Oxfordshire History Centre achieves national accreditation

The service has been given the Archive Service Accreditation by the UK Archive Service Accreditation Committee.

After a lengthy application process and a site visit to assess how the service cares for its collections and makes them accessible, the standard was awarded earlier this month. At present, the Oxfordshire History Centre is one of about 40 similar services nationally to have achieved the standard.

Archive Service Accreditation is a UK-wide  scheme which defines good practice and identifies agreed standards within the archive sector and which supports improvement and development for archive services. It is externally validated and provides a badge of recognition for accredited archive services. In England, the accreditation process is overseen by The National Archives.

Accredited archive services are judged to provide a high level of service to their stakeholders, preserve their collections in line with national standards and are robust, sustainable services which plan and deliver ongoing improvement.

Achieving accredited status also demonstrates that the Oxfordshire History Centre has met clearly defined national standards relating to management and resourcing.

In particular, the detailed assessment report highlighted as strengths the Oxfordshire History Centre’s clear and comprehensible polices, its successful development since the merger of Oxfordshire Record Office and Oxfordshire Studies in 2011, and the potential to creatively build the service further.

Hard-won recognition

Councillor Lorraine Lindsay Gale, Oxfordshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Cultural and Community Services, said: “Congratulations to all at the History Centre for this hard-won recognition. Passing such a stern assessment proves that the county has a high quality history centre. All at the county council are proud of that.”