Engaging Outreach for Community Archives

Scottish Council on Archives are delighted to present the next series of introductions to archive skills as part of the ‘Community Stories – Community Archives’ project. The project is focused on helping community groups across Scotland to manage and promote their archives through online and in-person training and support. A key element of the project will be the facility to upload catalogues to a new portal being developed by SCA called Your Scottish Archives, helping to increase accessibility to these diverse and important collections.

This session will cover many general introductory ways of engaging with wider communities, various users, and possible stakeholders to maintain and sustain your archive. It will also look inwards and outwards at different ways of interpreting your collection to maximise interest, emphasising creativity, transparency, and collaboration. By the end of this session, you will learn a general theory of engagement for archives and some practical skills to apply to your own collection.

The session will be led by Erika Silverman. Erika recently graduated with a doctorate and has a background in information science, communities and heritage. She has worked in the heritage, culture and archive sector for years, working with various venues and organisations on how to preserve unsung narratives. Much of her work has involved working with individuals and organisations to teach archival and conservation practices and promote open-source information sharing to break down barriers to preservation. She joined SCA in 2024 to contribute to the Community Stories – Community Archives project.

The 'Community Stories - Community Archives' project is funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.