Access to Archives (A2A) In the North West

A2A aims to create a virtual national archives catalogue, bringing together a critical mass of information about the rich national archival heritage and making that information available globally from one source via the World Wide Web. The North West region has hosted a number of projects. 

Community Spirit

This project will convert 23,281 pages of catalogues, from the region relating to church, parish and local government archives. These records are the pivotal collections of many local record offices and represent the some of the most heavily used items, particularly for family historians. Family historians make up over 79% of users of archives in the region and this is an excellent entry point into using archives for leisure and learning. The collections covered by the project represent a key part of the history of the region and will complement collections covered in previous successful regional A2A projects, namely Our Mutual Friends in the North and Mills, Mansions and Corner Shops.

The project will also encourage new users of archives by creating a series of web pages which will serve as an introduction as to how archives can be used by everybody. The pages will reveal the detail of the archives contained in the converted catalogues and by focusing on sources for family history, the project will have a universal appeal. An outreach officer will undertake a number of talks and demonstrations to promote the project, which is expected to coincide with a major BBC TV series on family history this winter.

We are currently seeking funding for this project.
 

Mills, Mansions and Corner Shops

This project will build on the success of the above project and aims to make over 56,000 pages of archival catalogues from 25 North West repositories available over the internet. Collections to be converted cover the themes of business, industry, family and estate archives. Funding for this project has been received from NWMLAC and Heritage Lottery Fund which is due to finish in June 2004.

Details of Introductory Workshops  New !

List of a selection of the collections included in the project

Our Mutual Friends in the North 

In the project, Our Mutual Friends in the North. a consortium of archive services in the north west received funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund to covert over 16,000 paper catalogue pages to electronic format.  Details of collections relating to mutual and voluntary organisations and protestant non-conformity are now available. Archive offices have also submitted catalogues of designated public records such as court and hospital records to the project. The results of the project are available at www.a2a.pro.gov.uk