Enjoy the countryside? Love history? Come and explore both as part of the Stepping into Nature project. We will be enjoying pictures, maps or recordings and learning something new about the natural world and local artists. In a small group we will work with speech, painting, writing, photography and crafts. The group is open to… Read more Inspired by Archives
April sees the 18th annual International Edible Book Festival (yes, it’s a real thing!). So, we’re sharing a few examples of insects that enjoy eating books and other materials found within an archive, such as paper, adhesives and leather. Please note that these pests were not found at Dorset History Centre! We have an extensive… Read more Archives A-Z: E is for edible archives
‘Digital’ is all around us, every day. Working in archives is no different. We are just as interested in your photographs, meeting minutes or maps in a digital format as we were in paper. If something has historical value and will be interesting to be people in 50 or 100 years then we want to… Read more Archives A-Z: D is for digital
Our Community Engagement Officer spent a lovely morning with the Swanage Probus Club in early March. Maria received a very warm welcome and was able to tell the members about our work collecting and preserving records and making them available to the public. There were also plenty of pointers on documents and collections that may help… Read more A visit to Swanage Probus Club
There are almost 320,000 records in our archive catalogue. This is the place where items in our collections are arranged and described so we can find what we’re looking for. If you have used archives before you will know that our catalogues aren’t arranged by place, subject or date. Instead, records are grouped according to… Read more Archives A-Z: C is for catalogues
It won’t surprise you that Dorset History Centre contains a LOT of boxes. Our environmentally controlled repositories have a capacity of around 49,000 archive boxes – not including oversize items. The boxes are made from materials that won’t have any negative effects on the unique items they contain. Collections arrive with us in various states… Read more Archive A-Z: B is for boxes
Having been in post as Dorset History Centre’s Archive Learning Officer for over a year now, I have heard my fair share of gasps and exclamations from pupils entering the archive repositories for the first time. But, for pure creativity, this one has to be my favourite: “Wow, it’s just like Mr Ollivander’s Wand shop!”… Read more Have you been spellbound by the archives?
We’re kicking off our archives A-Z with a focus on our ancestors. Family history is still the most common reason for people to use our collections. Records may include information about where and when your ancestors lived, what they did for work, and who they married. Many of the most useful records for piecing together… Read more Archive A-Z: A is for Ancestors
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