Blog

Meu Mapa, by Atlas Weyland Eden, is a short piece of historical fiction inspired by digitised archival maps in AM databases, and written as part of the Imagining History UK programme.

In a guest blog, Kuba Jablanowski, a lecturer in Digital Sociology at the University of Bristol, explores how the university's use of AM Digital collections have enabled students to access crucial interdisciplinary content to support their research. 

The Imagining History Programme (IHUK) offers access to digitised archives, inspiring participants to merge historical research with storytelling. The program balances guidance with self-directed exploration, fostering critical thinking and narrative skills. 

In a guest blog, Lewis Goode, a graduate student from the University of Bristol discusses their use of AM's digital archives for research for their masters dissertation. Lewis highlights how the tools available through AM Explorer enable an enhanced research experience. 

In preparation for migration to AM Quartex, the University of Delaware Library, Museums and Press is taking the opportunity to reassess its practices related to the quality of images that are created and displayed digitally. Learn more in part two of this guest blog series.

Seventy years on from publication of the first issue, Emily Stafford, AM Editor, explores how the American Committee on Africa’s newsletter, Africa Today, served the committee’s aim of informing the American public about African affairs and built on the collective power of small individual actions to effect change.

In the first of a guest blog series from the University of Delaware, discover the challenges and legacy systems limiting usage of the library's digitised special collections, and how the library team arrived at the decision to migrate its many-faceted, multimedia collections to AM Quartex.

As Los Angeles prepares for the 2028 Olympic Games, Matt Brand, Editor, delves into the city’s 1956 bid, revealing surprising twists and turns through promotional material and behind-the-scenes correspondence featured in The Olympic Movement: Sport, Global Politics, and Identity.

Eighty years on from the occupation of Hungary by German troops during the Second World War, one woman’s diaries offer a personal perspective on a globally significant event. This blog explores the accounts of Scottish journalist Margaret Mackenzie Scott as she navigates her new reality under German occupation far from her homeland.

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.

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.

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.

The myriad benefits of serving multiple audiences with separate digital collections sites, all managed from one flexible, powerful and efficient DAMS, are being realised by libraries and archives across the US and around the world. Learn from the examples set by San Francisco State University, Harris County Public Library and Harris County Archives, and Syracuse University.

AM Senior Editor, Sophie Heath looks at our newest module, highlighting some of David Sarnoff's speeches and articles sharing his visions for the broadcasting industry, now digitised from the David Sarnoff Papers held at Hagley Museum and Library as part of our Broadcasting America: The Rise of Mass Media and Communications.

Eleanor Masters, Editorial Assistant at AM dives into our newest module Africa and the New Imperialism looking at the significance of the Berlin Conference from 1888-1885.