Blog

Following momentous votes in both France and the United Kingdom over the past month, Assistant Editor Alex Barr reflects on South Africa's 1984 general election, which marked a pivotal moment in apartheid history. Spearheaded by the nascent United Democratic Front, a mass boycott of this election undermined the legitimacy of the government and provided new impetus to the anti-apartheid liberation struggle.

The way we approach research and teaching with primary sources has been transformed by digital progress. By improving the accessibility and ease with which students can now find and interrogate source material, students are able to learn new digital literacy skills and improve their academic success. This blog explores the importance of digitsation and digital literacy, showcasing how these tools offer a more immersive learning experience for students. 

Primary sources can transform the learning experiences of students and are vital for exploring neglected, forgotten or silenced narratives. Providing fresh understanding and context to the past can help students challenge and critically engage with these sources, improving research methodologies and success.In this blog post, we explore the importance of collaborating with librarians and archivists to discover underrepresented and marginalised primary sources, unearthing hidden voices in the process.

Discover the rich history of McEwan's department stores in our latest blog post by Lara Luker. Unearth the transformation from a small ironmongery business to a household name, and its impact on consumer trends and societal norms through material from The Transformation of Shopping: Department Stores, Social Change and Consumerism, 1830-1994. Dive into the evolution of shopping from early expansion to 'big-box' retailing, with insights from archival gems revealing the global impact of department store business practices.

Focusing on a small but enlightening informal meeting between President Nixon and UK Prime Minister Harold Wilson at the U.S Airbase Mildenhall in August 1969, this blog highlights some of the key points raised between the two leaders regarding the Paris peace talks and the ongoing war in Vietnam within the newest module for Conflict in Indochina: Foreign Office files for Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, 1959-1979.

How students approach primary sources in their research can transform their learning outcomes and research engagement. In this blog, discover how supporting students with digital platforms and providing them with hands-on opportunities can increase student success and encourage independent learning. 

Learning the skills to interpret primary sources can greatly enhance a student's academic success. This blog post, featuring conversations from the CHOICE Authority File podcast, explores the benefits of tools like AM Research Skills. Featuring learning tools, case studies, and practice sources, these resources help students learn how to evaluate and interpret primary sources, foster independent learning, and bolster their research capabilities.

Using material from the East India Company, Module VI: India Office Records F, The Board of Commissioners: Establishment of the Board, Assistant Editor, Eleanor Cambridge brings history to life, examining the role of maps in the colonisation of India. From the strategic mapping of waterways and fort locations to an intriguing geological survey of the Himalayas, these documents reveal fascinating details of how the East India Company approached and understood their far-flung territories. Traverse a journey of exploration and colonialism as Eleanor offers fascinating insights into this long-gone era.

The Indian film industry is the largest in the world by film output and not far behind in terms of revenue. This blog dives into Hindi cinema's cultural resonance, showcasing interviews and on-set footage with key figures in the industry from Hindi Cinema: Histories of Film-making.

Step into the vibrant tapestry of the 1980s, where anti-nuclear protests, political upheavals, and iconic figures like Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan mingled with the neon glow of shoulder pads, arcade games, and synthesizers.

Amnesty International Archives features hundreds of thousands of images, including every Urgent Action issued between 1974-1991 detailing requests for action to intercede in humanitarian crises and protest atrocities around the world. The campaigns, internal developments and press perceptions of Amnesty are all explored in detail through the documents that are featured in the resource.

Women’s Voices and Life Writing, 1600-1968 offers access to everyday experiences and social worlds, whilst encouraging us to engage with women’s own understandings of the contexts in which they lived. Claire Langhamer, Director of the Institute of Historical Research and Professor of Modern History, University of London, discusses the topic of romantic love using resources from within the collection.

Whatever your drivers for change, the migration of your digital collections requires planning, resources, strategic buy-in and, not least, the support services of your chosen vendor. Given how important these migration support services can be, it’s crucial to ask some fundamental questions to, as far as possible, guarantee a smooth experience.

Harris County Public Library celebrated its centenary with over two dozen digital exhibits that chart its history from the first library stations to becoming America’s tenth largest public library system. CJ Williams, Technical Services Manager, reflects on her experience of creating exhibits using AM Quartex and offers advice for establishing efficient exhibit workflows.

In the first of a new blog series, Joanne Fitton, Deputy Director of Libraries, Museums and Galleries at the University of Liverpool, charts the journey so far in effecting digital change across the institution's heritage services.

Comprising over six thousand films, British Newsreels, 1911-1930: Culture and Society on Film represents the vast majority of surviving Topical Budget newsreels, now digitised and presented together for the first time. Jade Bailey, Assistant Editor, AM looks at a number of the black and white, silent newsreels which focus on the process of filmmaking itself and new techniques of the time which are interspersed throughout the collection.

Beth Abbott, Editor, delves into reports, evidence and correspondence from another brutal chapter in the history of colonial violence in Jamaica in the third and final module of Colonial Caribbean . The Morant Bay Rebellion in 1865, marked a tragic episode in the Caribbean's history of colonial violence and this blog looks at the brutal response by Governor Eyre and colonial authorities, which led to indiscriminate violence and death and the subsequent Royal Commission of Inquiry.

What would it mean to see yourself or your own lived experience within a digital archive? In his first blog for AM, Jameson Worley uses his personal experience to answer these questions. And he explores the ways in which digital archives have fostered his own sense of community belonging.

Alex Barr, Assistant Editor looks at the reports, telegrams and correspondence in AM's newest module, documenting the events and aftermath of the attach on the British Embassy in March 1964.

Having launched your digital collections, how will you build engagement and develop a sense of community? Learn from three institutions that are successfully using Quartex to strengthen engagement with their user communities.

From open communication to honesty and pragmatism, library and archive practitioners from Syracuse University Libraries, Towson University Special Collections and University Archives, and AM, share their advice for those considering how to embed accessibility into digital collections.

AM Editor, Matthew Brand takes a look at some of the RSC prompt books in our our newest Shakespeare collection, pulling out the visually stunning 1986 ‘Yuppie’ production of Romeo and Juliet, directed by Michael Bogdanov and starring Sean Bean and Niamh Cusack.

In part 1 of her blog, Helen Duriez, Head of Product at AM, considered why accessibility matters and to whom. In part 2, discover examples of institutions using our technology to serve their audiences as well as how we consider accessibility in the context of our own primary source collections.

In the first of a two-part blog, Helen Duriez, Head of Product at AM, considers what accessibility means to us as a digital publisher and creator of Quartex, and reveals how we hold ourselves to account when it comes to meeting our customers' requirements.