Aberdeen City Archives - Advice to Depositors
Many of the collections housed in the City Archives have been gifted or loaned by institutions or individuals and staff welcome further deposits of historical significance. Once deposited these records are cleaned, stored, listed and made available for study. Staff are also happy to provide advice on the preservation and storage of documents on request. Records are received either by outright gift or purchase, by transfer within the authority, or by deposit on loan. A formal written receipt is issued in every case.
Gifts
Where deposit is by gift, title will pass to Aberdeen City Archives on such terms & conditions as may be agreed.
Deposits
Where deposit is made by loan, the ownership of the records concerned is unaffected. Terms of deposit must be agreed in advance.
Appraisal
Aberdeen City Archives reserves the right to return to the depositor any records deemed to be of no historical interest, or which fall outside the terms of its collection policy, or, with the consent of the depositor, either to transfer them to a more suitable repository or to destroy them.
Storage & Preservation
Records will be stored in secure accommodation in one of the City Archive offices, in conditions not less favourable than those considered acceptable for the Council's own records. Conservation work will be undertaken if deemed necessary by archive staff on records gifted to the Council only. Records in a fragile condition may be withheld from production. Records may be numbered with a reference code for their own safety & for identification purposes.
Cataloguing
Records will be listed in due course and a copy of the list provided free of charge to the depositor. Further copies will be made available in the public searchroom and will be supplied to other bodies as considered appropriate.
Access
Records will be made available to researchers free of charge in the public searchroom. Conditions of access by researchers may be established in advance of any gift or loan, with due consideration given to the statutory provisions contained in the Data Protection Act 1998 and the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act.
Reproduction & copyright
Consistent with the safety of the records, copies will normally be supplied to members of the public for research purposes. Copyright is restricted in terms of the Copyright Acts. Further reproduction will not be permitted without the depositor's consent unless previously agreed in writing.
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