Record Surveys

Record surveys are an important element of Capturing the Energy's work - they allow us to identify records in the industry that are historically significant, and work with companies and organisations to ensure steps are taken to preserve these records for the future.

Our experience enables us to quickly identify which groups of records are significant, and our approach ensures that the impact on a company's time and staff resources is kept to a minimum.

This builds on the scoping study of the industry we commissioned from the Business Archives Surveying Officer, carried out in 2010.

Process

Free of charge, we would use our expertise to:

advise relevant staff on managing the company's physical and electronic documents
carry out an initial records survey to highlight those that could be transferred to an archive
identify records that are no longer needed i.e. out-of-date, duplicated or superseded
advise on retention requirements for the ongoing management of different records
provide details of reference materials and contacts for training and further advice

The engagement would typically last for no more than a week, after which we would produce a confidential report summarising our findings. This includes highlighting records that should be preserved for the long term - the links on the right-hand side of this page provide suggestions of what these might be.

Although there is no obligation to transfer material to Capturing the Energy, any material identified as being of historical value would be a welcome addition to the archive based at the University of Aberdeen, which holds many historic business records in its specialist facilities, managed by highly-trained staff.

Interested?

If you think your business or organisation has made an important contribution to the industry which should be preserved for the future, please contact us to arrange a records survey that suits your needs.

Questions? Check the FAQs page or email us.