Lunch and Learn: Archival Googling: Using Archives Portal Europe as an aid for Archives in the web sphere

Archives Portal Europe (https://www.archivesportaleurope.net/) is an online archive catalogue repository which allows simultaneous archival research in thousands of institutions from more than thirty European countries in 24 languages and 5 alphabets through one simple online search system. Established in 2009, APE holds information on around 7,000 archival institutions, with over a thousand actively contributing content. It holds more than 280 million archival descriptive units and is constantly expanding to make more material available for research.

In this workshop, participants will work in groups, using Zoom breakout rooms , to test first-hand how archival research in multiple archival institutions can be conducted via the portal, and the new opportunities (and challenges) offered by Archives Portal Europe as an international aggregator of archival descriptions. The workshop will focus on the problem of retrieval of meaningful results based on keyword search, in a multilingual environment. Participants will be shown APE’s tools, and particularly a tool for automated topic detection, which will enrich the possibilities of “searching by TOPIC” given by the portal. There will be a prize for the greatest number of relevant results found, and the material gathered will be published on the portal’s website, with full credit to the participant. This will be a fully interactive and engaging demonstration of how Archives Portal Europe can be used to illuminate Europe’s history, and it will showcase an online tool open to any archive in the world to join, for free, to share relevant material on European history with a broader audience.

Presenters:

Anna Batzeli obtained her PhD in History in 2019 and is currently working as a postdoctoral researcher at the Democritus University of Thrace (Greece). In the framework of research projects and initiatives, she collaborates with various institutions and academic associations in Europe and beyond (such as Archives Portal Europe, the International Committee for the History of Technology and the
International Commission of Military History). Anna has published two books and several papers at peer reviewed journals, academic blogs and conferences. Her publications can be found at: https://auth.academia.edu/AnnaBatzeli

Luke Davis read Classics at Brasenose College, Oxford, specialising in Ancient History, Philosophy and Classical Literature. He then spent four months undertaking a research project for Brasenose College about Frewin Hall, a college owned site that is undergoing redevelopment. His research is being used by the college as part of alumni relations and development fundraising. Luke has volunteered at archives and museums in the North-East of England and is currently working towards the MA in Archives and Records Management at University College London. He is an Ambassador for Archives Portal Europe.