ROYAL COMMISSION ON THE ANCIENT AND HISTORICAL MONUMENTS OF SCOTLAND

COLLECTIONS POLICY
 
1. Introduction

This document sets out the Collecting Policy of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS), and is one of a series of policy documents which expand upon the overall objectives of RCAHMS which are:
	
1.1 to survey and record the built environment of Scotland;

1.2 to compile and maintain in the public archive and database known as the National Monuments Record of Scotland a record of the archaeological and historical environment; and 

1.3 to promote an understanding of this information by all appropriate means.

2. Scope

2.1 Material that falls within the scope of RCAHMS relates to human interaction with the environment that has resulted in archaeological sites, monuments and landscapes; buildings, industrial sites and structures of all periods; building interiors including architectural details, decoration and fittings; gardens and designed landscapes; industrial sites, machinery and industrial landscapes; and underwater constructions and wrecks.

2.2 As the national record of the archaeological, buildings and maritime heritage of Scotland, the National Monuments Record of Scotland (NMRS) will acquire, catalogue, research and conserve material within these subject areas, and make it available to members of the public.

2.3 The geographical area of interest for RCAHMS is the whole of Scotland including Scottish territorial waters (70 mile limit).

2.4 The acquisition of material for the NMRS is undertaken by actively seeking and gathering information and material from a wide range of sources. These include:
	
2.4.1 the survey programmes of RCAHMS; 
2.4.2 gifts to the NMRS;
2.4.3 material deposited on loan in order to make it available to the public;	
2.4.4 purchase of material; and
2.4.5 the survey of collections in other institutions or in private hands.

Material will only be acquired if it contributes to or enhances the collection, and meets the criteria detailed below.

3. Categories of acquisition

3.1 Material acquired normally relates to the archaeological, buildings or maritime heritage of Scotland. This includes material or collections relating to individuals or organisations that have been active in these fields of activity. Because this may sometimes involve working outside Scotland, foreign material may occasionally be acquired if it is considered to be an integral part of a particular collection.
 
3.2 The type of material that will normally be considered for acquisition includes:

3.2.1 photographic material;
3.2.2 aerial photographs; 
3.2.3 topographical drawings and engravings;
3.2.4 survey material including measured drawings and excavation records;
3.2.5 student drawings;
3.2.6 design material including sketches, perspectives and albums;
3.2.7 archives including those from architects’ offices and archaeological excavations;
3.2.8 books and other published material, including sale brochures, trade catalogues and reports;
3.2.9 portraits;
3.2.10 manuscripts;
3.2.11 annotated maps;
3.2 12 microfilm;
3.2.13 digital data, including electronic texts, databases, geophysics data, topographic and building survey, visualisation and geographical information systems (GIS);
3.2.14 audio and video recordings; and
3.2.15 material relating to the design process is selectively acquired, including maquettes, models, drawing instruments and archaeological tools.
  
3.3 Collections that would not normally be acquired include:

3.3.1 estate maps;
3.3.2 printed maps (except when required for work programmes or as part of NMRS public service provision);
3.3.3 business papers (unless they complement other parts of the collection); and
3.3.4 material that would be more appropriately housed in another national, local or specialist repository.

4. Criteria for acquisition	

Material for acquisition should come within the above categories. The following criteria will be considered when deciding whether to proceed with any acquisition:	

4.1 the status of the material - e.g. national or local importance;  	
4.2 the extent to which the potential acquisition fills gaps in the existing collection;
4.3 any threat of destruction or dispersal of the material;
4.4 if the collection is of particular interest in terms of historical developments, techniques, the work of an important individual or organisation;
4.5 the condition of the collection and preservation implications; and
4.6 the appropriateness to RCAHMS or relevance to another organisation
	
5. Conditions of acquisition
	
5.1 RCAHMS reserves the right not to accept material offered.
	
5.2 RCAHMS will not add any item, collection or digital resource to NMRS unless it is satisfied as to the ownership and provenance of that item or collection and that it has not been acquired in, or exported from, its country of origin in violation of that country’s laws, or British Law (English or Scottish) or the spirit of those laws. As a member of the International Confederation of Architectural Museums (ICAM), RCAHMS subscribes to ICAM’s Statutes regarding principles for the acquisition of architectural archives. The provenance of all items will be ascertained and recorded in as much detail as possible as part of the accessioning procedure.
	
5.3 It is a condition of acceptance of gifts that material will be made available to the public for research purposes. In exceptional circumstances, a period of time may be specified before the release of material to the public. However, RCAHMS reserves the right to refuse material where conditions and access restrictions are considered to be unreasonable.

5.4 Material will not be accepted without clear and valid title of ownership. A written transfer of title must accompany all acquisitions. For gifts or donations, the owner transferring rights of ownership to RCAHMS will sign appropriate documentation. Any conditions will be specified in writing by the donor and will be considered carefully before acceptance. RCAHMS will normally require that there is an assignment of copyright but in exceptional circumstances, may seek a licence from the owner to allow material to be made available to the public for research purposes.
	
