Providing access to the archives

Legislation governing access

Having responsibility for archives often means that you also have responsibility for ensuring that access to information is controlled and managed according to the relevant legislation and ethics. It is important to manage who accesses archives and when, as well as ensuring that access isn’t restricted unnecessarily. For organisations and businesses managing access to archives can help to protect their reputation.

We discussed earlier the types of legislation that can influence how you manage archive collections and providing access is an area where you should take particular care to be compliant with the legislation.

Copyright

You automatically get copyright protection when you create:

original literary, dramatic, musical and artistic work, including illustration and photography
original non-literary written work, such as software, web content and databases
sound and music recordings
film and television recordings
broadcasts
the layout of published editions of written, dramatic and musical works

The length of copyright depends on the type of work which is taken from the UK government guidance.

There are some simple steps you need to take when managing your collection to ensure that you can stay within the law:

Record who holds the copyright of the items as soon as you acquire an item from an external source.
Transfer the copyright of the items to your organisation wherever possible. Otherwise, you will need to contact the copyright owner for permission to copy in the future.
Transfer any information on copyright when you acquire archives from within your organisation.
Understand that you can copy limited extracts of works when the use is non-commercial research or private study. This is called fair dealing. A declaration should be signed outlining the basis the copy is supplied.

Learn more in this guidance on copyright.

Data Protection

Archive collections can hold a range of personal data of living individuals that is covered by data protection legislation. This can include information that can be used to identify someone, such as a name, address or other contact details, as well as more personal information. In managing personal data of living people you should:

Control access to personal information.
Close the record for a defined period.
Advise on the length of the closure period in the catalogue. The National Archives advises that you presume a lifetime of 100 years if you are unsure whether someone is alive.
Retain information only for as long as it is needed.

Generally, personal data should not be kept for longer than necessary and it should only be used for the purpose it was collected. However, the legislation doesn’t require that you destroy personal information if you have assessed it as being valuable for historical purposes. The law makes a specific provision for permanently preserving material which has long-term benefit for society. This exemption is called “archiving in the public Interest” and this data can still only be used when the people concerned are dead. “Archiving in the public interest” can apply to archives held by public, private or voluntary bodies.

For more detailed guidance see our guidance on Archives and data protection law in the UK.

Engagement

There are many reason for preserving and managing an archive collection. For some organisations and individuals, sharing the archive and engaging people from within or without the organisation, is the most important area of impact of the archive. Businesses have used their archives to engage schoolchildren with their brand, to highlight the history of their company or as part of the marketing of the organisation. Personal collections have been used to celebrate the achievements of an individual or to share the knowledge in the archive.

Engaging people with archives can be undertaken in a variety of ways, dependant on the intended audience for the activity. Online engagement activities reach a wider, global audience and this digital access helps to preserve the collections. In this digital world engaging with original, unique, significant archives from your organisation can produce strong reactions and make strong connections between the organisation and individual.

Methods of engaging people with archives include:

Online and print stories/blogs/articles
Online and in person exhibitions
Talks, tours, workshops and walking tours
Providing resources, images and stories for social media
Providing resources for commercial exploitation
Providing access for in depth research with archives

Supervision and handling originals

Archives are unique items, whether they are digital or hard copy. For this reason, we take steps to preserve them and ensure their security. Any handling of archives should be planned and supervised. There are a few key steps to follow when providing access to archives:

Supervise people using archives at all times, considering any security risks. Place bags and coats away from the archives and limit any materials that could be used for a concealment. Ensure the supervise has clear sight or the person reading the document at all times.
Never allow food or drink, cigarettes or vapes near to archives.
Before handling archives ensure hands are clean and dry. Never moisten or lick fingers to turn pages.
Only use pencil to make notes as pencil marks on an archive can be easily removed.
Never use sellotape or sticky notes to mark your page as these are adhesive and can cause damage.
Support documents at all times – large items need a large table. Bound volumes (bound together like books) need supports such as foam wedges or pillows so that they don’t open too far and damage the spine and pages Padded strip weights can help prevent keep plans or volumes with over-tight bindings from curling upwards while being displayed or consulted.
Unless you have thorough digital preservation strategies in place, do not allow direct access to original born digital items.
Photocopying and scanning can cause damage to documents through exposure to strong light and closing the lid to flatten the document. If you must copy in this way, copy once only and keep the photocopy or digital scan to make other copies from. Document feeder trays on photocopiers and scanners can damage original documents and should not be used.

The University Exeter has a handy video that describes how they ask you to handle archives.

Digitisation

Most organisations holding archives consider digitisation at some point. It’s important to understand the reasons for digitisation as this will drive how you approach the task. These reasons can include preservation, providing easier access or to provide copies for other purposes, but for all of these purposes you will need to plan your approach in some detail. A few considerations:

Digitisation of an item does not mean that the original item can be disposed of. Digital items can easily be lost or damaged if not managed correctly and so retaining the original items is essential.
It is rarely advisable to digitise every item you care for. You should prioritise which items you will digitise, based on the purpose of the digitisation. i.e. are you digitising the most fragile items to limit access? Or are you digitising the most popular items to enable access?
It is advisable to catalogue and number items before you digitise them. This will enable you to link the archival item to the digitised image through its reference number.
Consider how you will provide access to the digitised items. Do you need specialist software or improvements to your website?
Consider how you will preserve the digital images in the long term. What is your digital preservation strategy?

The Tate has undertaken a large digitisation project and shares some of their thought processes in this toolkit. Collections Trust also provided some helpful advices and a set of pathways through digitising collections.