Archives Revealed is a partnership funding programme between The National Archives, the Pilgrim Trust and the Wolfson Foundation which supports the cataloguing of archive collections. The goal of the Archives Revealed programme 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.
Archives Revealed comprises of two funding strands:
Cataloguing grants
These grants offer up to £45,000 for archives to create catalogues of important archival collections. These grants open access to collections that matter to researchers and communities, and that increase public engagement with history. This is an annual programme that opens in the autumn of each year.
Scoping grants
A scoping grant funds an assessment report, incorporating expert advice on a range of areas relating to collections management and the development of your collection. The scoping grant funding scheme is a rolling programme with decisions being made on a quarterly basis.
Aims and outcomes
The Archives Revealed programme has five aims and associated outcomes, designed to lead to positive outcomes for the grantees, users, and the wider heritage sector:
Significance
Aim: 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.
Diversity and inclusion
Aim: be an inclusive and responsible funder that supports diversity across the archive sector.
Outcome: Archive services of all types and size, and from all regions 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.
Audiences, engagement, and improvement to access
Aim: 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.
Impact and value of archives
Aim: 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.
Standards and approaches to cataloguing
Aim: fund projects that represent examples of excellence in cataloguing and discovery.
Outcome: Suitable, effective and, if appropriate, innovative cataloguing methods are utilised are utilised that meet archive standards and best practice guidance, and that result in collections being highly accessible and usable by audiences.
Questions?
Please see our FAQs for answers to the most popular questions about the Archives Revealed programme.