This is an exciting time for people with technical skills to join the archives sector.
The archives of today are on hard drives, not paper. However, digital assets are surprisingly fragile. New approaches and technical people are needed to capture and preserve these vital items for the future.
The Bridging the Digital Gap programme aims to increase digital skills in archives by bringing in new people from different backgrounds to create a more diverse, inclusive, and skilled workforce. Through these paid traineeships, talented technical people are using their skills, energy and digital confidence to help preserve history and find new ways for other people to access and learn from that heritage.
Supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, the programme has offered three rounds of eight traineeships each at host institutions in Yorkshire, Norfolk, London and the South West. Trainees are employed by The National Archives and seconded to a host archive for their 15-month training placement.
Applications have now closed for the third and final round of traineeships, which will run from January 2021 to March 2022.
