenging aspects of history to begin critical conversations with new and existing audiences? How should we support our staff to channel their expertise into new ways of engaging? How do we embed this into our practice?
Repatriation: A survey of Accredited Archive Policies and Archivists' Attitudes on the Matter
Ms Sabeth Hagenkotter, Independent Scholar
For my Master's dissertation, I surveyed accredited archives within the UK for their approach to repatriation policies and procedures. I asked whether repatriation policies were in place, if they had been used before, what the respondents' concerns regarding repatriation were and offered respondents the opportunity to share additional thoughts on the topic of returning contested documents to communities outside the UK. In this talk, I will be introducing the findings of my survey and the different policies and viewpoints archives within the UK hold.
Should we be doing outreach at all? Is it essential for our future?
Heather Forbes, Head Of Archives Service, Gloucestershire County Council
A time-travelling and provocative approach to get us thinking about the purpose of outreach and engagement activities, now and in the future.
Imagination in the Archive: Creativity as a Tool for Access and Participation
Ms Kaitlene Koranteng, Archivist And Engagement Producer, Institute of International Visual Art
This paper proposes imagination and creativity as mechanisms to engage with archives, offering pathways for both archivists and users to interact with materials beyond the confines of a traditional research visit. Imagination and speculation serve as tools to lower barriers to entry into archives, expanding their potential use beyond academic scholarship.
“Build it and they will come”: a new vision for collections access
Alexia Kirk, Archivist, Archive of Art & Design and Sabrina Offord, Archivist, Theatre & Performance Archives, V&A
On 31 May 2025, V&A East Storehouse will open to the public. The culmination of a decade long project, the new working store and visitor attraction aims to provide unprecedented access to the V&A Collections. The mission of V&A East Storehouse is to open the collections to all visitors breaking down traditional perceived barriers.
Archiving as if disabled people matter: innovation in practice
Panel: Dr Philip Milnes-Smith, Archivist (digital), Shakespeare's Globe; Sarah Hayward, Sam Goldstone-Brady, Kirstie Stage and Ellen Oredsson, Accessibility Working Group: ARA Diversity and Inclusion Allies
The sector’s work towards Diversity, Equality and Inclusion does not consistently seem to reach as far as Disability. In this Panel session hosted by the Accessibility Working Group of the Diversity and Inclusion Allies, five panellists will share recent innovative projects with the potential for application to different contexts so as to build engagement with previously unreached audiences, not only making it easier for them to access our services, but helping to make them feel valued and understood. After short presentations, they will comment and discuss further between them before opening up to audience questions.
Archives as Dwelling Place: Navigating welcome from the state archive
Dr Chloe Lee, Empire And Commonwealth Records Specialist, The National Archives
Dr Chloe Lee, explores welcome and hospitality as a response to trauma-informed approaches to the archive. Using findings from workshops at The National Archives, co-delivered with Bethany Thompson, and documented by illustrator, Angela Vives, the session will discuss the affective possibilities of the archive, and how storytelling forms part of the methodology of welcome and hospitality.
The Next Generation is Intergenerational: Reconceptualising the archive as a site of intergenerational connections
Miss Nella McNicol, Project Officer, University Of Glasgo
This paper proposes that embracing the archive as a site of intergenerational connections and utilising intergenerational practice in the archival process would be an effective method of democratising records and illustrating the archive’s value to broader society.
Is It Okay?
A now regular session in which, in a respectful but informal way delegates can discuss difficult issues that relate to EDI – in 2022 we discussed ethnicity, in 2023 disability, in 2024 LGBTQI+. This year we will be looking at socio-economic factors – ‘class’ – and whether there is direct prejudice or just that nagging sense of not belonging, feeling like an impostor, having to alter the way you look and speak or create a whole new persona to feel like you will be given the same opportunities as others or fit in at work.
Friday
Keynote: Archives for All! A Multisensory Approach to Archive Collections.
Dr Kate Allen, Senior Research Fellow, RIX Inclusive Research UEL, Mr Ajay Choksi, Co-researcher, Technical Assistant, Rix Inclusive Research, University Of East London, Ms Samantha Walker, Co-researcher, Rix Inclusive Research purpleSTARS
In their keynote - Archives for All! A Multisensory Approach to Archive Collections – they will share their many years of experience of working with museums and archives, sharing practical tips on how to create accessible experiences, making museums more inclusive and fun.
Challenging Legacy: Embracing Digital Scholarship for Global Futures
Ms Valentina Flex, Gertrude Bell Project Archivist, Newcastle University
The session will cover recent transformative work at Newcastle University Special Collections focusing on the UNESCO Memory of the World Gertrude Bell Archive as a testbed for utilising digital scholarship to encourage engagement with and interpretation of cultural heritage. Exploring the drivers, methodologies, and impacts of three recent projects – Gertrude Bell and the Kingdom of Iraq at 100, Evolving Hands and Beyond the Margins – the session will consider the ways in which improved metadata, enhanced digital resources and the use of emerging technologies and standards have increased the equitable accessibility of the archive by researchers nationally and internationally, particularly where the content of that archive is disputed and colonial, with a legacy of curation that has at times reinforced rather than challenged these aspects
Fashioning Chinese History: Chinese Fashion Archives in the Twenty-First Century
Dr Mo Shi
My presentation, based on my dissertation, will explore two key questions: What is a fashion archive in China? and How do Chinese fashion professionals understand history through their archives? Drawing from interviews with Shanghai-based fashion professionals (since 2000), I investigate how archives in the Chinese fashion system are being defined, created, and used to write their own history.
This work aligns with the call for innovation and imagination in recordkeeping by proposing an alternative, culturally specific methodology for archival development in the Chinese fashion industry. By challenging the dominance of Eurocentric frameworks, this research demonstrates how culturally specific approaches can enrich the global understanding of archives as dynamic and inclusive systems of recordkeeping.
Critical conversations: should UK archives reassess their holdings?
Natalie Brown, The National Archives
This session aims to bring together diverse perspectives from across the sector to consider the challenges, opportunities, and implications of initiating critical reassessments. Through dialogue and case studies, the panel will explore questions of professional responsibility, the sensitivity of these discussions, and how institutions can work collaboratively to address them.
To engage with pin and place’: Queering The Map and the unsettled community archive
Eleanor Graham, Student, University of British Columbia
Within my presentation, originally prepared as a final paper for my class on Personal and Community Archives, I consider Queering The Map (QTM) and the records it holds in the context of recent scholarship on community archival theory. QTM is a counter-mapping platform where individuals can link a created digital record of their queer experience in relation to physical space for exploration by other users, and in my work I explore how the site’s use of a queer methodology throughout disrupts and unsettles the inherited hetero-centric norms present in community archivy
Archives in Partnership: One Community, One Purpose - Where Community Knowledge Meets Professional Practice
Karyn Williamson, Digital Preservation Analyst, Digital Preservation Coalition
Last year the Digital Preservation Coalition became a partner on the Towards a National Collection, Community Archives focused, 'Our Heritage, Our Stories project.' This project focused on researching and documenting the community archive sector across the UK, identifying challenges and suggesting solutions.