Anna shares her experiences being a volunteer in the GNM Archive. She tells the story of how it feels to walk into the Guardian, to get a glimpse of the exciting life of the Archive and to try to distinguish between Barbara Castle and Margaret Thatcher.

Archives tend to exist, quite often living and breathing, hidden away in the depths of institutions; charities, banks, museums, local historical foundations, you name it, it probably has an archive. And what actually is an archive? After deliberating with several people, the best summary I can find is this: It’s an accumulation of history that comprises of records and documents pertaining to an institution, group of people or place.

Deputy production editor Suzanne Warr blogs about her experiences visiting and running workshops in schools in her home town, Fleetwood in Lancashire, as part of the Education Centre’s pilot outreach project.

On 11 October we celebrated Ada Lovelace day with a day of workshops and inspiring talks, attended by 50 school students from years 9 through to sixth form