On June 7th 2021, Dr Sam Gibbs of the Institute of Historical Research, School of Advanced Study at the University of London, presented IAPH members with a valuable workshop on the key considerations for structuring databases drawn from historical records. Dr Gibbs gave attendees a short but intensive introduction to the importance of formatting data types, relational databases, and how to think about standardising bodies of data for research purposes. It was a very useful and instructive day, and we would hope to have Dr Gibbs back for another workshop in the near future. Thanks to Kiara Gregory for organising the day.