Our cataloguing practices
Discover The National Archives' approach to cataloguing records for accuracy, accessibility and searchability.
The overall objective of our cataloguing work is to deliver more comprehensive and searchable catalogues, improving access to public records.
To make online searches work well, we need to provide adequate data and prioritise cataloguing work that tackles less adequate descriptions.
As part of this, our catalogue descriptions aim to be accurate, inclusive and respectful to all users, while also conveying the historical content and context of our collections.
The National Archives’ Cataloguing Panel maintains oversight of our cataloguing activity.