Collaboration in the archive: the MRC and the Railway Work, Life & Death Project

In this piece we look at a collaborative project, in which the Modern Records Centre is a co-lead: the Railway Work, Life & Death project. The project is transcribing details of accidents to British and Irish railway staff before 1939. Using a collaborative and co-productive methodology, and thanks to the efforts of volunteers, we are transcribing and making freely available tens of thousands of records of accidents to railway workers. Many of these records come from the collections of what is now the RMT (National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers) trade union, and their support for our work has been excellent. Here we offer up critical reflections from across the project team about how the project has worked in practice.