Dear ESEH Member,
I’m an ESEH member in England, and I’ve recently been appointed to the role of Academic & Environmental Representative of The National Archives’ User Advisory Group:
The National Archives (TNA) at Kew just outside London is the depository for Britain’s central government archives. I imagine that some ESEH members have done or will in the future use TNA in their research, so I thought that an email to the general ESEH membership could be of relevance to the research interests of at least some of its members.
My position is a voluntary position for up to four years and representatives meet with senior staff of TNA three times a year to provide input from a user perspective on forthcoming TNA plans, and to act as a conduit between users and TNA on issues which they have been made aware of through their outreach work with that section of the academic community they have been appointed to represent. I’ve been appointed to represent academic users of TNA, with a focus on the service TNA provides to academic users who have an environmental focus to their work. For example, in my “pitch” to be a representative, I pointed out that of the 359 research guides available to users, only one – ‘Environmental Pollution and Damage’ deals directly with the environment (although there are guides on ‘agriculture’ and ‘villages and the countryside’). There is, for example, no guide on Climate Change nor is it covered by the existing environmental pollution and damage guide, so that is something that I intend to raise within the Group in due course.
So if this is of relevance to you, please do have a look through the research guides and let me know if there are from the perspective of your research interests any important omissions:
https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides-keywords/
And/or if you have used any of the research guides and found them helpful/unhelpful then that would be good to know too. If I could have your replies by the end of January 2025 I will then collate the responses and present to a future meeting of the User Advisory Group. Representatives’ views are not binding on TNA, and for example the development of further research guides will depend on the staff capacity to work on them, but nevertheless I think the representatives and the Group provide a valuable conduit between TNA users and the organisation. And of course if you have any substantive issues about TNA’s service either now or in the future then do feel free to email me.
I am keen to reach the academic community in the broader environmental humanities, so do forward this email to colleagues who you feel may be interested in it.
Thanks.
In academic / environmental solidarity,
Gary
Dr Gary Willis
ESEH Member
London, England
Email: eden@garywillis.plus.com
Social Media: X/Twitter: @GaryW_Env_Hist; BlueSky: @garywenvhist.bsky.social
Image: Kevan on Flickr