This page contains research and evaluation reports of completed projects. These are important for informing future priorities and helping archives demonstrate their value.
Collaboration
The Higher Education Archives Programme (HEAP)’s guide to collaboration between the archive and higher education sectors, originally commissioned and published in 2015 by Research Libraries UK (RLUK) and The National Archives (TNA), has been refreshed to reflect key developments in the academic landscape such as REF, TEF and Doctoral Training Partnerships.
The refreshed version, developed in collaboration with History UK, draws upon feedback from both the academic and archive communities and the contributions of colleagues gathered via a survey and workshop. Illustrated with good practice case studies, the guidance is now presented in discrete sections, making it easier to go straight to your area of interest.
Download the refreshed guidance here: Guide to collaboration for Archives and Higher Education (PDF, 3.77MB).
If you are interested in the work of HEAP, please visit the programme web page.
To be added to the HEAP mailing list, please contact caroline.sampson@nationalarchives.gov.uk.
Collecting drivers for Higher Education Institutions with Archives and Unique and Distinctive Collections
The report examines the collecting drivers for archival collections within a cross-section of diverse HEIs with unique and distinctive collections; looking at the degree to which these drivers align with institutional missions, and contemporary research and learning environments. The research is backed up by robust evidence of what special collections and archives collect, what drives them to do so, which policies assist their functions and how they plan to develop these.
The report was jointly funded by Research Libraries UK and The National Archives as part of the commitment to work together on matters of shared interest to the archive and research library sectors, to improve understanding, share good practice and to help institutions develop, and produced by Caroline Williams, independent archival consultant.
Collecting drivers for Higher Education Institutions with Archives and Unique and Distinctive Collections (PDF, 0.77 MB)
Sustainable services
Funding and constitution/alternative service models
- Action for Archives: Strategic planning and fundraising programme final evaluation
- Securing developer contributions for museum, library and archive facilities in the South East Guidance Notes
- ARA: Research into the benefits of capital investment in archives
Workforce and volunteering
- Managing Volunteering in Archives report 2014
- Libraries, Archives, Records and Information Management Workforce Survey 2012
- Profile of the archives workforce in England
- Barriers to entering careers in museums, libraries and archives
Collections management, development and care
Collections mapping
- Logjam: an audit of uncatalogued collections in the North West
- EMCat survey of archive collections
- Documentation backlogs: South East cross-domain study
- East Midlands regional archive strategy. Emrac strategy
- Eastern Promise, archives in the East of England
- On the record: ALM London Archives strategy 2005-2008
- Archives in the East Midlands – final report
- Archives in the East of England: Final report on East of England archive mapping project 2003-4
Collections and Collecting: a survey of university archives (2009) (PDF, 0.31MB)
Local authority building plans survey
Building survey England post-1974
Building survey Wales post-1974
Building survey England pre-1974
Building survey Wales pre-1974
Funding Archives
Funding the Archive Sector: Executive Summary (PDF, 0.27MB)
Funding the Archives Sector (PDF, 1.06MB)
Digital preservation mapping
- Report of the East of England Digital Preservation Regional Pilot Project (DARP)
- Reel Yorkshire Audiovisual Survey
- Your data at Risk NCA
Finding Archives summary (PDF, 0.66MB)
National Cataloguing Grants Scheme Five Year Review (PDF, 0.00MB)
Copyright Guidance
Copyright guidance for digitisation projects
Developing your archives
- Audience Development Toolkit
- Users and Non-users of Museums, Libraries and Archives
- Attendance of Archive Centres
- Cultural Consumption Mapping project: Analysis of the Taking Part and Active People Surveys
Online access
- Digital content research findings: informing a new digital strategy at Dorset History Centre (PDF, 0.52MB)
- Digital services and archive audiences: local authority archives 2014 (PDF, 1.27MB)
Learning and young people
- Students Far and Wide: Part One and Part Two
- Mapping the East of England Museums, Galleries, Archives and Libraries in Initial Teacher Training
- Mapping the Territory: A baseline study of the ability of museums, archives and libraries to contribute to the Government’s targets for adult basic skills in England
- Maths and Numeracy in Museums Libraries and Archives – Supporting Mathematics and Numeracy in Museums, Libraries and Archives
- Creating Better Outcomes for Children and Young People by improving the Commissioning of Cultural Services
- Emsource evaluation reports – The Use of Archives in Secondary Schools
