Oxfordshire History Centre is top of its class
Oxfordshire History Centre’s staff have been rewarded for their work in archive management by achieving accredited status once again.
The Oxfordshire County Council run centre, based at St Luke’s Church in Cowley, successfully maintained the status, which is a national quality standard, recognising good performance in archive service delivery.
Retaining accredited status demonstrates that it has met the standards for collecting, preserving and making accessible the archive records in its custody.
Mark McCree, Head of Libraries and Heritage at Oxfordshire County Council, said of the award: “I am very proud of the team for retaining this national mark of excellence; and it’s particularly pleasing that we have been recognised for the scale and scope of improvements that have been made since the service last applied for this accreditation.”
The award is made by the UK Archive Service Accreditation Committee, representing the entire archive sector.
The application, which is resubmitted every three years, assesses the service on its organisational health, collections’ management procedures, access and storage arrangements, and its work with partners and stakeholders.
In making the award, the accreditation panel highlighted:
- Progress made by the service including a commitment to new storage facilities.
- The introduction of a dedicated heritage service plan.
- The expansion and development of Heritage Search, an online catalogue of Oxfordshire’s heritage resources.
- The service’s alignment with council priorities, focusing on access, engagement, collection development, sustainability and workforce.
The Oxfordshire History Centre houses the three main collections and archives in Oxfordshire. Many of the archives held can also now be accessed through the council’s dedicated online catalogue, Heritage Search.
Find out more by visiting the History Centre’s website.
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