The National Archives, working with members of the archives sector, is calling for blog entries from academic researchers which explore the connections between archives across the UK and around the world.

Archival research can lead you to surprising locations – and conclusions. Have you consulted a record in one archive whose value only became clear when contextualised with a record held elsewhere? Tracked down a document and found yourself as intrigued by its location as its content? Or aimed to link collections together? We’d like to hear about your eureka moments, but also the hard work of research, with days with little to show.

For this series, we’re as interested in your methodology and experience of archival research as we are in what you’re studying. We hope your story will both enrich people’s understanding of the possible connections between archives, and encourage researchers to be adventurous when planning their own journeys.

Your blog should be no longer than 750 words. It must reference material in The National Archives and at least one other record or object held elsewhere, and include at least one image (this includes images of text) with a descriptive caption. If you want to use images from collections outside of The National Archives, please include information about their copyright restrictions with your submission. Contributors whose submissions are selected for publication will be notified of which copyright permissions they will then need to obtain.

Published posts will be selected by a panel made up of representatives from The National Archives and archives across the UK.

Better research expands the world for us all.

For further information and to submit a blog post, please visit: http://blog.nationalarchives.gov.uk/blog/connecting-collections-tell-us-research-story/

Deadline for submissions: 5th December 2016