Purpose
This policy has been approved by the Keeper of the Records of Scotland (the Keeper). It supports that part of the National Records of Scotland’s (NRS) mission statement that, “We collect, preserve and produce information about Scotland’s people and history, and make it available to inform present and future generations.”
Scope
NRS holds records spanning the 12th to the 21st centuries, touching on
virtually every aspect of Scottish life. We are the repository for the public and legal records of Scotland, but we also have many local and private archives.
This policy articulates both the general principles that underpin the selection of records to add to the national archival collection, and the detailed statement of our collecting and selection policies across various formats and subjects.
'Record’ means anything in which information is recorded in any form including electronic records, records in microform and other types of specialised media, as well as paper and parchment records, which are considered to be worthy of permanent preservation because of their evidential, administrative or historical importance.
General Principles
NRS adopts a collaborative collecting approach and will, where appropriate, liaise with other repositories, whether national, university, local or other. We shall take into account their known collecting policies in all cases where interests appear to overlap. We shall try to avoid competing claims and to achieve if possible a united voice on any recommendations to owners about places of deposit.
NRS participates in the Scottish National Collections Group which meets quarterly to ensure effective communication and cooperation between the national collecting organisations within Scotland. This includes: National Records of Scotland; the National Library of Scotland; Historic Environment Scotland; National Museums of Scotland, the National Galleries of Scotland and the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh.
NRS also participates in the Scottish Council on Archives Collection Policy Working Group. This group has representatives from across the archive sector in Scotland to discuss issues around collecting and collecting policies.
In addition to NRS and other national collecting bodies, the Scottish archive sector includes 32 local authority archive facilities and 14 university archives, each with collecting specialisms. It is important therefore that NRS maintains a stringent selection policy for private records. The stringency of this policy and its rigorous application will ensure the selection of a representative archive of the Scottish private sector in NRS, while respecting the collecting policies of partners in the
sector and observing the resource limits for NRS storage and preservation of archival materials.
The National Library of Scotland (NLS) and NRS have largely differing collecting ambitions, but there are some areas where there is potential for overlap and competition, most obviously in the acquisition of family and estate archives. For this reason the two organisations established the National Records of Scotland/National Library of Scotland Private Records Group. This meets regularly to ensure good communications, and co-operation in the implementation of their respective acquisition policies.
Some NRS accessions include videos and reels of cine-film which require specialist storage and conservation. Such accessions are normally deposited by us on loan with the Scottish Moving Image Archive (part of the NLS), as the national moving images collection. Otherwise we do not seek specifically to collect such media. Similarly, NRS receives audio tapes and other sound recordings as incidental parts of private collections. The NLS has created the Scottish Sound Archive as a national facility and NRS aligns its collecting policies with this body.
NRS is the primary collector of archives relating to the history of the Railway Industry in Scotland. It is a member of the Railway Heritage Designation Advisory Board (RHDAB), part of the Science Museum Group. We work closely with RHDAB and with the Rail Industry National Archive (RINA) to ensure that the historically significant records relating to the Scottish railways are preserved.
Although NRS has its own substantial collections relating to industry and commerce, it recognises the expertise of Glasgow University Business Records Centre in this area. The two bodies work to co-ordinate their collecting, both bilaterally and through their membership of the Business Archives Council for Scotland (BACS)
and the Scottish Council on Archives (SCA) Collecting Policy Working Group.
NRS will not normally seek to collect discrete bodies of private records, including architects’ papers, that relate either largely or wholly to the built environment. These fall within the collecting policies of Historic Environment Scotland (HES).
NRS will only consider the acceptance of duplicates if the material being offered is in effect a primary set of records and similar duplicates of equal value are being preserved in other archives. An example of this is the records of the Nolan Committee on Standards in Public Life, or UK Government Cabinet papers. In exceptional circumstances NRS will consider the acceptance of secondary copies, for example if the primary copy was destroyed in a fire, or the medium is considered to be volatile (e.g. silver nitrate images), or is compromised or redacted and is the only copy available. Where ease of access is an issue, NRS will promote alternatives to accepting duplicate sets of material wherever possible, for instance by digitisation and the creation of surrogate replacements.
