The National Archives Podcast Series

Jenny Lewis's father fought as a young man in the First World War campaign in Mesopotamia - modern day Iraq, Iran and Syria. He joined the South Wales Borderers in 1915 and served in Mesopotamia until 1917 when he was wounded at Kut al Amara. He died in 1944 when Jenny was a baby. Through a presentation of original photographs, poetry and witness statements from her latest collection, Taking Mesopotamia (which was heavily based on research at The National Archives) Jenny links the 2003-2011 Iraq war to its roots in the First World War campaign, traces her own roots to the father she never knew and shows how to turn historical and family research into poetry.Jenny Lewis is a poet, playwright and children's author. She has published three collections of poetry and two pamphlets in English and Arabic with the Iraqi poet, Adnan al Sayegh. Her plays and poetry cycles have been performed at theatres across the UK. She teaches poetry at Oxford University. Find out more at jennylewis.org.uk.

While the United States could boast the black fliers of Tuskegee, few people are aware of the important contribution made by 500 RAF aircrew recruited from the Caribbean and West Africa. Overcoming the legacy of the official British Colour Bar to serve over Europe as pilots, navigators, flight engineers and air gunners, these men were pioneers in the truest sense. After suffering a loss rate of more than 30% and, in some cases, incarceration as black PoWs in Nazi Germany, the men returned to their countries of origin and were lost from the historical record. Mark Johnson has spent 17 years researching this tale, based on personal interviews with survivors, one of whom was his Jamaican great-uncle, a former navigator with Bomber Command's No 102 (Ceylon) Squadron and a holder of the Distinguished Flying Cross. He outlines their backgrounds and motives for joining up and also describes their combat experiences and explores the possible significance of their legacy for integration and race relations.Mark Johnson

Stella Wisdom discusses the 'Off the Map' competition: a unique collaboration the British Library has with videogame company Crytek and GameCity festival based in Nottingham. Off the Map challenges students in higher education to build exciting, explorable, virtual environments using assets chosen by curators at the British Library and the power of Crytek's CRYENGINE software. The 2013 competition winners were De Montfort University's Pudding Lane Productions team with their stunning realisation of 17th century London.Stella Wisdom is a curator in the Digital Research team at the British Library, exploring and promoting new methods of digital scholarship using both born digital content and digitised collections.

Dr Andrew Hopper investigates the recent controversy among historians about the nature of the trial of King Charles I. Which individuals drove the king's trial and what were their aims and goals? Did the king know he was doomed from the outset or did doubts remain over the trial's outcome? How committed were the trial commissioners to a capital sentence and what pressures constrained their freedom of action?The trial papers of Charles I are on view in The Keeper's Gallery.Dr Andrew Hopper is senior lecturer in the Centre for English Local History at the University of Leicester. He is a historian of the British Civil Wars, and best known for his two monographs Black Tom: Sir Thomas Fairfax and the English Revolution (Manchester University Press, 2007) and Turncoats and renegadoes: Changing sides in the English Civil Wars (Oxford University Press, 2012).

How can cloud storage help address growing digital preservation challenges? A webinar took place on 13 May 2014 to introduce The National Archives' new cloud storage and digital preservation guidance. The webinar was an opportunity to learn more about this guidance, and to put questions to the authors: Neil Beagrie, Andrew Charlesworth and Paul Miller.If you have any queries about the presentation please contact Charles Beagrie Ltd.Please note that this is a recording of a webinar and you might notice reduced sound quality.

