About the digital peer mentoring programme

An overview of the programme

Since 2020, we have run an annual digital peer mentoring programme as part of our digital capacity building strategy for the archives sector. We match UK-based archive professionals with an experienced digital professional to work on a digital project within their workplace for a period of six months. The programme is fully remote so meetings between mentors and mentees take place online.

Mentees have come from business archives, university archives, charities, museums, community archives and local authority archives. They have received support with digital engagement activity, preservation and wider digital strategy, digital methods and approaches to digital access. Mentors have come from archives including The National Archives, National Records of Scotland, Cambridge University, Borthwick Institute of Archives, Gloucestershire Archives, Imperial War Museum and the Modern Records Centre at the University of Warwick.

What can a digital project cover?

Projects receiving support from mentors have focused on topics such as:

• Developing a digital strategy and a digital advocacy programme to make the case for investment in digital preservation capacity
• Researching and implementing software and workflows to improve access to digital materials
• Implementing digital preservation procedures and tools from scratch
• Support for digital engagement and storytelling using collections

This list is not exhaustive and you can read more about the range of topics covered by reading about our current projects or case studies from previous cohorts.

Apply to the digital peer mentoring programme

We are currently accepting expressions of interest to be a mentee on the 2027 programme. The closing date for submissions is 17:00 on Friday 30 October 2026. Please read the assessment criteria below before applying.

Assessment criteria for expressions of interest

These are the criteria we use when assessing expressions of interest for the digital peer mentoring programme. They are in descending order of importance.

• Clarity of project summary – have you conveyed your need for a mentor?
• Is there a suitable mentor match?
• Are you a lone archivist or is there an internal support network?
• Is your project time-critical, and does it tie into the timeframe of the programme?
• Is the potential mentor happy to take on the project?
• Balance of regions and nations and types of archive service
• Are you a first-time applicant to the programme?

We prioritise first-time applicants, but you can apply if you have either taken part before but moved to a different archive, or if your archive has benefited from the programme before but another staff member is applying.

Could you be a digital mentor?

Confident digital practitioners and those who have undertaken digital projects within their organisations have gone on to become mentors for the programme. Mentors are matched with a mentee for a six month digital project. You meet fortnightly (remotely) with your mentee over that time to support them through a digital project, formed by them with your support.

We offer full training for mentors and welcome professionals who have not mentored before but are looking to continue their professional development with this opportunity. Mentors are fully supported throughout the programme by a professional mentoring coach.

If you would be interested in participating in the programme, please email Caroline Catchpole, programme lead, and tell us a little about your past experience and skill set. Please also establish which of the following areas you think you might be able to provide support with:

• Digital preservation
• Digital engagement (web services, storytelling, design or social media)
• Digital strategy
• Data analysis
• Digitisation
• Academic collaboration
• User research

Your expertise may be concentrated in a single area or several – this is to help us match mentees with mentors who can support their needs and interests. We are looking for expressions of interest rather than cast-iron commitments at this stage and the possibility exists that you may not be matched, should the mentee cohort be interested in some areas and not others.