Within my presentation, originally prepared as a final paper for my class on Personal and Community Archives, I consider Queering The Map (QTM) and the records it holds in the context of recent scholarship on community archival theory. QTM is a counter-mapping platform where individuals can link a created digital record of their queer experience in relation to physical space for exploration by other users, and in my work I explore how the site’s use of a queer methodology throughout disrupts and unsettles the inherited hetero-centric norms present in community archivy.

I discuss expanding concepts of what is a (community) record and what they represent, and how these can inherently reject institutional signifiers of authenticity. I then turn to examine who is included versus excluded from gaining self-recognition in community archives as sites rooted in colonial understandings of record keeping and of queerness. I next reflect upon how affect is linked to physicality in community archival theory, and how this impact is translated through records on QTM as simultaneously born-digital and physically ephemeral. I finish with my own changing perspectives on a specific record, situated in the ideas raised throughout the paper, and consider how by expanding our use of these queer methodologies in more mainstream archives, we can step off the path of traditional archival practices.

Community Archives are a thriving and vibrant part of the archive sector, despite only being relatively recently accepted into the fold. Opinions are slowly changing from the traditional view of community archive collections as something to be 'saved' and collected by archive institutions, to a collaborative approach where community groups and qualified archivists work hand in hand with the best interests of the records at heart. But how does this work in practice?

Last year the Digital Preservation Coalition became a partner on the Towards a National Collection, Community Archives focused, 'Our Heritage, Our Stories project.' This project focused on researching and documenting the community archive sector across the UK, identifying challenges and suggesting solutions.

This paper will introduce the project and its findings. It will focus on discussing ways in which the community archive sector can be integrated fully into the wider archive sector, how archive institutions can support community archives, but more importantly, how institutional archives can learn from community groups. It will discuss an innovative approach to improving sector resilience in an inclusive way.

The creation of the Digital Preservation Toolkit for Community Archives resource will be used as a case study to highlight the use of 'post-custodial theory' in practice, provide more information on this innovative approach to custodianship, and give suggestions on how this approach can be replicated and implemented.

This presentation will provide an innovative, practical approach to building sector resilience and sustainability while also encouraging an inclusive and equitable approach to archive practice.

This individual session will consist of a presentation by members of the International Committee to showcase progress of this newly established group and introduce ARA membership to our work and activities.

As part of the presentation we will provide background to our formation and remit in supporting UK and Irish recordkeeping professionals working overseas, and for overseas recordkeeping professionals working to UK or Irish standards.

Given that this will be a hybrid conference, we want to use this opportunity to allow those who may not be able to physically attend to contribute and be a part of the experience. As the International Group, with members across multiple countries, we want to share experiences of our membership and offer a way for people to connect. Our plan is to have a pre-recorded element as part of our presentation to ensure that as many of our members as possible, including those based overseas, can be represented and share their own practical experiences of working outside of the UK & Ireland.

With this opportunity to connect with attendees on the day, and virtually gain knowledge from our members, we hope to collect and use this information to develop future case studies and toolkits. This will allow us to build connections and identify people who may want to collaborate with us on workshops and training sessions in the future. This could be on a range of topics, e.g. the balance of archives and data protection in different countries, or how professionals interpret different standards.