Scottish Government

CHAPTER 4 Visiting Archive Centres or Records Offices

About one in twenty people (5%) had visited an archive centre or records office in the last 12 months (excluding visits in relation to paid work or academic study).

Table 4.1 Visits to archive centres or records offices in the last 12 months

Column percentages, 2007 data, adult population

Of those who had visited an archive centre or records office in the last 12 months, 44% had visited once, 22% had visited twice, and 34% had visited at least 3-4 times.

The most common reason given for visiting such offices was to find out about family history (54%). One fifth (21%) of people reported visiting to find out about the history of their local area, and a further 19% to find out about history for personal interest. Just under half (48%) of those who had visited an archive/records office in the last year said they would like to go more often ¹.

A clear trend relating to age was observed, with older age groups more likely to have visited an archive centre or records office, as illustrated by Figure 4.1.

Figure 4.1 Visits to archive centres or records offices in the last 12 months by age

Column percentages, 2007 data, adult population

Base: All respondents (3,378)

Those living in more deprived areas were less likely to have visited an archive or records office, compared to those living in less deprived areas, although figures are small and need to be treated with caution.

Looking at visits to archive centres or records offices by highest qualification, there is a tendency for those with higher qualifications to be more likely to visit, as shown in Figure 4.3. One obvious feature of the chart is the relatively high percentage of those with "other qualifications" who visited archive centres or records offices. This category is predominantly made up of those with a highest qualification of "school leaving certificate or NQ unit". The age profile of this category is strongly weighted towards those over 60 years old, and this may help to explain the relatively high participation, since those in higher age groups were most likely to visit. Again, figures are small and should be treated with caution.

Figure 4.3 Visits to archive centres or records offices in the last 12 months by highest qualification of respondent

Column percentages, 2007 data, adult population

Base: All respondents(3,378)

Disability, gender, car ownership and income were not strong influencing factors as to whether people had visited an archive centre or records office. In addition, no clear pattern was seen when the data were analysed by urban / rural classification.

Why people do not visit archives or records offices

The vast majority of people (95%) had not visited an archives or records office in the past 12 months. The main reasons given (see Table 4.1 below) were that it had never occurred to them, they had no real interest, or had no need to go. The reasons given are unsurprising, as the evidence suggests that people tend to visit an archives or records office for a specific reason such as searching family history, or exploring local history ie, personal reasons of individual interest.

Table 4.2 Reasons for non-visits to archive or records office

Column percentages, 2007 data, adult population

Note: Respondents may have given more than one reason.

Conclusion

Analysis of the data collected on visiting archives and records offices in Scotland has shown that only a small percentage of the population (5%) has visited such offices in the last year, and those that are most likely to have visited are those in older age groups, living in the least deprived areas and with the highest qualifications or 'other qualifications'.