Remote records surveying guidance for archive services
This document provides an overview of the process of rescuing business records from the stage of research and monitoring up to the acquisition of records from an insolvent company. It includes guidance on corporate insolvency terminology, including the most important terms for archivists, and advice on how to contact insolvency practitioners. Our development of the guidance has been informed by the experience of conducting a remote survey of records-keeping by business and charities across Wales as part of the ARCW Records at Risk project.
The document outlines a methodology for planning and carrying out a survey, including how to develop selection criteria to identify a range of participant organisations. Guidance is provided on the use of open public data sources such as the registers of Companies House and the Charity Commission to research and identify target organisations. It includes examples of how to target organisations based on regional and sectoral selection criteria and should therefore be of interest to archive services with a geographically defined collection remit, such as local authority archive services, as well as specialist subject archives.
Drawing on examples from the ARCW survey of businesses and charities in Wales, it also details various options for designing and implementing a remote survey, including suggestions for the types of questions that may be included in a remote survey questionnaire form.
Click here to download the guidance.
A supporting video tutorial is available here.
Additional Resources
Further resources are available here.