Using Business Archives for Family History

Last night David and I held the last of our focus groups.  This one was for users of business archives and particularly members of family history societies.  It was a very useful session from our point of view in getting information about the user experience of business archives and finding out what the general level of awareness is currently.  At the moment business archives seem to have quite a low profile with family historians.  This is unfortunate, particularly as family history is often the main reason for users to visit an archive (according to the 2007 survey of visitors by the NCA 73% of visitors were carrying out family history.)

However, hopefully the National Strategy will be able to develop and implement actions that will help raise the profile of business archive collections and make them easier to access.

We produced a handout for the evening which listed the types business records that are held by archives in Scotland and provided the links to various online catalogues to help with searches.  This can be downloaded as a pdf file here.

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Business Archives are important because....

Why are business archives important to you?


We know that they are important to businesses as they provide evidence of business activity and also the relationship businesses have with their staff and the communities in which they are based. They are also an important element of local and national heritage because of the central role that business and the economy plays in our lives.


We'd like to know why you think business archives are important? Do they enable you to research new areas, have you been able to connect with a different aspect of your family history through business archives? Perhaps business archives help you to promote your brand in today's market or have been the inspiration for a new product.


Please have a think and use the comments section below to tell us how you use business archives and why you think they are important. To comment click on the link below or here.

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Business archives - its personal

Business archives are not usually the first place researchers turn to for personal detail. One of the aims of the business archive strategy is to raise awareness of the variety of business records and the different research purposes they can help with.

In actual fact, business archives can provide more personal records as well as the standard financial ledger. One example of this can be found at the University of Dundee. Their Archive Services have recently transcribed the diaries of Thomas Handiside Baxter, a grocer and dry goods merchant in Dundee in the early 1800s. The diaries give an insight into the life of a Scottish businessman in the early 19th century.

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Consultation focus group - Heritage & Information Professionals

A focus group for organisations and individuals in other heritage and information professions with an interest in business archives and industrial heritage in Scotland is being held on Thursday 24 September.

The session will be held at the National Archives of Scotland on Thursday 24 September 2009 from 1400 until 1600.

This focus group is your chance to feed your ideas and thoughts into a National Strategy for Business Archives in Scotland. The focus group is an opportunity to:

• find out the purpose of the proposed strategy in a UK context
• help identify the issues that you feel affect custodianship of business archives and access to them
• identify links and partnerships that could be created to raise the profile of business archives
• identify actions that could be undertaken to ensure business archives are captured, preserved and made accessible to as wide an audience as possible

If you would be interested in attending, please contact David Powell d.powell@archives.gla.ac.uk or Kiara King at k.king@archives.gla.ac.uk

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Consultation focus group - Archivists and Records Managers

We would like to invite archivists and records managers in Scotland who work with or care for business archives to attend a focus group session.

The session will be held at the National Archives of Scotland on Thursday 24 September 2009 from 1030 until 1230.

This focus group is your chance to feed your ideas and thoughts into a National Strategy for Business Archives in Scotland. The focus group is an opportunity to:

• find out the purpose of the proposed strategy in a UK context
• help identify the issues that you feel affect your custodianship of business archives
• identify links and partnerships that could be created to raise the profile of business archives
• identify actions that could be undertaken to ensure business archives are captured, preserved and made accessible to as wide an audience as possible

If you would be interested in attending, please contact David Powell d.powell@archives.gla.ac.uk or Kiara King at k.king@archives.gla.ac.uk.

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