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| Access to Archives (A2A) | |
|---|---|
| Name | Access to Archives (A2A) |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Established | 2002 |
| Dissolved | 2008 |
| Predecessor | The National Archives |
| Successor | The National Archives digital services |
| Website | '' |
Access to Archives (A2A) was a United Kingdom online cataloging initiative that aggregated collection-level descriptions from county record offices, cathedral archives, university special collections and other repositories. Launched in the early 2000s, it linked descriptions drawn from diverse archival bodies, enabling discovery across regional and institutional boundaries and interfacing with national initiatives. The service intersected with projects and institutions such as The National Archives (United Kingdom), British Library, Wellcome Trust, JISC, National Register of Archives.
A2A was initiated in response to national calls for improved archival discovery prompted by influences including the reforms associated with Public Record Office (United Kingdom), the modernization drive following the House of Commons scrutiny of records access, and digital strategies influenced by projects like UK Web Archiving Consortium. Early formation brought together regional repositories such as London Metropolitan Archives, Derbyshire Record Office, Cumbria Archive Service, and university archives at University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, University of Manchester. Funding and oversight involved stakeholders including Heritage Lottery Fund, Arts Council England, JISC and partnerships with bodies like Society of Archivists and Royal Historical Society. A2A’s development paralleled contemporaneous digitization and metadata efforts exemplified by Britain from Above, Connecting Histories, and international models including Europeana and Library of Congress initiatives. The project operated through the 2000s until consolidation under national digitization and catalog services at The National Archives (United Kingdom).
A2A aggregated collection-level descriptions from county record offices, cathedral archives such as Canterbury Cathedral Archives, business archives like BP Archive, family papers relating to houses such as Chatsworth House, and university special collections including Bodleian Library and Cambridge University Library. Subject areas spanned estate records linked to Enclosure Acts, legal records intersecting with legislation like the Magna Carta, parish registers relevant to genealogical research tied to figures such as Samuel Pepys and parish networks of Thomas Becket, as well as corporate archives from firms comparable to Rothschild & Co and industrial repositories related to Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust. A2A indexed descriptions for collections holding material on events such as the French Revolution, World War I, World War II, social movements associated with figures like Keir Hardie, and cultural collections touching on authors such as Charles Dickens and Virginia Woolf.
Governance of A2A involved coordination among county record offices (e.g., Essex Record Office, Surrey History Centre), cathedral archives (e.g., Norwich Cathedral), and university repositories (e.g., University of Leeds Special Collections Service), under strategic frameworks influenced by The National Archives (United Kingdom), JISC and advisory input from professional bodies including the Archives and Records Association and Society of American Archivists-observed standards. Technical and metadata guidance drew on cataloging principles reflected in schemas associated with ISAD(G), controlled vocabularies comparable to Library of Congress Subject Headings, and identifiers aligned with institutions such as International Council on Archives. Project management involved liaison officers across local authorities like Manchester City Council and county councils exemplified by Oxfordshire County Council.
Although primarily a cataloging and discovery tool rather than a mass-digitization repository, A2A interfaced with digitization workflows and linked to digital surrogates hosted by institutions including British Library, Wellcome Library, and university digital repositories at King's College London. Search services incorporated indices, hierarchical collection descriptions and keyword search across metadata fields, employing standards influenced by projects like Open Archives Initiative and technologies related to Z39.50. Interoperability enabled cross-search with national portals such as Access to Archives-adjacent services and international aggregators like Europeana and research infrastructures supported by Digital Preservation Coalition principles. A2A contributed to exposing previously hidden collections such as manorial rolls, probate inventories, and personal papers of local politicians tied to constituencies like Birmingham and Liverpool.
Primary users included academic researchers from institutions such as University College London, genealogists tracing lineages connected to families like the Windsors, local historians affiliated with organizations such as the Local History Society, and journalists working on investigations involving archives from repositories like National Maritime Museum. Access policies varied by holding institution: some repositories offered open public consultation under conditions parallel to reading room rules at The National Archives (United Kingdom), while others required appointment or restricted access for collections concerning sensitive persons such as cases under the Data Protection Act 1998 or ecclesiastical records governed by cathedral chapter policies. Copyright considerations engaged legislation including the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 and influenced delivery of digital images and copying services provided by partner repositories like Bodleian Libraries.
A2A influenced subsequent national aggregation and discovery services provided by The National Archives (United Kingdom), informed metadata consolidation used by Europeana, and shaped practices in catalog aggregation adopted by university consortia such as Research Libraries UK. Its legacy includes improved visibility for county record offices like Devon Archives and cathedral repositories including Salisbury Cathedral Library, greater integration of local archival description into national discovery frameworks, and contributions to standards discourse engaging bodies such as International Council on Archives and UK Archives Discovery Network. The project’s model seeded later developments in linked data, persistent identifiers, and collaborative digitization programs involving funders like Heritage Lottery Fund and partners such as Wellcome Trust.