Within the Department of History, we are lucky enough to work with some fantastic partners in the archives and collections sector. Each year, a small and eager cohort of part 3 students embark on one of our placement modules: Discovering Archives and Collections.

Each year, students work alongside archivists and curators on placement, learning the valuable skills of cataloguing, researching and conservation, in an environment that is highly sought after for work experience. As a department, we understand that many students on our courses need work experience to progress into their chosen career after graduation, and we are so lucky to work with partners who welcome our students with open arms.

On Friday 29th September, our students had their first day on placement. Accompanied by module convenor, Dr Jacqui Turner, our new cohort explored the different types of collections on offer, and what a busy day it was!

Students will now complete time on their placements on each Friday of the autumn term, and we are looking forward to what they get up to during their time away from the university. As part of their assessment for the module, students will submit a reflective report on their allocated project, give a presentation, and create their own blog, article or image gallery relating to their work on placement.

We hope that our students have a fantastic time, and we hope to see some of their media pieces later in the year!

Many thanks to our amazing placement providers. Find out more about them here:

• Mills Archive
• Special Collections at the University of Reading
• The University of Reading Art Collections
• Royal Berkshire Archives (formerly Berkshire Records Offices)

Interested in the module? Find out more here: https://www.reading.ac.uk/module/document.aspx?modP=HS3DAC&modYR=2324

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Abbie Tibbottis a PhD History Student and Social Media Content Creator for the School of Humanties.

All comments and opinions presented in this article are that of the author.

We have made every effort to abide by UK copyright law but in the instance of any mislabelling of images, please contact the author of the blog post.

Many thanks to Associate Professor, Dr Jacqui Turner, for the photography supplied.