The mission of Archives Revealed is “to ensure that significant archive collections – representing the lives and perspectives of all people across the UK – are made accessible to the public for research and enjoyment”.
The six strategic priorities of Archives Revealed, with their aims and outcomes, are:
1. Significance
Aim: to make significant collections accessible to national and local audiences which would otherwise remain hidden.
Outcome: Archive services identify and prioritise the cataloguing of collections representing significant people, organisations, communities, events and cultures in the UK to make them more accessible to audiences.
2. Diversity and inclusion
Aim: to be an inclusive and responsible funder that supports diversity across the archive sector.
Outcome: Archive services of all types and sizes, and from all regions and nations of the UK, are more accessible to people for research and enjoyment. Archives Revealed has a reputation for equitable decision-making and enables a wide variety of projects from across the UK to be supported with funding.
3. Audiences, engagement and improvement to access
Aim: to increase the visibility and use of archive collections across varied audiences, revealing the stories and experiences of people, communities and events.
Outcome: Archives make connections with relevant audiences, building relationships of trust based on engagement with archive collections. Archives engage audiences with archive collections in creative ways that make a difference to people’s lives. Audiences see their backgrounds, experiences and perspectives represented in the archive. Archives can communicate the results of their projects to highlight archive collections to relevant audiences, communities and the wider public.
4. Impact and value of archives
Aim: to highlight the value of archives in making a difference to people’s lives.
Outcome: Archives can advocate for their service and collections to ensure continued support from within their own organisations and beyond – and secure matched resources for the catalogued collections. Heritage and archive funders are engaged in the Archives Revealed programme, understand its value, and contribute to funding to ensure its continued success. The archive sector can draw on a body of evidence to advocate for their service and adjust their engagement work accordingly.
5. Standards and approaches to cataloguing
Aim: fund projects that represent examples of excellence in cataloguing and discovery.
Outcome: Appropriate and effective cataloguing methods are utilised that meet archive standards and best practice guidance, and that result in collections being highly accessible and usable by audiences.
6. Funding skills and confidence
Aim: build fundraising skills and confidence through the application process.
Outcome: Archive services have the knowledge and skills to secure funding to support engagement activity for catalogued collections.