Sampling techniques will be used when a record series meets one of more of the collection themes and criteria set out above, but is too bulky to be preserved in its entirety (e.g. certain case files). Any sampling techniques used will follow rules similar to those as applied by TNA, the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland and other national archives within the EC.
Selection of Court and Legal Records
The court records, public registers and Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal (COPFS) records are retained and preserved in NRS because of their vital importance in guaranteeing property and personal rights in Scotland, in underpinning the proper working of the civil and criminal judicial systems, and for their uses in historical and other research. NRS recognises the importance of maintaining an unbroken record of these functions. The constant increase in the quantity of court and legal records produced requires NRS to maintain a stringent selection policy.
The stringency of this policy and its rigorous application will ensure the selection of a representative archive of the records of the Scottish courts and legal administration, but it will also mean that NRS can operate within reasonable resource limits for storage and preservation.
The records of the Scottish central and local courts are accepted under the provisions of the Public Records (Scotland) Act, 1937, s 1-3 as amended, and the Public Records (Scotland) Act, 2011 (PRSA 2011)
NRS has agreed with the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS) which records it will take from each of the four categories of courts: the Court of Session, the High Court of Justiciary, the Sheriff Courts and the Justice of the Peace Courts. These courts and their records are set out in annexes 1 to 4 of this policy. It is a guiding principle of the selection process that at least some evidence will be kept to show the outcome of every process or action, whether that means preserving all the records created by a judicial process or, in the case of minor actions, simply retaining a register that records the judgements or sentences.
In practice, NRS takes all the civil processes created by the Court of
Session and all the criminal processes created by the High Court, together with the associated registers and indexes from both courts. NRS receives all civil processes created by the Sheriff Courts but employs trained weeders to identify those processes reckoned to be of legal or historical importance for permanent preservation. The rest are destroyed. All criminal processes, adoptions, Fatal Accident Inquiries and associated registers are retained.
NRS and its predecessors have been archiving public registers
recording heritable rights and deeds since 1617. These registers are currently maintained by Registers of Scotland (ROS) and most are transferred to NRS at stated intervals. These registers are detailed in annex 5 of this policy.
NRS archives the historic records of the Crown Office. These are
currently identified and selected by COPFS staff in accordance with Crown Office Circular 29 of 2001.
The initial determination as to the legal or administrative importance of a public register, court or COPFS record is normally made by the staffs of the organisations involved, applying agreed records retention schedules. Staffs are also expected to make decisions on historical importance, although it is understood that NRS staff will provide advice in this area, most importantly at the stage when any Record Management Plan is formulated.
There is no separately defined NRS Collection Development Policy
governing future acquisition of records from SCTS, ROS or the COPFS. The public registers automatically reflect the changing legal system in Scotland. They will also automatically provide accurate, dynamic evidence of the economic condition of the country and most particularly of the property market. The processes arising from individual criminal and civil actions constitute the overwhelming bulk of records taken from the courts. Consequently as Scotland’s economy, society and the lives of its citizens change and evolve, so it is expected that these changes will be naturally reflected in the records themselves. However, NRS does monitor the record-creating implications of changes to the courts and their processes and adapt its collections development practices accordingly, as well as providing advice
to the relevant body on updates to its retention schedule.
Selection of Government Records
Records of government activities are important as they record the origins of individual rights and obligations and provide accountability and transparency to the citizen. Collection of these records is expected to reflect changes in the Scottish economic, political and cultural life, wider Scottish society, and the changing nature and structure of the Scottish Government itself.
The increase in the quantity of government records produced from the 1960s onwards requires NRS to introduce a stringent selection policy. The stringency of this policy and its rigorous application will ensure the selection of a representative archive of the records of central government and related bodies.
Government records are received under the provision of the Public Records (Scotland) Act 1937, (PRSA 1937), with those of UKG under s.5(1) of the PRSA 1937 and by administrative application of the Public Records Act, 1958 s.3 (8) (PRA 1958). Future collecting will be in accordance with the PRSA 1937, as amended, PRA 1958, PRSA 2011, and any supplementary primary or secondary legislation affecting public records.
NRS also receives records of Scottish Public Inquiries held under the Inquiries Act 2005, which are transferred to the Keeper under the provisions of the Inquiries (Scotland) Rules 2007.
