Engaging students with archives and special collections (hosted online by ALN Special Collections & Archives Group)

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** Please note: the joining instructions for the event may come via the hosts for the event and will not always be available online.  Please look out for the email/calendar appointment from the hosts nearer the time. **

About this event

Date: Tuesday 4 June 2024  
Time: 2.00 - 3.30 
Format: Online via Teams

This session will hear from a range of institutions on how they have engaged their students with special collections and archive material.

It will take the format of 3 x 20 minute presentations followed by a 30 minute Q&A opportunity.

The presentations are:

‘The 5 Ws: Introduction to archival context’ - Katie Waring (Lancaster University)
In this session, Katie from the Special Collections and Archives (SCA) at Lancaster University will look at how they introduce the principle of archival context to students. Using the principles of Object-based learning (OBL), the session will include a short demonstration of how the SCA used the 5Ws (Who, What, Where, When and Why) to get students to think about archival items within a wider context.

‘Trash or Treasure, you decide! Using the SU newspapers to curate your own archive’ - Fran Robinson (University of Central Lancaster) 
This talk will demonstrate how to set up an interactive workshop using selected articles from the student newspaper. The presentation will cover the prep involved, the context this session has been used in as well as a short example task for participants to try in the session.

‘Start with the Hook: introducing students to public engagement through exhibitions’ - Dave Smith and Megan Barford (University of Huddersfield)
In this session Megan and Dave from the Heritage Quay team at the University of Huddersfield will talk about how they use curatorial skills in their teaching. They will focus on the ways they help students to understand engagement principals and the methods they can use to communicate research with the public. They will also explore how this work has real world applications in the archive’s exhibition programme.