Many Scottish national public authorities transfer their records to us for permanent preservation. These records form part of Scotland’s national archive.
This guidance is for records managers and information governance staff working in public authorities responsible for transferring archival records to us. If you are unsure if we are your archive, contact us.
What we do
Each public authority is assigned a client manager from the Government Records team. The client manager will provide guidance to records managers and information governance teams on:
- which records should be transferred to NRS
- setting up an archive transfer agreement
- how transfers to NRS work
Records you can transfer to NRS
Before you meet your client manager for the first time, it is useful to consider the types of records that your organisation creates. Things that might help include:
- business classification schemes
- records retention schedules
- file plan
The client manager will go through these with you to help identify records worthy of permanent preservation.
For information on the types of records that we collect, read the NRS Collections Development Policy. Annex 5 covers Government Records.
Setting up an archive transfer agreement
Before records can be transferred to us, the public authority and NRS must set an archive transfer agreement.
The agreement sets out:
- the legal framework
- responsibilities that each organisation must carry out
Your client manager will share the template and guidance with you. They will work with you to identify records that should be transferred to NRS to form part of Scotland’s national archive.
How transfers to NRS work
We accept records in paper and digital formats. The client manager will agree with you a set of records to be transferred based on those identified in your archive transfer agreement.
What you must do before transfer
You must conduct a sensitivity review to let us know whether records will be open or closed under Freedom of Information or data protection legislation.
You must also consider:
- the format of your records to let us know if they are paper, digital or both
- the timing for when a transfer might take place, and let us know of any issues that may impact on current records storage
- whether you have information about the records that may help cataloguers or future researchers understand how and why the records were created
