In January, and despite all that is currently happening in the world, we welcomed a new member of staff to our team…
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Hi everyone! My name’s Eimear and I am one of eight trainees in the third and final cohort of The National Archives Bridging the Digital Gap scheme. The eight of us have been seconded to archive services throughout London and the South West, and I am delighted to be here at the Dorset History Centre as a Digital Archivist Trainee!
Funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, Bridging the Digital Gap is a fifteen-month traineeship which aims to increase digital and technical skills in the archives sector by providing on the job training and opportunities to help create a more diverse, inclusive and digitally confident workforce.
I studied at the Glasgow School of Art where I spent many hours working with digital editing software and AV equipment, and I hope to bring my technical skills and creative thinking to the Dorset History Centre. At the Art School, I also got my first taste for archives as I worked as a Tour Guide providing guided tours of the Charles Rennie Mackintosh collection. Coincidentally, it turns out there is a connection between the Glasgow School of Art and Dorset! Francis Newberry went to school in Bridport where he trained to be a teacher and in 1885 became the Director of the Glasgow School of Art. It was Newberry who commissioned Mackintosh to design the famous art school building. When Newberry retired in 1918, he returned to Dorset and spent his days painting in Corfe Castle. Small world!
As a Tour Guide, I have experience showing archives to the public, but I’ve never worked behind the scenes with the technical aspects of digital preservation until now. I’ve already learnt so much in this short period of time about professional archive practice. I’ve been busy using archive systems Preservica and Axiell CALM to preserve a wide range of materials in our digital repository. What I love most about working as a digital archivist, is that what I’m doing each day is helping to make these amazing collections more accessible for everyone now and in the future. Digital preservation is an ever-growing part of the archive sector and it feels like a special moment to be getting involved.
As someone who is new to Dorset (I’m from Derry!) I can’t think of a better place to learn about my new home and its history than the Dorset History Centre. I look forward to helping preserve that history over the next year. Thanks to the Dorset History Centre for having me!
