What would happen to the archived materials and records held by the Orkney Archive Service in “a worst-case scenario” was spoken about in the islands’ council chamber.
The education, leisure, and housing committee were told that the archive service is seeking to retain accreditation from the Scottish Council on Archives after the pandemic delayed the normal process.
The Archive Service Accreditation is the UK standard for archive services.
After it was explained that the re-submission process will commence in November next year, council convener Harvey Johnston asked what would to the material stored at the Orkney Library and Archives building, in Kirkwall, in a worst-case scenario.
Orkney archive ‘material is priceless and we could not afford to lose it’
He asked: “It’s a unique and priceless collection of material and it’s in the custody of experienced and knowledgeable staff. In relation to security, is the entire collection held within the library building or are there backups of material stored elsewhere?
“Are digital backups stored on a cloud or in another building? In a worst-case scenario, say in a fire, that material is absolutely priceless and we could not afford to lose it.
Vikki Kerr, senior archivist with the popular service said all the physical records are held in “secure, humidity-controlled strong rooms” within the Orkney Library and Archives.
There is also a disaster recovery plan which is shared with the local fire service. This informs firefighters where the archive repositories are held so they don’t douse them with water unnecessarily.
Disaster recovery plan in place
She added: “All of our materials are also held in acid-free enclosures. This gives us as much time as possible to recover items. Some online records are stored on the council’s drives. We have external hard drives and back-ups of some content held within a fire safe.”
There have also been conversations about a joined-up disaster recovery plan using other facilities. This might see the archiving service keep some items at other sites, such as a museum store.
Councillor Johnston said he felt “very reassured” by this.
As part of the meeting, councillors approved the 2020 to 2025 archive management scheme of the Orkney Archive service. This forward plan will be necessary for the accreditation process.
Aside from housing precious records and materials, the library has become well-known for its popular Twitter account.
