We met with Margaret McBride, Educational Director, who gave us a comprehensive background of the National Archives of Scotland. The goals of the Archives are to preserve, protect, promote the nation’s records, and provide an inclusive and accessible archive. The materials are separated into two divisions: record services and corporate services. The collection consists of 70 km of records dating from the 12th century of all different kinds including electronic resources. The main building, the General Register House, opened in the late 1780s and includes the Historical Search Room where users request records and Scotland’s People Centre where users come to trace their family history. They do have an OPAC but not everything has been uploaded into it yet. Many items have been digitized so that they are readily accessible to the public.
They have several projects in the works right now. They are in the process of digitizing all records for the Church of Scotland. The website is still in development and can be located here. They are also digitizing the Registers of Sasines for legal researchers interested in land deeds. As a form of census they digitize valuation rolls every fifth year for the whole of Scotland which gives information about who is living where and at what particular time they are living in the area.
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