Knowing the Need Conference, 1 March 2013. Presentation by Gerry Slater, Scottish Council on Archives.

1. Gerry Slater
Policy Adviser
Scottish Council on Archives
W: WWW.SCOTTISHARCHIVES.ORG.UK
E: CONTACT@SCOTTISHARCHIVES.ORG.UK T: +44 (0)131 535 1362
A: GENERAL REGISTER HOUSE 2 PRINCES STREET EDINBURGH EH1 3YY

2. SCOTTISH SCENE
• National Records of Scotland (NRS)
• Devolved Pattern:
- 133 public bodies hold archives
- Glasgow City Archives to very small
- Those in private hands

3. ARCHIVAL ACCOUNT OF SCOTLAND (2000)
First Gathering of Data
• Some Uncomfortable Quotes:
- Accommodation for archives and the archive sector can generally be
described as appalling.
- Public Access: services are poor and more investment required.
- Preservation and Conservation: only 25% have carried out a
professional survey and backlog is on the increase – more finance is
needed to increase treatment capacity, creation of public sector posts
and promote better preservation practice and surrogacy programmes.

4. ARCHIVAL ACCOUNT OF SCOTLAND (2000)
Some Success
• New builds and refurbishments, e.g., Highland Regional Archives,
Scottish Borders Hub and Glasgow University Business Records Centre
• Creation of the Scottish Council on Archives

5. MAJOR PLAYERS 1
National Records of Scotland
• Centre of expertise
• Tension between in-house and other priorities
• Sharing integral to its culture
• Hands-on, supportive and practical

6. MAJOR PLAYERS 2
Scottish Council on Archives
• Representative (e.g., local authorities, universities, users)
• Focus on building capacity in sector
• Focus on gathering evidence
• Focus on raising profile of archives, e.g.,
- National Plan for Learning and Archives
- Records Management Services (ARMS) Quality Improvement Toolkit
- Archives Accreditation
- Economic Impact

7. PARTNERSHIP
Preservation Advisory Centre (PAC)
• Preservation Assessment Surveys: opportunity for PAC, NRS and
Council on co-operation
• Council funded 15 surveys
• NRS gives expert support - £10,000 + opportunity costs
• PAC oversees, advises and analyses

8. PRESERVATION ASSESSMENT SURVEYS
Importance in Scotland
• Hands-on knowledge and a feel for the range of archives in Scotland
• Sense of what would make a difference ‘on the ground’
• Data feeding into robust methodology
• Collecting and using right information and evidence to demonstrate value and
support preservation
• Not just opinion – independent evidence

9. Archivists and conservators working and training together
Thomas Thomson House (National Records of Scotland)

10. WOE, WOE, THRICE WOE
PAS Category UK+Ireland (%) Scotland (%) Difference (%)
Surrogates planned 15 Under 10 -5
Catalogued/listed 71 63 -8
On-line catalogue 36 26 -10
Handling procedures 83 93 +10
Environmental management 38 18 -20
Fire detection/suppression 87 69 -18
Unstable condition 11 17 -6

11. THE WOODEN SPOON
Storage adequate for 59% of UK-Ireland items ...
...For just 9% of items in
Scotland.

12. WHERE FROM HERE?
Scottish Council on Archives Preservation Working Group:
• Professional conservators + archivists + users
• PAS Report data
• Focus on practical solutions
- Resource constraints, especially conservation skills
- identify early winners, e.g., reworked disaster plan format
- build on existing co-operation, e.g., cost recovery purchases from NRS

13. Gerry Slater
Policy Adviser
Scottish Council on Archives
W: WWW.SCOTTISHARCHIVES.ORG.UK
E: CONTACT@SCOTTISHARCHIVES.ORG.UK T: +44 (0)131 535 1362
A: GENERAL REGISTER HOUSE 2 PRINCES STREET EDINBURGH EH1 3YY