Who Do You Think You Are? Encyclopedia of Genealogy: The definitive reference guide to tracing your family history. Nick Barratt
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which need to be trawled through in person to find document references even if some of their collections have been uploaded into digital catalogues, although these days many archive catalogues are available to search online.
Amalgamated Catalogues Online
One important project aims to bring all these disparate catalogues and document descriptions together in one place on the Internet. Known as Access to Archives (A2A), it is an online database containing descriptions of over 10 million documents held in around 400 local archives across England and Wales. It aims to increase awareness of these fantastic resources and facilitate easy access to them. You can search the database by keyword, area, date range and repository name by going to www.a2a.org.uk. Full document descriptions are provided along with references and a note as to where each document is held. Many local and county record offices have submitted their catalogues to the A2A database, but it cannot be stressed enough that if you can’t find anything related to your research using A2A you still need to visit the record office itself and consult the original indexes.
The National Register of Archives (NRA) is another treasure trove of catalogue descriptions, but is arranged in a different way to the A2A catalogue. Its database of record descriptions held for around 29,000 businesses, 75,000 organizations, 9,000 families, and 46,000 individuals can be searched using four types of search engine. The NRA database is accessed via The National Archives’ website at www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/nra, where you can search under a corporate name, personal name, family name or place name. This database is fantastic for finding out about the location of company archives and the records they hold, especially if your ancestor worked for a major corporate firm.
The Scottish Archive Network has compiled an online, unified index of documents held in many archives across Scotland, which can be searched by keyword from www.scan.org.uk/catalogue. It has descriptions of over 20,000 documents from 52 archives, including the NAS and NLS.
There is even a network allowing you to search the holdings of university archives and libraries, called Archives Hub. It is being added to over time, and can be found at www.archiveshub.ac.uk.
Important Institutional Catalogues Online
It is always worth finding out if the archive you intend to visit has its own online catalogue accessed via its website. If you have located an archive using the ARCHON database, this should have provided you with their website address. Most of the national archives have separate online catalogues containing descriptions of documents not found on A2A or the NRA.
• The National Archives’ Catalogue has descriptions of an impressive 10 million documents that you can search by keyword, date range or government departmental code from www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue. The documents held at TNA are categorized according to the government department they originated from, and a departmental code forms the first part of any TNA document reference. For example, WO is the prefix of all document references for records from the War Office. Searching for document descriptions by government departmental code can help to narrow down the number of results you get if you know what type of record you are looking for.
• The National Archives of Scotland has a database known as OPAC (Online Public Access Catalogue) that can be found at www.nas.gov.uk/catalogues/default.asp. This searches their collections by keyword, place authority, name authority and date, and the NAS website has a list of documents that have not yet been uploaded to OPAC and require a search of the original indexes. You could also consult the National Register of Archives for Scotland (NRAS), which is only available in paper form at the National Archives of Scotland and the National Library of Scotland. This is a survey of papers held by private archives in Scotland.
HOW TO …
… search for documents
1. Write down your research goals in advance, and keep them focused and manageable
2. Every item in an archive will have a unique catalogue reference and description
3. Document references will be contained in the archive’s catalogue index
4. Many archive catalogues are available to search online, although some are still only in paper form
5. Online catalogues are available either via the particular repository’s website, or as amalgamated catalogues of documents from local and national archives
• In a similar vein, the National Library of Wales has a full catalogue which can be found on its website www.llgc.org.uk through the ‘Search the Catalogue’ heading. Here books, periodicals, newspapers, maps, graphics, electronic publications and digitized records can be searched by keyword.
• The National Archives of Ireland’s search engine is organized in a slightly different manner, allowing you to search in one go the 19 databases comprised mainly of government departmental records. This is accessed from www.nationalarchives.ie/search but does not cover the entirety of the repository’s collections.
• The Public Records Office of Northern Ireland does not have a complete online catalogue either. There is a limited online index available from www.proni.gov.uk by following the Search the Archives link, where a Geographical Index locates parishes, Poor Law Unions and counties on a map, a Prominent Persons Index finds references for documents relating to individuals, a Presbyterian Church Index and a Church of Ireland Index lists those church records that have been microfilmed, and a Subject Index describes the types of records held at the PRONI.
• The Society of Genealogists, which charges admission for non-members, has its own catalogue known as SOGCAT available from its website www.sog.org.uk/sogcat/access. Here you can search an alphabetical index by parish name, surname or subject to see if they hold copies of the parish registers you are looking for, or records of a particular pedigree you are hoping to find.
Step Three: Working Responsibly in an Archive
Once you have scoured the online catalogues and indexes for all the archives you plan to visit, and have made lists of all the documents that sound useful to your studies, why not see if it is possible to order those documents in advance of your visit? Most of the websites mentioned have clear instructions on how to do this either online or over the phone if they offer an advanced ordering facility. Your next step is to brave your first visit to the archives …
HOW TO …
… work in an archive
1. Only use pencil and a spiral-bound note pad to make notes
2. Don’t eat or drink in the reading room
3. Handle documents as little as possible
4. Respect your fellow researchers: turn mobile phones off and work quietly
5. Laptops and digital cameras are usually allowed, but check with the archivist first
Because the material they hold is unique and irreplaceable, there are rules and regulations that you will have to follow during your visit. Actually, these rules are there to help you make the most of your research trip, as well as protect the documents for other users.
Document preservation and conservation is an important part of archival work, and to ensure that documents are not damaged you will find that archives impose strict rules on what you can bring into the reading rooms with you, plus guidelines on document handling techniques. In general, the golden rule of archives is that you must work with pencils only – biros and pens are forbidden due to the potential harm they can cause to original material. Similarly, erasers and pencil sharpeners should not be used or placed near documents, as they can cause damage. There is usually a no eating or drinking rule in place for similar reasons, and this