Archives First

Archives First is a group of 11 local authority archive services in the South of England. The group works together to share best practice and seek collaborative solutions to shared challenges.

Life cycle of digital records in a local government context

In 2016 Archives First received funding from The National Archives to explore the life cycle of digital records in the local government context. The project was completed, and the final report (PDF, 1.2 MB) published in 2017.

The project, led by Dorset History Centre and Gloucestershire Archives sought to identify issues around the creation management and transfer of digital records from local government organisations to archive services for preservation. The group was interested in how records traditionally collected in paper were now being managed, and how they were reaching archives services to be preserved and made available to the public. The report explores what archive services can do to ensure important records are preserved for future generations.

Minimum requirements for long term preservation

In 2018 Archives First received further funding from The National Archives to carry out a follow up project. This work builds on the recommendations of the 'Lifecycle' project by investigating available options for both digital preservation system architectures and the export of Archival Information Packages from systems used by local authorities.

Research carried out so far has led to the development of the 100 year use case (PDF, 100.5 KB) . We'd be grateful for feedback on this document - please get in touch at archives@gloucestershire.gov.uk.

A progress report was delivered to members of the consortium in December 2018. The supporting working paper is available online (PDF, 103.1 KB) .

A joint project feedback session was held with Archives West Midlands in March 2019. Some preliminary conclusions of the Archives First project are available online (PDF, 241.8 KB) .

The final report (PDF, 621.5 KB) is now available.

Archives First will seek to take forward work in this area, building on its findings with the aspiration to deliver digital preservation for each of the collaborating authorities.