Five archives including Working Class Movement Library and Diageo Archive gain accreditation, with six services renewing their status.
Five archives have been awarded accredited status, bringing the total number of accredited archives across the UK to 200.
The newly accredited services are the Working Class Movement Library in Salford, which documents 200 years of Labour history; Walsall Archives, with collections dating from 1200 including a 1627 charter from Charles I; the Diageo Archive in Clackmannanshire, Scotland, which became the first drinks archive to achieve accreditation; Eastside Community Heritage in London, which documents oral and photographic history of migrants, working class and global majority communities; and the Science Museum’s archives, which hold records of astronomer Patrick Moore, computer pioneer Charles Babbage and NASA’s final Apollo 11 flight plan.
Tina Morton, head of archive sector leadership at the National Archives, said: “We are thrilled that over 200 archive services have now been awarded accreditation. For over 10 years, the Archive Service Accreditation Committee has publicly recognised archive services that demonstrate a visible and long-term commitment to managing their archive collections effectively.”
Six archives have had their accredited status renewed: Bolton Archives and Local Studies, Durham University special collections, Explore York Libraries and Archives, National Army Museum, National Railway Museum, and Wellcome Collection.
Accredited status shows that archives meet the UK standard for archive management, including providing access to the public and resilience in the face of changing circumstances.
The National Archives administers the programme on behalf of the Archive Service Accreditation Committee and a UK partnership between the National Archives, the Archives and Records Association, Archives and Records Council Wales, National Records of Scotland, Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, Scottish Council on Archives and the Culture Division of the Welsh Government.
