The British Records Associationis a charity which aims to promote the preservation, understanding, accessibility and study of our recorded heritage for the public benefit. It is open to anyone interested in records and archives whether local historians, academics, professional archivists, or custodians and owners of collections, or simply those who are curious about the record of our past.
Records hold the nation’s memory; they reveal how we became what we are and they are our best guide to the future. We seek to add to the interpretation and appreciation of records, to promote their value to researchers and the wider public.
Since the founding of the Association in 1932, its Records Preservation Section has played a major role in saving records at risk, and organising their distribution.
Events include an Annual Conference and ‘behind the scenes’ visits connected to our conference theme and to other archives throughout the year. Our annual Maurice Bond Memorial Lecture addresses the challenges facing our archival heritage.
Records preservation
The Records Preservation Section (RPS) has played a major role in saving records at risk, and organising their distribution to the network of local authority, specialist and business archive repositories across the UK.
The RPS continues to provide advice, particularly on transfers of property and solicitors’ records to appropriate records repositories.
The challenges to records preservation have changed over the last 80 years, particularly in the area of digital preservation. In 2012, the British Records Association produced a report on Records at Risk, and the British Records Association is contributing to the development of a national collections rescue strategy to ensure the records we create today, will still be available to researchers in the future.