NRS currently receives records from the Scottish Government (formerly the Scottish Executive), including the pre-devolution records of the former Scottish Office departments; the Scottish Parliament; Scottish national devolved public bodies, including agencies, non-ministerial departments, non-departmental public bodies, tribunals, public corporations, special health boards and other significant national public bodies; and records of the United Kingdom government (UKG) where those relate exclusively or mainly to Scotland.
The selection policy will apply to records created by public authorities in any of the following categories:
- Bodies falling under the authority of Scottish ministers;
- Bodies named as public authorities under the Schedule to the PRSA 2011 and whose main archive is NRS;
- Bodies listed in Parts 1-2, 4 and 6-7 of Schedule 1 to the Freedom of
Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA 2002), with the exception of local health boards, local health councils and individuals providing medical or dental services (etc.) as described in Part 4 sections 33, 34 and 35.
- UK departments whose work relates exclusively or mainly to Scotland and which are selected by NRS with the agreement of The National Archives (TNA) under the terms of the PRA 1958, section 3(8) and the PRSA 1937, section 5(1). Operation of the policy with regard to records from UK departments will require discussion and close co-operation between NRS and TNA.
The scope for selection of government records as outlined in 5.6 does not constitute a commitment on the part of NRS to accept records from every body so listed. Similarly, NRS may extend the scope to cover any bodies added to the Schedule to the PRSA 2011 or Schedule 1 of FOISA 2002, where the body concerned also falls within the scope of the PRSA 1937
In broad terms the collection themes for Government Records are:
- The Scottish Parliament’s deliberations, processes, functions and structures
- The constitutional position of Scotland, including the establishment of devolved government and the representation of Scottish interests in the making of UK policy
- Scotland’s position within the European Community (EC) prior to Brexit, and its relations with Europe and other countries
- The formulation and implementation of policy on domestic issues including:
- civil and criminal law, legal rights, the administration of justice
and penal policies
- social issues (education, child care, health, housing, policing
and social policy)
- the Scottish economy (industry, business, transport, agriculture
and fisheries, forestry, energy and overseas trade)
- the environment and green issues
- cultural policy in the broadest sense, community development
- public health care and government response to the 2020
COVID-19 global pandemic
- The interaction of these policies with individuals, communities, the Scottish nation and the physical and natural environment.
Due to the nature of their business the records of the various government departments, agencies and other bodies can differ quite significantly. Further details of the types of records which contain information which should be considered of permanent value and suitable for selection can be found at Annex Five.
The staff of the public bodies which create records eligible for selection will be expected to make initial recommendations on the transfer of particular records to NRS. This should take into account any legal obligations for permanent preservation, as also the administrative, business or historical importance of records, with particular reference to the criteria in this policy. The initial recommendation will be used as a basis for consideration for selection by NRS client managers. Furthermore, public bodies falling under the PRSA 2011 must apply formal scheduling arrangements, approved by the Keeper under an agreed records management plan, which include decisions on disposal of records. It is understood that NRS client managers will provide advice and guidance on selection, most importantly at the stage when a records management plan is formulated and agreed under the PRSA 2011.
NRS may adopt elements of functional (or ‘macro’) appraisal as part of selection. As the initial stage of the appraisal of an organisation’s records NRS will use an analysis of the functions of the organisation and its constituent parts to identify the functions which have the most significant impact on individuals, groups and the wider Scottish community. NRS will however retain an element of content-based appraisal of records. Experience has shown that until records management practices in all government bodies can be shown to comply with the Keeper’s Model Plan and Guidance under the PRSA 2011, and the Code of practice on records management issued under section 61 of FOISA 2002, it is not possible to rely exclusively on file plans or functional models of an organisation as the basis for
appraisal decisions.
There are no separately defined NRS Collection Development Policies governing the future acquisition of records from Scottish Government Departments, NDPBs, agencies and other bodies. As Scotland’s economy, society and the lives of its citizens change and evolve, so it is expected that these changes will be naturally reflected in the records of government itself. In general, where a new record stream is identified in the government system that involves significant quantities of records, where there is debate about historical importance, or where changing social attitudes or developments in archival theory suggest a review is needed of the current selection practice, advice can be sought from NRS client managers. With appropriate safeguards in the case of confidential records, it may also be appropriate to take advice from third parties (e.g. academics, experienced researchers) as to the significance of particular types of records.
