Introduction 

The Archives Centre collects the personal papers of individuals who have been significantly involved in the following areas: 

• Politics and public life 
• International relations 
• Science, science policy and debate 
• Social science, policy and observation 
• Journalism and the media 

Our collections are national in scope, covering the whole of the United Kingdom, and date predominantly from the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. 

We welcome approaches from individuals interested in donating archives that meet our current collecting priorities as outlined above. Our full Collections Development Policy is available for consultation. 

How we define archives 

Personal papers may contain the following types of material: 

• Paper: including letters; diaries; scrapbooks; press cuttings albums and loose press cuttings; memoir and autobiography; manuscripts and typescripts of books, articles and speeches; drafts and transcripts of broadcasts and interviews; minutes, reports, and memoranda; subject files; policy papers and research material; newsletters and other publications. 

• Photographic: including photograph albums; photographic prints; negatives; and transparencies. 

• Audio-visual: including records; audio cassette tapes; film; and video cassette tapes. 

• Digital: including both digitised and born-digital textual and visual material in a variety of formats. 

Any information you can share with us in advance about your collection is helpful and we are particularly interested in finding out more about its content, quantity, formats and condition. 

How we acquire new collections 

We prefer to acquire new collections by donation. 

We will also consider acquisitions under the Acceptance in Lieu scheme, the Cultural Gifts scheme, or by bequest in a will. 

Deposit of a collection on indefinite loan may be accepted if there is a commitment to transfer ownership to the Archives Centre at a future date by one of the methods mentioned above. 

When discussing a potential new collection, we anticipate advising depositors on other issues, like intellectual property rights and closures. 

We are happy to offer a tour of the Archives Centre to see our facilities in person. 

We collect archives for the purposes of research, teaching, learning and public engagement with a wide range of audiences. 

Contact us 

If you would like to get in touch with us about your papers, please contact the Archives Centre Manager, Andrew Riley, by email at [email protected].