National Records of Scotland receives Archive Accreditation Award
National Records of Scotland receives Archive Accreditation Award
National Records of Scotland is one of the first three Scottish archives to attain UK Archives Accreditation. Archive Service Accreditation is a UK-wide quality standard that guages performance, recognises achievement and drives improvement within the archives sector. Falkirk archives and the Lothian Health Services Archive have also achieved accreditation.
The accreditation process has been created by archivists from across the UK to acknowledge organisations that provide a high level of service to users, meet collection preservation standards and demonstrate commitment to sustainable services and ongoing improvement. The Cabinet Secretary for Culture, Europe and External Affairs will present the certificates to the three Scottish institutions at a special event at General Register House on 24 March.
Fiona Hyslop, Cabinet Secretary for Culture, Europe and External Affairs, said:
"Good archives are essential to understanding the rich history of this country. They also support our hugely successful Scottish family history sector and ensure knowledge is available to future generations. I warmly congratulate the three archives on their success and their outstanding work to keep Scotland's records safe for others. This government values culture and history and has strongly supported the archives and records sector, most notably in passing the Public Records (Scotland) Act, 2011."
Tim Ellis, Chief Executive, Registrar General and Keeper of the Records of Scotland, said:
"Archives Accreditation will be a major tool to drive improvements across Scottish archives, so I'm delighted to accept this award on behalf of National Records of Scotland. I'm also very pleased on behalf of our colleagues in Falkirk Archives and Lothian Health Services, and look forward to further successful Scottish applications in the coming years."
Dr Irene O'Brien, Chair of the Scottish Council on Archives, said:
"Opening up the unique assets that are archives requires a laser-like focus on how that is to be secured. Achieving archives accreditation is a robust measure for services that succeed both in meeting user need and ensuring efficient management of available resources. Accreditation of three services in Scotland marks out the path for others to follow".