- Impact of museums libraries and archives on children and young people (Draft)
- Learning Revolution: Festival of Learning: key findings and impact of museum, library and archive led learning activities
- Adult Numeracy and Museums and Archives: Existing and potential adult numeracy activities, good practice case studies and capacity building
- Opening Up Spaces: Bringing new people into museums, libraries and archives by supporting self-organised learning showcases innovative, practical projects in museums, libraries and archives that engage with local communities and support informal learning
- Building a society for all ages: Identifies the benefits for older people from learning in archives and potential partnerships to achieve this
- An overview of the programme and resulting resources:
Strategic Commissioning Education Programme (PDF, 0.05MB)
Increasing accessibility
Community archives
Demonstrating Impact
Local Authority funded archive services
Transforming local archive services: a collection of thirteen case studies (PDF, 0.83MB)
Tourism and economic impact
- The Role of Archives within Tourism (Final)
- Assessment of the contribution of museums, libraries and archives to the visitor economy
- Ancestral and Literary Tourism in the East Midlands
- After Value: Marketing Needs Assessment Project
- The Value of Libraries for Research and Researchers (RLUK report 2011)
- Bolton’s Museum Library and Archive Services, an Economic Valuation
- Economic Impact Methodologies for the museums, libraries and archives sector: What works and what doesn’t
- Scoping the Economic and Social Impact of Archives
- Supporting the Development of MLA’s Sustainability Vision: Economic Impact Methodologies and Capacity of the Sector – Summary of Main Findings
- ALMA-UK economic impacts toolkit
Social impact
- Proving Value and Improving Practice: A discussion about Social Return on Investment
- Social Impact Study for Museums, Libraries and Archives
- Taking Part: An Audit Of Social Inclusion Work In Archives
- The value of museums, libraries and archives to community agendas
- Community profiling to gather baseline economic and social conditions data to support future RA strategic planning
- An evaluation of the MLA Their Past Your Future 2 programme, 2008-2010
Sense of place
- Guidance on building a sense of belonging
- Research summary: Year 1 Living Places programme evaluation
- Evaluation of Living Places Programme Year 2
- Evaluation of Living Places Programme Year 3
Overview of the archives sector
Survey of Special Collections and Archives in the United Kingdom and Ireland
Religious Archives Survey 2010
Religious Archives Survey 2010 (PDF, 0.58MB)
Appendices to the Religious Archives Survey 2010 (PDF, 2.61MB)
Listening to the past, speaking to the future
These reports are mostly of historical interest, but still provide some useful statistics in the discussion papers.
- Listening to the Past, Speaking to the Future: Report of the Archives Task Force
- Listening to the Past, Speaking to the Future: the Report of the Archives Task Force: Annex D: Non- Archive Users Survey: Omnibus Study
- Listening to the Past, Speaking to the Future: the Report of the Archives Task Force: Annex E: Towards a better understanding of non-users
- Listening to the Past, Speaking to the Future: the Report of the Archives Task Force: Annex F: The Secondary Impact of Archives: Indicators and Trends
- Listening to the Past, Speaking to the Future: the Report of the Archives Task Force: Annex G: Archives Workforce Study
- Listening to the Past, Speaking to the Future: the Report of the Archives Task Force: Annex H: On-line media coverage of archives 1999-2003
- Archives Task Force Discussion Paper 1: Archives Facts and Statistics
- Archives Task Force Discussion Paper 2 (revised): Archives in the Twenty-First Century: issues
- Archives Task Force Discussion Paper 3: The Electronic ‘National Archives Network’
- Archives Task Force Discussion Paper 4: Structures: Issues and possible solutions
- Archives Task Force Discussion Paper 4a: Building on Success: Developing Centres of Expertise
- Archives Task Force Discussion Paper 4b: Specialist Archives: Hinterland and Seedbed
- Archives Task Force Discussion Paper 5: Funding: opportunities and expectations
- Archives Task Force Discussion Paper 6: Investing in the Future: A new Framework for Training and Development
- Archives Task Force Discussion Paper 6a: Education, Training and Development: A further discussion document
- Archives Task Force Discussion Paper 7: Archives, Active Citizenship and Social Capital
- Archives Task Force Stewardship
Older mapping and development studies
- Archives Development Strategy – Main Report (SE)
- Understanding Archival Institutions in the South East
- Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC), Survey of needs, 1998
Our shared past: an archival Domesday for England (PDF, 0.38MB)
Our shared past: developing 21st century archive services (PDF, 0.45MB)
Further reports
For OPSI reports and reports on the re-use of public sector information, go to information management reports and publications.