The blog for the Borthwick Institute for Archives at the University of York.
Written by Helen Watt, Honorary Fellow, Department of History, University of York On Wednesday, 25 March 2026, the enthronement or installation of the new Archbishop of Canterbury will take place in Canterbury Cathedral. This will be both a solemn and truly momentous ceremony, as the Rt Rev. and Rt Hon. Dame Sarah Mullally will be … Continue reading Welcoming the new Archbishop of Canterbury
Written by Simon Batchelor, BA (Hons), MA, MA (Res), Customer Services Assistant at the University of York Library. One item in the rare books collection has recently caught my attention; drawn in the corner of the an endpaper is the picture of a youth, standing on one leg, he is holding a horse collar up … Continue reading Gurning and the art of face pulling.
Written by Neil Adams, Archives Assistant ‘Not a dry eye was to be seen, and the dreadful shrieks and sobs of the bereaved widows and the fatherless, in passing the habitations of the sufferers, were such, as to beggar all description – truly it was the scene of desolation’ (Yorkshire Gazette) Shortly after one in … Continue reading The Stillingfleet Tragedy
Written by Nathan Williams, Archives Assistant This is the fifth in a series of blog posts celebrating the Retreat archive and our digitisation project as it nears completion. The Retreat is one of the most important institutions in the care and treatment of mental health patients. Over the last two and half years, staff at … Continue reading Spotlight on the Retreat archive: An unexpected find
Written by Sally-Anne Shearn, Genesis Project Archivist Two years ago I embarked on Project Genesis. It was my first professional job after qualifying as an archivist and I knew then how fortunate I was to find such a varied and interesting post when I was just starting out. Over two years, my job would be … Continue reading Saying goodbye to Project Genesis
Written by Jenny Mitcham, Digital ArchivistOriginally posted to “Digital Archiving at the University of York” I’ve spent the last three days in Cambridge at AtoM Camp. This was the second ever AtoM Camp, and the first in Europe. A big thanks to St John’s College for hosting it and to Artefactual Systems for putting it … Continue reading AtoM Camp take aways
by Kath Webb, with an introduction by Nathan Williams This is the fourth in a series of blog posts celebrating the Retreat archive and our digitisation project as it nears completion. The Retreat is one of the most important institutions in the care and treatment of mental health patients. Over the last two and half … Continue reading Spotlight on the Retreat archive: a satirical sketch of the Retreat in the early twentieth century
Written by Jenny Written by Jenny Mitcham, Digital ArchivistOriginally posted to “Digital Archiving at the University of York” Last month I asked (and tried to answer) the question How can we preserve our wiki pages? This month I am investigating the slightly more challenging issue of how to preserve native Google Drive files, specifically documents*. Why? … Continue reading How can we preserve Google Documents?
Written by Jenny Mitcham, Digital Archivist with photographs courtesy of Paul Shields, University photographer Originally posted to “Digital Archiving at the University of York” Well, that was a busy week! Yesterday was the last day of Archivematica Camp York – an event organised by Artefactual Systems and hosted here at the University of York. The camp’s intention … Continue reading Archivematica Camp York: Some thoughts from the lake
Written by Gary Brannan, Access Archivist The Registers of the Archbishops of York contain a great many interesting stories – but few more dramatic than the story of what has been described as the ‘most notorious clerical strike in medieval English history’ – Archbishop Neville’s feud with the Chapter of Beverley Minster in 1381 from … Continue reading Strike in the Chapter House: Archbishop Neville and the Canons of Beverley