Preserving the Local Newspaper Archive project (HAP Summer Seminar)
Dr Rachel Matthews joins us to discuss the Preserving the Local Newspaper Archive Project.
Please note:
This event will be held on Zoom. Instructions for joining the event will be sent to participants via email the day before the event. Please ensure that you enter the correct email and check your spam if you do not receive the email containing the joining link.
About the event:
Join us for the second History and Archives in Practice 2026 Summer Seminar. In this session, we will focus on the Preserving the Local Newspaper Archive project.
A pilot project based in the Midlands, Preserving the Local Newspaper Archive brought together stakeholders - community groups, libraries, charitable trusts, industry and archive professionals - each of whom held a collection relating to local newspapers. The project, funded by a Resilience Grant from The National Archives, held a series of workshops to create content for a new Local Archive Newspaper Toolkit.
Our speaker, Dr Rachel Matthews, will introduce the project and its toolkit, now in development, and explore how the project promotes a systematic approach to locating and preserving local newpaper collections. The session will reflect on the importance of finding new ways to preserve collections amidst pressures from the contemporary contraction of the local newspaper industry, which sees collections disposed of as offices close.
Dr Rachel Matthews will be joined by chair James Hodgson, Head of Archives Sector Funding at The National Archives, to reflect on the project, which has created a network of more than one hundred participants.
Please email research@nationalarchives.gov.uk if you have any accessibility requirements.
Dr Rachel Matthews joins us to discuss the Preserving the Local Newspaper Archive Project.
Please note:
This event will be held on Zoom. Instructions for joining the event will be sent to participants via email the day before the event. Please ensure that you enter the correct email and check your spam if you do not receive the email containing the joining link.
About the event:
Join us for the second History and Archives in Practice 2026 Summer Seminar. In this session, we will focus on the Preserving the Local Newspaper Archive project.
A pilot project based in the Midlands, Preserving the Local Newspaper Archive brought together stakeholders - community groups, libraries, charitable trusts, industry and archive professionals - each of whom held a collection relating to local newspapers. The project, funded by a Resilience Grant from The National Archives, held a series of workshops to create content for a new Local Archive Newspaper Toolkit.
Our speaker, Dr Rachel Matthews, will introduce the project and its toolkit, now in development, and explore how the project promotes a systematic approach to locating and preserving local newpaper collections. The session will reflect on the importance of finding new ways to preserve collections amidst pressures from the contemporary contraction of the local newspaper industry, which sees collections disposed of as offices close.
Dr Rachel Matthews will be joined by chair James Hodgson, Head of Archives Sector Funding at The National Archives, to reflect on the project, which has created a network of more than one hundred participants.
Please email research@nationalarchives.gov.uk if you have any accessibility requirements.
Image: Women in newspaper offices, 1917. Catalogue reference: MH 47/142.
This is the second event in the 2026 'History and Archives in Practice' summer series, co-hosted by The National Archives, the Institute of Historical Research, and the Royal Historical Society.
The other seminar in the series is:
Good to know
Highlights
- 30 minutes
- Online
Location
Online event
Agenda
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Introduction, James Hodgson, The National Archives
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Dr Rachel Matthews presents
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