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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.
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