Depositing records
ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ is a diverse city and, as a result, we are always striving to ensure that our collections are as representative as possible. We carryout various types of outreach work to make local people, businesses, clubs, and organisations aware that we are an option for depositing their records, the importance of keeping archives and also to raise the profile of the Archive service.
Alongside traditional paper records we also collect and preserve digital records. We are actively working to secure the long-term survival of born-digital records. Whether created by the Council, individuals and organisations within the ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ area.
Loan or donate records to our collections
You can deposit records with us if they relate to the ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ area or its people. Records can be of any age, subject, and in any format including paper, photographs, or born digital records. They will be safely stored within our repository (physical or digital) and made available for generations to come.
Deposit agreement
Records can be offered either as a gift or as a loan. A gift transfers ownership of the records to the City of ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ Council. A loan is where you remain the owner while the records themselves are transferred to the Archives. In both cases, we will give you a written, legal Deposit Agreement. You can download a copy of this below
.
Access to records
Our aim is to make all new deposits open to the public. Some records are confidential and might need a special access regime for a certain time. However, we must also comply with statutory requests for information, for example, freedom of information and subject access requests as public authority, so we strive to make records accessible where possible. Contact us for more information.
Call for COVID-19 diaries and journals
We want to collect people’s diaries and journals during the COVID-19 pandemic to properly capture its impact upon ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½’s citizens within the City Archives. We have created a short guide on
- why we are doing this
- what we are interested in
- who can get involved
- how you can offer your personal diaries or journals
- what we will do with them.
We will not be collecting any offered diaries or journals until after the social distancing measures have been relaxed and our normal service has resumed.
Download a copy of our ECA Diary Archiving COVID 19 guidance (PDF)