This is the keynote talk at the United Kingdom Archives Discovery (UKAD) 2014 forum, delivered by Nick Poole. He explores how data standards can help museums, archives and libraries become an essential and trusted part of daily life for millions of online users.The United Kingdom Archives Discovery (UKAD) network is a collaborative group of archives and other information professionals, of which The National Archives is part, who are working towards opening up data in order to promote the use of archives.The forum is an opportunity for archivists and information professionals to hear and share some of the latest thinking around online access to archives and archives data and share ideas around making archives more accessible through online development.Nick Poole is CEO of the Collections Trust, where he is responsible for the strategic direction and management of the organisation. Nick is the Chair of the Europeana Network, a cross-industry network of 900 Creative & Cultural organisations in Europe, and fo

Jane Stevenson talks about the importance of data exchange and the fluidity of data, and how this can be achieved behind the scenes in order to provide a better service to end-users.The United Kingdom Archives Discovery (UKAD) network is a collaborative group of archives and other information professionals, of which The National Archives is part, who are working towards opening up data in order to promote the use of archives.The forum is an opportunity for archivists and information professionals to hear and share some of the latest thinking around online access to archives and archives data and share ideas around making archives more accessible through online development.Jane Stevenson is an archivist with over 20 years experience. She manages the Jisc-funded Archives Hub, an aggregation of archive descriptions representing over 225 institutions across the UK.

Geoff Browell talks about the role of authority data in AIM25, including UKAT.The United Kingdom Archives Discovery (UKAD) network is a collaborative group of archives and other information professionals, of which The National Archives is part, who are working towards opening up data in order to promote the use of archives.The forum is an opportunity for archivists and information professionals to hear and share some of the latest thinking around online access to archives and archives data and share ideas around making archives more accessible through online development.Geoff Browell is a senior archivist at King's College London and is responsible for the day to day management of AIM25, which publishes descriptions of archives held in London institutions.

Jonathan Cates introduces the new Discovery Finding Archives website, cornerstone of The National Archives' role as sector champion.The United Kingdom Archives Discovery (UKAD) network is a collaborative group of archives and other information professionals, of which The National Archives is part, who are working towards opening up data in order to promote the use of archives.The forum is an opportunity for archivists and information professionals to hear and share some of the latest thinking around online access to archives and archives data and share ideas around making archives more accessible through online development.Jonathan Cates is Collections information and systems manager at The National Archives, integrating resources including the National Register of Archives (NRA), the ARCHON directory, and Access to Archives (A2A).

Kerstin Arnold and Jane Stevenson present a case study showing how the UK went from zero data to one of the leading contributors to the Portal through the benefits of interoperable data.The United Kingdom Archives Discovery (UKAD) network is a collaborative group of archives and other information professionals, of which The National Archives is part, who are working towards opening up data in order to promote the use of archives.The forum is an opportunity for archivists and information professionals to hear and share some of the latest thinking around online access to archives and archives data and share ideas around making archives more accessible through online development.Kerstin Arnold is doing her doctoral thesis next to the work at the Federal Archives of Germany for the Archives Portal Europe - network of excellence (APEx) project. Jane Stevenson manages the Jisc-funded Archives Hub, an aggregation of archive descriptions representing over 225 institutions across the UK.

Kerstin Arnold explains the open data principles underpinning Europeana and how the data is accessible through different routes.The United Kingdom Archives Discovery (UKAD) network is a collaborative group of archives and other information professionals, of which The National Archives is part, who are working towards opening up data in order to promote the use of archives.The forum is an opportunity for archivists and information professionals to hear and share some of the latest thinking around online access to archives and archives data and share ideas around making archives more accessible through online development.Kerstin Arnold is doing her doctoral thesis next to the work at the Federal Archives of Germany for the Archives Portal Europe - network of excellence (APEx) project.

Malcolm Howitt explores developing collection management systems for archives and the balance between offering flexible data management tools and support for an increasing variety of data standards.The United Kingdom Archives Discovery (UKAD) network is a collaborative group of archives and other information professionals, of which The National Archives is part, who are working towards opening up data in order to promote the use of archives.The forum is an opportunity for archivists and information professionals to hear and share some of the latest thinking around online access to archives and archives data and share ideas around making archives more accessible through online development.Malcolm Howitt has worked for more than 25 years in the UK information management sector and he is now part of the management of Axiell's new ALM business in the UK.

