Accessioning is the work that The National Archives does once records have been delivered, so that we can make the records available.
This is the end of the transfer process. For paper records it involves:
- confirming that all records delivered were the expected ones
- confirming the cataloguing standards and preparation standards
- making the descriptions available in our catalogue
- moving the files to a permanent place in The National Archives’ repositories
- making the record available to be viewed by the public if it is transferred open (an open record is a record that is available for public access on an unconditional basis)
And for digital records:
- we will check that the files, metadata and closure form you have sent pass our technical checks
- we will then send you an email confirming that we have safe custody of the records – at this stage, any copies of the records held within departmental systems should be securely deleted
- the digital records will then be ingested into our digital records infrastructure system for preservation and if open, presented to the public via our Discovery service on The National Archives’ website