Questionnaire template for remote surveys
As part of the Records at Risk project, a questionnaire form was developed for distribution to organisations that were invited to join in our historical records-keeping survey. The questionnaire is suitable for use by all types of organisation, including businesses and charities. It asks respondents about:
- The conditions in which non-current records are held
- The types and formats of records held
- The organisation’s interest in receiving guidance on records preservation and/or transferring their historical records to an external archive service
You can download a copy of the questionnaire template in Microsoft Word below. For further information about use of the template, see: ‘Remote records surveying guidance for archive services’
Sample letter to survey respondents
Click below to download a sample letter and email text which can be used to invite potential respondents to participate in a remote records-keeping survey.
External help and resources
Please note that the following resources are published by external bodies based outside Wales and are available in English only.
- The Ballast Trust (2021) FIELDWORK: Mapping Scotland’s Business Archives
- British Records Association (2012) A Report on the BRA Survey of Risks to Historical Records in the East of England and London Regions
- Business Archives Surveying Officer Case Studies. Available at: https://surveyingofficer.co.uk/case-studies/
- Clare Cowling (2019) Undeposited Records in Oxfordshire: a methodology for the identification and preservation of private sector records. London: Institute of Advanced Legal Studies.
- Clare Cowling Legal Records at Risk: Questionnaire for Law Firms. London: Institute of Advanced Legal Studies.
- Lesley Richmond and Bridget Stockford (1986) Company Archives: The Survey of the Records of 1000 of the First Registered Companies in England and Wales. Aldershot: Gower.
- The National Archives Research Guides: How to Look for Records of Companies and Businesses.
- Richard Wiltshire (2017) ‘Acquisition, appraisal, arrangement and description’ in A. Turnton (ed.) (2017) The International Business Archives Handbook: Understanding and Managing the Historical Records of Businesses, pp. 174-252. (See especially ‘Surveying business archives’ at pp. 180-187).