The university’s Manuscripts and Special Collections service has retained National Accreditation in the latest review of the Archive Service.

The service was first awarded National Accreditation in 2016 and has received the news that the award has been retained seven years later, as part of the Archive Service Accreditation’s second review.

Archive Service Accreditation is the UK standard for archive services awarded by a national partnership of archives organisations. Standards, schemes, and frameworks help archives to manage and improve their efficiency and effectiveness through external validation, and by identifying good practice.

Achieving accredited status demonstrates that our Manuscripts and Special Collections archive has met clearly defined national standards relating to management and resourcing; the care of its unique collections, embedding inclusive practice, digital preservation delivery, environment and sustainability, and audiences and future user expectations.

Today, the collections held by Manuscripts and Special Collections consist of over 3.5 million archival items and more than 80,000 printed items.

They are one of the treasures of the University of Nottingham and a rich research resource for the students and academics of the university and the wider community.

Over the past six – seven years, since that initial accreditation, the service has continued to develop, as have the collections in its care.

The award was accepted by the university’s Registrar, Dr Paul Greatrix at an event on Kings Meadow Campus earlier this month.

Speaking about the accreditation, Paul said: “I’m delighted to be here to accept the Archive Accreditation award on behalf of the University Of Nottingham and to help celebrate the amazing, tireless work of Manuscripts and Special Collections.

I’d like to give a special thanks to owners of the archives, who have entrusted the care of their collections to the university – as well as to Hayley Cotterill, keeper and curator of Manuscripts and Special Collections and her team, whose hard work has helped make the re-accreditation possible.”

Find out more about Manuscripts and Special Collections at the university or contact the team at mss-library@nottingham.ac.uk for help and advice on using the collections in your teaching, research or public engagement work.