We collect Special Collections for people to use, whether in our Reading Room or online wherever they may be in the world.
The key to getting more people using our archives is a) cataloguing those archives and b) getting the catalogues online. This means anyone anywhere can find these archives just by searching for keywords (names, places, subjects!). They don’t necessarily have to know that we exist or that an archive is what they need.
Like many other archives services, Special Collections has inherited archive catalogues which exist only on paper or which use old guidelines. In 2013, the Quick Wins Programme will quickly digitise and otherwise update these useful documents in order to make more information about important archives available online. In particular those all important keywords!
Keep up with the progress of the Programme on its website.
The Special Collections Handbook 