Throughout July, Dorset History Centre have been joined by Eve and Caeron as part of our work experience offer for young people interested in learning more about the world of archives. Today, Eve reflects on her experience with us over the last month…
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For the last four weeks, I have had the privilege of undertaking work experience at the Dorset History Centre. As an aspiring archivist, the chance to experience daily life in an archive has been fascinating and provided a chance to reflect on my career ambitions, really solidifying that this is what I want to do for the rest of my life. Furthermore, I decided to apply for this work experience to gain a greater understanding of the various roles available. I highly value archives for the work that they do to keep history accessible to the wider public, something that I believe is crucial, and therefore a chance to be a part of that was really exciting.
During my time here, I have undertaken a vast array of different tasks designed to allow us not only to experience life in the archives, but in the heritage sector as a whole. Off-site visits to both Max Gate and the Records Management team at Dorset County Hall were a great showcase for the diversity of jobs that can be found in the sector. Back at the History Centre, shadowing the public services team, and aiding in the cataloguing of various accessions and collections was really rewarding because it allowed me to help make history available to people passionate and interested in it by ensuring that the resources they needed were available to them, both on the online catalogue and in person during their visits.
As part of this experience, I have had the opportunity to talk with many different members of staff at the History Centre about the different roles they perform, something that I was really hoping to gain more knowledge about. From this, I discovered positions that I was not even aware existed before this summer. For example, the reprographics officer, who digitises materials on commission, and those that are too delicate to stand up to regular handling by visitors and researchers.
Moreover, cataloguing was particularly good fun for me as I loved the variety of materials that I had that chance to work with. Of course, there were some amazing older written documents from within the Bankes collection, but even this collection alone contained different mediums – there were some exquisite drawings of the Egyptian landscapes and fauna, as well as archaeological finds. For Emma, one of two digital archivists employed at the Centre, we appraised floppy discs, and we searched microfiche newspaper reels from the late 1800s in aid of the Rail 200 day that was hosted by the Centre.
We were able to participate in more public facing tasks, such as planning a fake event under the guidance of the Community Outreach officer, Maria, and designing some posters for upcoming events at the History Centre with Claire. This was a great chance to be a bit more creative and to step away from the more academic side of archiving into a more logistical and public-facing part of archives, once again highlighting the variety of roles that are available within the sector.
Overall, I have had an amazing time at the Dorset History Centre. Whilst I have visited archives before, the insight into what goes on in the day to day working life has been invaluable. I have discovered roles that I did not know existed and understand the diversity of the jobs available within the sector. This month has really solidified that this the sector I want to pursue. I would strongly encourage anyone who is interested in a career in archives to apply for in the coming years.
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This was a guest blog written for Dorset History Centre by Eve Gilmour. If you are interested in the 2026 work experience placement, information will be circulated in spring 2026 about how to apply.