Appendix 1
Guidelines for Selection of Records for Permanent Preservation
The following basic guidelines are intended to assist RM appraisal team and branch reviewing officers in identifying records of permanent value for transfer to the National Archives of Scotland.
These guidelines cover most aspects of departmental and research criteria.
The following records should be preserved:
- Records relating to the origins and history of the Department; its organisation and procedures; functions and dissolution (office notices, organisation charts, and a standard set of all HQ guides and instructions to out-stations and regional offices, or bodies with which the Department is in regular contact, may be as important as files which relate to these matters);
- Copies of annual and other major Departmental reports (it is convenient to preserve a record set of published reports for use in conjunction with other Departmental records) ;
- Principal policy documents, including those relating to the preparation of legislation and statutory instructions (primarily Scottish), submissions to Ministers or senior officials and papers to the Cabinet or Cabinet Committees, together with all earlier drafts ;
- Records relating to the implementation and interpretation of policy and to changes in policy;
- Record sets of minutes and circulated papers of major Departmental bodies, eg Departmental committees, advisory bodies and working parties (in the case of inter-Departmental committees, the set of the Department providing the Secretariat should be identified as the record set for permanent preservation);
- Records relating to Departmental accomplishments, or to obsolete activities or investigations, or aborted schemes initiated by the Department;
- Documents cited in, or noted as having been consulted in, the preparation of official histories;
- Evidence of statutory rights or obligations, title to property, claims for compensation not subject to a time limit, and formal instruments such as awards, schemes, orders and sanctions;
- Records which must be permanently preserved by statute;
- Documents relating to well-known public or international events, persons or causes célèbres, or major events which give rise to interest or controversy at the national level, particularly where those records add significantly to what is already known;
- Records relating to trends or developments in political, social, economic or other fields, particularly where they contain unpublished statistical or financial data covering a long period of time or wide area;
- Documents relating to the more important aspects of scientific, technological or medical research and development, particularly where these had a wider application and affected the political, cultural, social, economic or other aspects of Scottish life;
- Records of significant regional or local interest on which it is unreasonable to expect that evidence or information will be available locally, or those comprising synopses of such information and covering the whole of Scotland or a wide area of the country;
- Statistical and quantitative research either sponsored by the Department or undertaken by outside bodies, where its findings affect Departmental decision-making and the research reflects on demographic, medical, social, cultural and economic history or historical geography.
NB: These guidelines should be used in conjunction with, and tempered by, the Records Schedule.