Selection of Private records
Historic records of private individuals, families, cultural organisations and businesses form an important part of the holdings of NRS. These records, though not public records, contain much that is vital to understanding the history of the Scottish peoples and it is self-evident that they must be preserved.
Private records are transferred are accepted under the provisions of the Public Records (Scotland) Act, 1937, s11 A as amended by the National heritage (Scotland) Act 1985
Some private records are accepted as a gift to the nation in lieu of inheritance tax, some come from generous donors as outright gifts, some are purchased, but many are held only as deposits (loans) governed by agreements with owners or creators and so remain private property in the custody of the Keeper.
NRS has a small annual budget for the purchase of records and sums used from this fund can include ex-gratia payments for recovering public records which are held in private custody. Exceptionally, NRS has pursued outside funding sources to secure important collections of national significance
NRS is the recognised national repository for records of the Church of Scotland, and its constituent predecessor churches. NRS has an agreement with the Church of Scotland for the deposit of non-current records. NRS also holds on deposit records of other Protestant denominations, including Methodists and the Society of Friends (Quakers). (Records of the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland are held by the Scottish Catholic Archive and the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Glasgow Archives. The Scottish Jewish Archives is the repository for records of the Jewish community in Scotland.) As Scottish society changes and develops we would seek to take religious records of national significance from any denomination.
Criteria for Future acquisition of private records by NRS
Records and manuscripts originating with or held by private individuals or bodies may be acquired by NRS by legal right, gift, bequest, purchase, donation in lieu of tax, or deposit on indefinite loan, in the following categories:
- Public records in private hands and as such identified as extra
commercium.
- Papers of national (Scottish or UK) or international importance, especially those which supplement the public records. These would include papers of families whose members have held significant political, administrative or judicial offices and in consequence can be seen as supplementing the public records. Acquisition of these is particularly important to NRS where the existing public records are known to be deficient.
- Records of landowners (especially pre-1914), and of commercial,
technical, or industrial enterprises of national or regional historical significance. This includes records of the private companies who succeeded the nationalised industries (rail, coal, steel, power and shipbuilding).
- Records of private bodies of national standing whose activities are aimed at improving the social or economic wellbeing of one or all of the communities that make up the people of Scotland. (e.g. charitable,
philanthropic and advocacy organisations)
- Papers which it is judged would significantly contribute to the family history services offered by NRS, (e.g. artificial compilations of
names of public officials or employees of particular bodies; privately
created indexes to record series).
- Papers which would constitute appropriate additions to collections already in NRS.
- Collections of mainly local or regional interest only where the records are judged of significant historical interest, and where there is no suitable local repository. There would be a reserved right to transfer to a local repository when one is established.
- Any other series of records not falling into the above broad categories, but which it is felt to be in the national interest to add to the holdings of NRS and which could not be more appropriately taken by another institution. This would be gauged by the importance of the individuals or bodies covered by the records, or the events or activities that they relate to.
Conditions for accepting Private Records
We welcome gifts of records that fall within the above criteria. Any gift should, where possible, assign the donor’s copyright as well as ownership and, where known, indicate any other copyright holders for material in the collections.
We now accept deposited (loaned) collections only with reluctance. In such cases, the material would have to conform to the selection criteria (s6 above), and there will be strong contractual obligations agreed before deposit. These will particularly cover notice periods for withdrawal of the collection and compensation for any significant preservation work carried out. We shall expect a general permission to make images of deposited documents for access, security and preservation purposes and we would retain copyright over these images. In the event of an owner subsequently deciding to sell their papers, we would expect to be offered first refusal and we would also expect some reduction in the price as a consideration for the costs of storage, cataloguing and conservation.
In certain cases we shall require owners to give additional undertakings before accepting a deposit. In particular we may reserve the right to expect payment for any cataloguing work should the papers be withdrawn before a certain agreed time has elapsed. Again, in some cases we will expect payment of an agreed percentage of the price of any records deposited in, listed and arranged by, NRS and subsequently sold to a third party. This will be reckoned to cover part at least of the public money expended on cataloguing, storage and conservation work.