Ronan Deazley draws on examples of large-scale archive digitisation initiatives to discuss copyright compliance and risk management when making archive material available online.The United Kingdom Archives Discovery (UKAD) network is a collaborative group of archives and other information professionals, of which The National Archives is part, who are working towards opening up data in order to promote the use of archives.The forum is an opportunity for archivists and information professionals to hear and share some of the latest thinking around online access to archives and archives data and share ideas around making archives more accessible through online development.Ronan Deazley is Professor of Copyright Law at the University of Glasgow, a qualified archivist, and the Founding Director of CREATe, the RCUK Centre for Copyright and New Business Models in the Creative Economy.

Afelonne Doek introduces the Social History Portal, an outcome of the European funded project Heritage of the People's Europe (HOPE), giving access to over 900,000 digital objects and more than 2 million item descriptions.The United Kingdom Archives Discovery (UKAD) network is a collaborative group of archives and other information professionals, of which The National Archives is part, who are working towards opening up data in order to promote the use of archives.The forum is an opportunity for archivists and information professionals to hear and share some of the latest thinking around online access to archives and archives data and share ideas around making archives more accessible through online development.Afelonne Doek is Director of Collections and Digital Infrastructure at the International Institute of Social History (IISH) in Amsterdam. The International Institute of Social History (IISH), Amsterdam, the Netherlands, conducts advanced research on the global history of work, workers, and labour relat

Lucy Inglis looks at the making of the London identity, and how it was shaped through the last years of the 17th century, then consolidated throughout the 18th century as London moved towards Enlightenment.Lucy Inglis began the blog GeorgianLondon in 2009. In 2013, Penguin published her book, Georgian London: Into the streets.

Contrary to previous fears, there is unlikely to be a 'black hole' in our official history due to lost emails and other digital information. In fact, quite the opposite. According to official sources, government is deluged with digital information and now The National Archives urgently needs to develop a new way to review for sensitivity the vast swathes of data and preserve that which has historical value for future generations.In this talk, Tim Gollins discusses the problem and what The National Archives and The University of Glasgow are jointly doing to address it. Tim is a director of the Digital Preservation Coalition and a member of the University of Sheffield I-School's Advisory Panel.

Starting with a tin can and a tried and tested supermarket analogy Mark Merifield covers some basic principles of information management and explores the value that's held in metadata. Building on ideas being worked on by government's Metadata and Vocabularies Working Group he examines how, with some simple controls and standards, that metadata could go on to open up our understanding, use and re-use of government's information across time and (cyber)space, solving digital transfer and opening up new ways to access our records along the way.A specialist in the management of digital information, Mark worked with the team that developed the understanding and application of the principles of Digital Continuity. He has been particularly focused on making sure the future can become the past.

Churchill's top secret plan to attack the Soviet Empire was scheduled for 1 July 1945. British, US, Polish and German forces were to attempt to liberate East Germany and Poland and bring Stalin back to the conference table. If they did not succeed, Allied forces would be sucked into a Third World War. How close did Britain come to Armageddon in 1945?Jonathan Walker is the author of Operation Unthinkable: British plans to attack The Soviet Empire 1945. He is a member of the British Commission for Military History. He is also a Vice-President of the West Country Writers' Association and recently retired as an Honorary Research Associate at the University of Birmingham. He writes, broadcasts and lectures widely on aspects of 20th Century warfare and makes regular visits to battlefields across the world.

Joanna Bourke discusses her book What it Means to be Human: Reflections from 1791 to the Present and how she uses original records in her writing.Joanna Bourke is Professor of History at Birkbeck College, University of London. She is the prize-winning author of nine books, including: Dismembering the Male: Men's Bodies, Britain, and the Great War (1996); An Intimate History of Killing (1999); Fear: A Cultural History (2005); and Rape: A History from the 1860s to the Present (2007).

When the Post Office Tower was opened officially on 8 October 1965, it was London's tallest building. It was also seen as symbolising a new, exciting technological revolution and a new spirit of optimism, successfully capturing the public imagination. In this talk, Mark Dunton draws on the public records held by The National Archives to explore aspects of the Tower's history, design and construction and its wider significance.Mark Dunton is principal records specialist in contemporary history. His research interests include post-1945 British political, social and economic history and the policies of the Heath government in the early 1970s.