Download - An Introduction to the Archives Hub
1Primary funding is provided by the JISC and ESRC.
Based at Manchester Computing, The University of Manchester.
1
MIMAS Bibliographic Course
MIMAS A National Data Centre
The Archives Hub
A gateway to descriptions of archives in UK Universities and Colleges
Archives Hub homepage
Archives are…
• Materials generated by an organisation, business or individual and preserved for long-term access
• A collection is identified as being created by a particular person, family, or organisation in the course of their activities
• Collections vary widely in size and content
Archive collections are organised hierarchically
The Archives Hub
• is freely available
• does not require registration
• holds descriptions of over 20,000 archive
collections
• includes descriptions from more than 140
institutions
• is regularly updated with new descriptions
What’s in the Archives Hub• Archives you might expect:
– research papers of university staff – records of university clubs and organisations– papers of former students– records of universities themselves
• And archives you might not expect:– family and estate collections – business archives– papers of former students– trade union archives
research art & design
science & industry
literature university life
great britons
sport & leisure
arts & humanities
local history
social history
You can find a wealth of
information on the Archives Hub
Bloggs and Sons
Minute Books
Accounts Correspondence
Ledgers Cash Books
Day Books
Item
Collection
Series
Sub-series
Hierarchy of an Archive
Searching
• 4 types of search– Quick Search– Advanced Search – Index Browsing– Subject Finder
• Guidelines on choosing the most suitable type of search are available on the Help pages
Quick Search
• Enter a word or a few words for a quick search of the Archives Hub descriptions
The quick search looks for your search term in the main fields, such as title, scope and indexes
Advanced Search
• A precise way of finding information • Combine title, subject, name and date
searches
Search for both words OR either
word
Search on individual items in collections as
well as collection descriptions
Browse Indexes
• A useful way of looking for related names and subjects
A search for musician will find ‘musician and author’ and other adjacent alphabetical terms
Subject Finder
• Find index terms relating to your search
A search for medieval literature will find similar subjects such as ‘manuscripts medieval’
Archives Hub descriptions (1)
• Descriptions have summary information…
These fields are completed for all Hub descriptions
Archives Hub descriptions (2)
• …and more detailed information
These fields will vary in the level of detail that they provide
Archives Hub descriptions (3)
• With clickable index terms to take you to related descriptions
Archives Hub descriptions (4)
• Some descriptions have a table of contents…
…which links to information on parts of the archive, such as a series or individual items
Archives Hub descriptions (5)
• Descriptions of archive collections are provided by the contributing institution
• This means that they can vary in their content and level of detail
• All descriptions have basic information to identify the archive and the holder of the archive
Details of repository
• The archives described on the Archives Hub are held by UK universities and colleges
• There is a clickable link to take you to the contact details for the repository
Guided Tour
• An online guided tour provides help in reading archive descriptions
To access the tour, click on the link on the Hub homepage…
Collection of the Month
• Each month the Archives Hub features collection descriptions on a different topic
Website and help
• The Archives Hub:
http://www.archiveshub.ac.uk
• Helpdesk:
email: [email protected]
Current/future developments
• Distributed Hub: institutions as ‘Spokes’
• Cross-search of archive networks – The National Archives (A2A)– The Archives Hub– The Scottish Archive Network– Archive Network Wales
