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Collecting Policies
Collecting policies are an integral part of good practice in terms of the management and care of archive collections. They address important strategic and practical issues, including the aims and objectives of an institution as well as the availability of staff and storage resources. They also form part of the overall policy framework of an archive service that can encompass all aspects of preservation, access, customer care and quality management.
Collecting policies are a significant tool in the development of an institution´s holdings; yet they can be about much more than this. They provide an opportunity to assess the strengths and weaknesses of a repository and can enable future collecting activities to be more representative of culturally diverse communities and particular local or regional strengths. Consideration of collecting policies can encourage engagement with records from new or non-traditional sources and re-direct use and interpretation of existing collections.
Our use of collecting policies
Collecting policies play a major part in the work of the National Advisory Services in the following ways:
- the submission of a collecting policy statement forms part of the process of subscription to The National Archives´ Standard for Record Repositories,
- collecting policies inform our advice on the choice of appropriate repositories to private owners who wish to deposit records,
- they support our decision-making in the fulfilment of TNA´s statutory and other functions, including the transfer and preservation of public records and the allocation of manuscripts accepted in lieu of tax,
- collecting policies also guide the Sales Monitoring Team in notifying relevant repositories of manuscripts passing through auction sales rooms.
We have produced a suggested checklist for those creating or revising collection policies statements:
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