Visit our offices
You can view our records on site and we would encourage you to visit to see original items where possible! Please do get in touch to discuss your research beforehand, so that we can help identify records that might be of use and to let you know which office you will need to visit (our records are held across two sites).
To make an appointment at either of our offices, please email archives@aberdeencity.gov.uk, complete our online booking form, or contact either office by phone or letter. Our Visitor Information page has additional information.
If you're visiting from outside the area, you might find the information on the Routes to your North East Roots website helpful to co-ordinate visits to different places and make the most of your stay.
Our Table of Fees gives our charges for the production of valuation rolls and electoral registers for business or legal purposes. There is also a charge for taking photographs of collection items in our searchroom .
View online
A limited number of our records are available online as digitised images or transcriptions. Go to our Online Records & Other Sources of Information page to find out more.
Data Protection and Subject Access Requests
Access to records containing information about living individuals is restricted under the Data Protection Act. These include school records, poor relief records, and public assistance records.
- For guidance on accessing City records covered by Data Protection, please contact Aberdeen City Council's Access to Information team via: AccesstoInformation@aberdeencity.gov.uk.
- For guidance on accessing Aberdeenshire records covered by Data Protection, please contact Aberdeenshire Council's FOI team via foi@aberdeenshire.gov.uk. More information about submitting a Subject Access Request to Aberdeenshire can be found on the Aberdeenshire Council website.
Research service
If you're not able to visit our offices, we offer a research service. The first 15 minutes of research is free and then we can undertake up to one hour of research, which is charged at £27.50 per 30 minutes research.
We will need a brief summary of the information you have when you get in touch, such as the names of any people you're looking for, their relationships, dates of birth or residence, and a location. An outline of the information you hope to find is helpful, as well as any specific records you'd like us to check.
Once a search has been agreed, we issue a quote for the work based on our estimate of how long the research will take.
Please note that payment is not a guarantee that relevant information will be found.
Copy Requests
We also offer a copy request service, where we can create digital copies of material on your behalf. You can see our Table of Fees for some of the costs, but we recommend you get in touch with us by email (archives@aberdeencity.gov.uk) to discuss your requirements and so we can prepare a quote for your request.
Please note, some records may not be suitable for copying, whilst others may need to be taken offsite to copy (large format items in particular). For records taken offsite, there is an additional handling fee of £10. If you require a large volume of material to be copied, please be aware that there is likely to be a longer wait time for your order to be fulfilled.
If you'd like to reproduce any of our documents in publications or broadcasts, please get in touch.