- Collection care
- Information and records management
- Digital preservation
- What to keep
- Reform of public bodies
- Public inquiry guidance
- Information principles
Digital repository
The Digital Preservation department at The National Archives was set up in July 2001 and charged with developing a method of storing, preserving and providing access to electronic government records.
Following an intensive development period, the digital archive was launched in 2003. For the first time a digital repository, successfully storing and making available electronic records of government held here at The National Archives, was available to users. Our work on this digital repository (in partnership with private company Tessella) led to us winning the prestigious Queen's Award for Enterprise: Innovation, for developing a system for preserving digital information. This system, Safety Deposit Box, has since been adopted by archives and libraries around the world.
The digital archive's holdings include the records of high-profile public inquiries, parliamentary committees and royal commissions. Electronic records exist in an enormous variety of formats, including email and other office documents, applications, virtual-reality models and audio-visual material.
Our presentation system, Electronic Records Online, was launched in 2005 and makes digital records available on the internet, allowing access to our readers around the world.
