IT and Archives abroad: UK National Archives helps open up valuable archive collections

Access to 12 archive collections is set to be transformed by a series of new grants. The National Cataloguing Grants Programme 2011 has awarded £420,000 to archives across the UK to help make these vitally important collections fully accessible for the first time.

Managed by The National Archives, the grants programme helps archives to catalogue previously inaccessible collections. Cataloguing past collections has uncovered treasures, which have provided unique insight into the nation's history. Set to run for five years from 2008, the programme is funded by a collective of charitable trusts including the Pilgrim Trust, the Foyle Foundation and the Wolfson Foundation.

Melinda Haunton, Programmes Manager at The National Archives, commented on the grant scheme: “Cataloguing is the first step in providing access to archives, revealing collections which would otherwise remain hidden”.

Each individual grant can last for up to two years, enabling the archives to explore each collection fully. Among those funded this year are: the Wiener Library, the Bowes Museum and York City Archive.

Wiener Library is the world's oldest institution devoted to the study of the Holocaust, its causes and legacies. The personal papers making up the collection document individuals affected by the Holocaust, both those who became refugees and those who suffered in the camps.

Bowes Museum in Durham (England) is famous for its renowned art collection. El Greco, paintings by Francisco Goya, Canaletto, François Boucher and a sizable collection of decorative art, ceramics, textiles, tapestries, clocks and costumes – are just some of the pearls of the museum collection.  The archive comprises details of how John Bowes and his French wife Joséphine amassed their fascinating collection of artistic artefacts, now open to the public as the Bowes Museum.

York City Archive features records of the city of York date from 1155 up to 1976. The archives offer huge opportunities for researchers to explore the city's own history - together with that of the governing of Northern England. The grant will be used to launch the first complete online database of York City Archive.