British Records Association

Category: News

  • 2026 Janette Harley Prize now open!

    The British Records Association (BRA) is delighted to announce that entry to the 2026 Janette Harley Prize is now open.

    The prize is intended to generate interest in archives, and raise awareness of research and achievements in the world of archives. It is open to applications from archivists, conservators, owners of archives, and researchers, including academic researchers, local historians and genealogists. The judges are particularly keen to receive more entries from conservators and local historians.

    Submissions do not need to have been published in hard copy. They can include electronic publications, blogs and other online means of promoting archives.

    A prize of £500 will be awarded to the winning entry.

    Previous winners of the Harley Prize:

    • 2025: Frank Meeres (editor), Socialism in King’s Lynn and Suffragism in Great Yarmouth: Minutes of the King’s Lynn Socialist and Labour Societies, 1897-1916, and Minutes of the Executive Committee of the Great Yarmouth Women’s Suffrage Society, 1909-1915 (Norfolk Record Society vol. LXXXVIII, 2024)
    • 2024: Dr Eliza Wheaton (editor), for Loving and Obedient? Family Correspondence of the Mores of Loseley Park, 1537-1686 (Surrey Record Society vol. XLVIII, 2023)
    • 2023: the Prize was shared between two entries: Dr Ian Forrest and Christopher Whittick (translators and editors), for The Visitation of Hereford Diocese in 1397 (Canterbury & York Society, vol. CXI, 2021); and Dr Imogen Peck (Birmingham University), for “‘Of no sort of use’?: Manuscripts, Memory, and the Family Archive in Eighteenth Century England” (Cultural and Social History, vol. 20:2 for 2023, pp.183-204), and the accompanying blog series and online resources, part of the Family Archives in Early Modern England research project supported by the Leverhulme Trust.

    The closing date for entries to the 2026 Janette Harley Prize is 31 July. We hope to announce the winning entry in January 2027, and to present the prize on the same evening as the annual Maurice Bond Lecture, in Spring 2027.

    Terms and conditions and further details about how to apply can be found on the BRA web-site.

    For any queries and to submit entries email our Secretary.

  • Basic Archives Skills Training – New places available

    Basic Archives Skills Training – New places available

    Places are now available for the Basic Archive Skills Training Days on the 11th May and the 20th July 2026 (both Mondays).
    Details of these Training Days, and future ones as they arise, can be found on the Eventbrite page Archive Skills Training (from the BRA).
    This popular online course was developed in 1991 by Margaret Crockett and Janet Foster. They have delivered the Training Day for 35 years, moving the course online in 2020, the tickets consistently selling out. The British Records Association (BRA) took on the administrative functions in 2025.

    Margaret and Janet are now stepping down after delivering their final Training Day on the 17th March, and have passed the baton to a new delivery team. The new Course Facilitators are Nicola Allen (Consultant Archivist and Records Manager) and Becky Sims (Head of Archives and Reader Services, University College London). They are joined by subject specialist speakers Liz Yamada (Senior Conservation Officer, Northamptonshire Archives and Heritage Service) and Mark Pomeroy (Archivist of the Royal Academy). Mark provides continuity with the former team, as Jonathan Rhys-Lewis, former guest speaker, is also stepping down.

    Margaret and Janet have received warm tributes from the archives community for their achievement in establishing and popularising this essential introduction to basic archive skills. They are confident that the new professional team, with their wealth of expertise and experience in the sector, will successfully continue and build on their legacy.

    Early booking is recommended.
  • Maurice Bond Lecture 2026 Announced

    Maurice Bond Lecture 2026 Announced

    The annual Maurice Bond Memorial Lecture and Janette Harley Memorial Prize presentation will be held on Thursday 7th May at Guildhall Library, London, EC2V 5AF (6.00-9.00pm) on “Sustainability and Resilience – the Future of Preventive Conservation”

    This year’s lecture will be given by Juergen Vervoorst FIIC ACR, Head of Collection Care at The National Archives.

    Standards for the management and preservation of archival and library collections have been available and adhered to by many institutions for a considerable length of time. Following such standards is critical to attain accredited status, and they often provide evidence to senior decision makers to release funding for improvements to collection conditions. On the other hand, increasing energy costs, carbon net zero and broader sustainability targets, and the need to prepare for climate change induced risks put unprecedented pressures on collection managers, the solution of which often seem contrary to the long-term preservation of archival and library collections. Whilst preservation standards have already relaxed, the complexity to fully exploit the flexibility provided and the lack of resource often makes it difficult to make the right decision for collections. This lecture will explore some of the challenges and pressures collection managers are under and will provide an outlook onto what the future of preventive conservation might hold.

    We will also be presenting the Janette Harley Prize 2025, which has been awarded to Frank Meeres (editor), for Socialism in King’s Lynn and Suffragism in Great Yarmouth: Minutes of the King’s Lynn Socialist and Labour Societies, 1897-1916, and Minutes of the Executive Committee of the Great Yarmouth Women’s Suffrage Society, 1909-1915 (Norfolk Record Society vol. LXXXVIII, 2024).

    The lecture and presentation will be followed by a drinks reception

    Directions: The entrance on Aldermanbury is marked the London Centre and Guildhall Library. Venue is accessible with lifts.

    Book your ticket on Eventbrite.