Some or all of these points, as appropriate, will be set out in separate, bespoke contracts agreed with each depositor.
NRS may accept copies of original records, in various media, where their content meets the selection criteria (s6 above). We would have to be satisfied that the originals had been lost, destroyed or were not readily available for public access. In this way, our possession of copies would be seen either to preserve important information for posterity, or to provide a more convenient form of access than would otherwise be available.
Where it is appropriate, and where the funding is available, NRS may purchase private records.
In general, if a major collection is offered to NRS that involves a significant physical quantity of records, or where there is debate about historical importance, advice may be sought from third parties (e.g. academics, experienced researchers) as to the significance of particular collections offered to us.
Selection and Acquisition of maps plans, architectural and technical drawings
NRS maps and plans collections are amongst the finest in the UK and contain the best corpus of Scottish manuscript maps and plans held by any institution. The scope of the collections covers both manuscript and printed topographical maps and plans, with particular strengths in estate plans and railway plans; architectural drawings; topographical and geological maps and drawings relating to coal mining in Scotland; and engineering drawings, principally of ships, railway engines and rolling stock.
The practice of maintaining a separate, albeit artificial, series of plans and drawings for the purposes of storage and cataloguing started in the 1960s. This series is known as the Register House Plans (RHP) series.
Maps, plans, architectural and technical drawings generally come to NRS in two ways; first, acquired as an integrated part of a larger archive, and second as entirely separate acquisitions. The maps and plans which are an integral part of a larger archive may be physically integrated to the extent they are bundled together with documents to which they relate, or they may be physically separate (mainly due to their size and format) whilst intellectually an integral part of the larger archive.
As many of the maps and plans constitute parts of larger archives, NRS selection policies on government, private and court and legal records have a significant role to play in determining which series of maps and plans are selected and acquired by NRS. The collection themes set out in those policies, to a significant extent, form the framework for selecting maps and plans.
Maps and plans which are selected and acquired independently of other parts of an archive may be acquired by purchase, deposit, gift or simply be part of the archive of a government body or court, which is being appraised separately.
The principal aim of future acquisitions of maps and plans will be to complement the existing holdings of NRS in relation to the areas of strength set out at paragraph 9.1 above.
Where NRS acquires archives from a particular organisation, family or business we will also acquire the maps, plans and drawings in that archive. This recognises the general archival principle of respect des fonds, the professional ethic that requires archivists to maintain the integrity of a collection of records, even if its various sections relate to different geographical or subject areas.
As part of our general collecting policy, NRS will liaise with other repositories, whether national, university, local or other. We shall take into account, where appropriate, their known collecting policies in all cases where interests appear tooverlap and shall try to avoid competing claims.
Where maps and plans are acquired independently of the complete archive of an organisation, family or business:
- The emphasis in relation to topographical plans will be on manuscript
in preference to printed or published maps.
- The emphasis in relation to architectural drawings will be on collecting drawings of structures commissioned by government in Scotland (whether produced by government in Scotland or by UK government bodies) which form part of that government body’s archive. Architectural drawings of structures created by private architectural practices for private sector clients and forming part of their archives are outwith the scope of this policy.
From time to time NRS will seek to acquire copies of maps and plans for which the originals remain in private custody and ownership. Principally these copies are provided for ease of access and the acquisition of such copies will follow the principle set out at 9.6 above. In the short term the emphasis in providing such copies will be on replacing photostat copies which already exist within the Register
House Plans series with more up-to-date digital copies.
When selecting maps and plans it is common to encounter objects (surveying or mining instruments), models (physical architectural models) and samples (interior decor and geological samples). NRS will consider depositing these objects, models and samples in a more appropriate institution or repository. This may be done under the Charge and Superintendence of the Keeper of the Records of Scotland.
In general, if a major collection of maps and plans is being considered for selection and acquisition by NRS that involves a significant physical quantity of records, or where there is debate about historical importance, advice can be sought from Archive Depositor Liaison Branch. It will also be open to NRS, with appropriate safeguards for confidentiality, to take advice from third parties (e.g. academics, experienced researchers) as to the significance of particular collections offered to us. Appendixes are available in the downloadable publication.
