Anna Sexton

Dr Anna Sexton is a Lecturer in Archives, Records Management and Information Governance at University College London (UCL), Department of Information Studies. Her work bridges participatory, creative, and trauma-informed approaches to archives and recordkeeping, with a focus on health, mental health, and social care contexts.

Key Affiliations:

• Director, Centre in Critical Archives & Records Management Studies (2020–present)
• Lecturer, UCL (2018–present)
• Head of Research, The National Archives (2017–2018)
• Deputy Director (Collaborations and Partnerships), London Arts and Humanities Partnership (2020)

Research Focus: Anna’s research explores ethics of care, affect theory, and social justice across archives, data management, and cultural heritage. She examines intersections between open data initiatives and personal information protection (InterPARES Project), technical integration of XML encoding standards for archives, and participatory approaches to mental health/social care records (AHRC-funded PhD and related projects).

Teaching: As Programme Director for UCL’s MA in Archives & Records Management, she leads modules on archives theory, curation, and trauma-informed practices. Her pedagogy incorporates critical and interdisciplinary perspectives.

Public Engagement: She developed the MIRRA Project (Memory-Identity-Rights in Records-Access) through UCL Policy Unit funding, co-creating recordkeeping protocols with care-experienced individuals and professionals.

Professional Leadership:

• External Chair, London Arts & Humanities Partnership (2017–2019)
• Archives Unlocked Board Member (2018)
• Reviewer for journals like Emerald: Records Management Journal and Taylor and Francis: Archives and Records