Meet the Archivists

The BAC's archive workshop for new researchers.

Fancy exploring treasure troves of untapped historical sources? Want to find out how you can use business archives in your undergraduate, masters or PhD research?

The Business Archives Council has held four one-day workshops in recent years where students could meet the archivists and find out how! We hope to arrange another event in autumn 2012.

The workshop aims to explore ways in which new research students can identify and use business records in a surprising variety of different research fields. Participants will be able to explore the vast and varied materials available at many of the UKs major and minor business archives.

Following a successful formula from previous years, the day will commence with an archives skills workshop run by eminent academic historians, followed by a buffet lunch, where participants will be able to meet the archivists.

Participating archives in 2011 included The Baring Archive, The British Postal Museum & Archive (BPMA), HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group, London Metropolitan Archives and the Rothschild Archive.

A student who participated in the 2011 event commented, "I would highly recommend this event not only to economic, financial or business historians but also to historians focusing on other subjects. Anyone who has worked with primary sources can attest that archival research requires as much serendipity as tenacity. Thus it is essential to be exposed to a wide variety of sources, which is precisely what this event offered to me by giving me a chance to meet the archivists from various institutions. Talking with them was of great help to me in thinking creatively on the use of archives for my PhD thesis in diplomatic history."

Please contact Michele Blagg at Michele.Blagg@kcl.ac.uk for further information.