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Advocacy toolkit for higher education archives
Take a look at a current example of one of our toolkits.
Invitation to tender: developing an inclusive cataloguing toolkit
The National Archives is seeking to appoint a consultant to support the development of a sector-led introductory toolkit for inclusive cataloguing, to begin work in December 2026. The toolkit will encompass community participation, co-curation and revising archival descriptions.
Background
The National Archives, in collaboration with practitioners across the archive sector, has established an Inclusive Archival Practice Network to provide support to recordkeepers on inclusive practice. The network aims to create a supportive space for practitioners to share expertise and learn collaboratively. The network will empower practitioners to work through challenges and address professional isolation.
The National Archives acts as facilitator rather than lead, allowing sector practitioners to have authentic ownership of the network and its decision-making. A steering group has been recruited, made up of archive professionals from a range of institutions, who decide the direction and outputs of the network. The network officially launched in April 2026.
The network has run a series of events, and feedback gathered to date has identified a lack of centralised and introductory guidance to support archives in approaching inclusive cataloguing. While a range of resources exist, they tend to focus on specific collections, communities or issues.
This project contributes to the Government's vision for archives in England by supporting a more inclusive and representative archival sector.
We consider the definition of inclusive cataloguing to be: an archival approach that ensures catalogues and descriptive metadata are created and revised to reflect diverse perspectives, use respectful and appropriate language, acknowledge historical context and bias, and support equitable access to archives for all users and communities.
Project aims
The consultant will develop an introductory toolkit on inclusive cataloguing for archives and related cultural heritage organisations, which will sit on The National Archives' Inclusion hub webpages. The toolkit is the starting point and will inform future work in this area.
The content for the toolkit will be developed in consultation with the steering group, other experienced professionals in inclusive practice, and the wider archive and culture heritage sectors.
The work should focus on creating a practical introductory toolkit to inclusive cataloguing, while highlighting other relevant themes prioritised by the network, including community participation and co-curation and revising problematic catalogue descriptions.
While the consultant will be responsible for creating the content for the toolkit, The National Archives' team will build it into our website.
Scope of work
The appointed consultant will be expected to:
- Conduct desk-based research to understand existing practice, guidance, resources, gaps in knowledge or support, and identify potential case studies
- Facilitate two structured knowledge exchange events that will inform the development of the resource:
- A knowledge exchange with the steering group and those experienced in inclusive cataloguing to help shape the content of the toolkit
- A knowledge exchange with the wider archive and cultural heritage sectors to refine the content of the toolkit
- Produce an outline of the toolkit, in response to the knowledge exchanges, for the project steering group to review
- Produce a full draft of the toolkit, which may include:
- an introductory guide to setting up an inclusive cataloguing project
- case studies
- checklists
- workflows
- further reading
- Refine the toolkit in response to feedback
- Produce a final toolkit in line with The National Archives' guidelines on publishing for the web
- Produce a short internal summary document (one side of A4), containing stakeholder feedback
Our advocacy toolkit for higher education archives is an example of a current toolkit.
Key considerations
The steering group welcome suggestions of organisations to consult. This is to ensure examples of inclusive practice are drawn from a broad range of organisations and disciplines, including:
- archives
- libraries
- museums
- community archives
- other relevant heritage, cultural and information sectors
Toolkit requirements
The toolkit should be:
- Practical and accessible for organisations of different sizes and capacities
- Realistic in scope and implementation requirements
- Sustainable and achievable within existing sector resources where possible
- Focused on actions and approaches that organisations can reasonably adopt
The resource will be developed into webpages to be published on The National Archives’ Inclusion Hub, so the final draft should be submitted as a Word document. Further guidance on web accessibility and formatting will be provided.
The project should avoid creating overly complex or resource-intensive recommendations that may present barriers to adoption.
The National Archives will review the development process, and be responsible for advertising the knowledge exchanges, managing registration, hosting online feedback surveys, and building the resource into The National Archives’ Inclusion Hub.
Proposed timeline
- Deadline for clarification questions
26 November 2026 (23:59 GMT)
- Deadline for responses to the invitation to tender
3 December 2026 (23:59 GMT)
- Consultant appointed
December 2026
- Project initiation meeting
December 2026
- Knowledge exchange with sector experts
February 2027
- Draft toolkit submitted
March 2027
- Knowledge exchange with wider sector
March 2027
- Final toolkit submitted
April 2027
Timings are approximate, and subject to change.
Consultant requirements
Applicants should demonstrate:
- Significant knowledge of inclusive cataloguing, collections description, and metadata in an archives, libraries or museums environment
- Experience of facilitating workshops, consultations and stakeholder engagement activities
- Experience of working collaboratively with community groups and underrepresented communities
- Ability to produce accessible guidance materials in a toolkit format
- Understanding of the archives sector and wider cultural heritage landscape
- Strong project management and stakeholder management skills
Contract value
It is anticipated that the work will take 15 days to complete, at a rate of £550 (£660 including VAT) per day. A total sum of up to £9,900 including VAT is available for this project. It includes all out-of-pocket expenses such as travel or subsistence.
We also welcome applications from consortiums. The contract value will remain the same but must be divided by consultants within the tender application.
The appointed consultant(s) should therefore anticipate conducting meetings virtually rather than face-to-face. If face-to-face meetings are required, the consultant’s costs in attending these should be included as part of the budget available for this project. No additional expenses claims will be permitted.
This contract will be managed by Helena Smart and James Heyworth-Taylor.
Evaluation
You will be evaluated based on the quality of your application, according to the following scale:
| Score | Rating |
|---|---|
| 1 | Poor |
| 2 | Low |
| 3 | Good |
| 4 | Excellent |
| 5 | Outstanding |
The quality of your application will be assessed on your answers to the following areas within your application:
- understanding
- experience
- methodology and plan
- contract price
How to respond
If you have any questions related to your response, please email asl@nationalarchives.gov.uk by 23:59 (GMT) on 26 November 2026.
The closing date for applications is 3 December 2026 at 23:59 (GMT).
All responses to the invitation to tender must be submitted using this form.
We aim to have a project set-up meeting the week beginning 14 December 2026.
It is for you to determine what format your tender response should take so as to describe your offer in a clear, comprehensive fashion. However, please ensure your tender response includes, as a minimum:
- Your understanding of the project deliverables
- Details of your prior experience suited to this project, including understanding of sector-related guidance and standards
- Your proposed methodology and plan for delivering the workshop, including your preference for career stage (either early, mid or senior career)
- Your contract price, including your VAT status