5.5 RCAHMS would normally expect material to be gifted but in exceptional conditions may consider accepting collections on deposit. Any conditions requested by the depositor will be considered carefully before acceptance and documentation detailing the terms and conditions of deposit will be signed by the owner and RCAHMS. 

5.6 RCAHMS does not impose a deposition charge, but in some circumstances may negotiate with depositors for financial assistance to pay for conservation, storage materials and cataloguing work. 

5.7 All agreements will include a clause giving RCAHMS the right to dispose of material.
	
5.8 If a collection is offered to RCAHMS which contains material that duplicates existing holdings, RCAHMS may discuss disposal options for this element with the depositor.

5.9 RCAHMS will respect the archival integrity of collections but in instances where a percentage of the collection does not comply with its Collecting Policy, it may be offered to a more appropriate repository. 

5.10 Bequests to the RCAHMS are exempt from inheritance tax under the Inheritance Tax Act 1984 (Section 25(1) and Schedule 3). Individuals considering a bequest to RCAHMS are encouraged to discuss specific terms and conditions with the Depute Curator prior to finalising their will. 

6. De-accessioning

6.1 The collections held in the archive are designated for permanent preservation and there is a strong presumption against disposal of any material that has been collected under the terms of the Collecting  Policy, accessioned and made available to the public. However, RCAHMS undertakes to review the Collecting Policy and collections on a regular basis and may, in exceptional circumstances, consider a collection or individual items for de-accessioning. An example of this may be a set of identical mechanical copies of a particular drawing. RCAHMS will transfer items or a collection to another suitable repository where possible.

6.2 There is a strong presumption against the sale of any items or collections from the NMRS, with the exception of duplicate books (see below).
	
6.3 The following procedures for de-accessioning will be implemented:

6.3.1 details of items or collections will be submitted to the Depute Curator and the NMRS Management Group, prior to discussion and approval by the Central Management Group. In exceptional circumstances, approval may be sought from the Commissioners;
6.3.2 the original donor or depositor will be contacted and the reasons for the de-accessioning explained and their views considered in the decision-making process;
6.3.3 for material on deposit, all agreements will be revised and transfer documents prepared;
6.3.4 RCAHMS will identify an appropriate alternative repository and will normally seek to de-accession material to recognised and publicly accessible archive repositories, unless there is a prior agreement to return material to the donor; and
6.3.5 all decisions and actions through the entire de-accessioning process will be documented.

6.4 It is generally accepted that duplicate books and periodicals held in the library may be sold. The procedure for their disposal is as follows:

6.4.1 duplicate books are identified and listed. The Depute Curator approves the list for disposal; and
6.4.2 the volumes are valued by a second-hand book dealer prior to sale.

7. Destruction 

7.1 Material will be considered for destruction if it is in such a poor condition that there is no prospect of the original information contained within it being retrieved now or in the foreseeable future. It will be identified as a priority for destruction if it requires isolated storage because of the potential risk to other archival material. 

7.2 The following procedures for destruction will be implemented:

7.2.1 details of items or collections will be submitted to the Depute Curator and the NMRS Management Group, prior to discussion and approval by the Central Management Group. In exceptional circumstances, approval may be sought from the Commissioners;
7.2.2 the original donor or depositor will be contacted and the reasons for the destruction explained and their views considered in the decision making process;
7.2.3 all decisions and actions through the entire process will be documented; and 
7.2.4 the material will be disposed of either by, or with guidance, from a conservator to ensure appropriate health and safety considerations are met.
	
 
Appendix 

A1. Background
The NMRS Collection results from the amalgamation in 1966 of the RCAHMS and Scottish National Buildings Record. The two organisations held material relevant to their respective roles and this was incorporated into a single, publicly accessible resource. RCAHMS, founded in 1908, had built up an extensive collection of drawings, photographs and manuscripts when compiling Inventories of Scottish monuments. The SNBR, which was founded in 1941 to make emergency surveys of Scotland’s historic buildings at risk during wartime, had, in tandem with its surveying work, acquired many important architectural design drawings, topographical engravings and historic photographs and had compiled a record of architectural material held in private collections.

The creation of the NMRS in 1966 led to a broadened remit that covered the entire span of human interaction with the Scottish landscape from earliest known examples until the present day. The responsibilities of the NMRS have continued to expand and in turn, its Collection has been enhanced through the incorporation of the Archaeology Branch of the Ordnance Survey in 1993, for example, and of the Scottish Office Air Photograph Unit in 1992. The continued exponential growth of the Collection reflects the distinctively centralised situation in Scotland whereby the NMRS is the principal repository for architectural and archaeological material of national importance. 

A2. Existing collection
The principal components and strengths of the NMRS Collection comprise:

A2.1 Design drawings 
·	Design drawings by Scotland's leading architects including Sir Robert Lorimer, William Henry Playfair and Sir Basil Spence.

A2.2 Illustrative material
·	Topographical views of buildings and monuments of all periods
·	Early engravings and photographs

A2.3 Survey material
·	RCAHMS surveys since 1908 including digital data
·	National Art Survey of Scotland 	
·	Surveys of buildings, archaeological sites and landscapes and excavation archives from Historic Scotland and other sources. This includes digital data.
·	Papers of the Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes in Scotland (Countryside Commission/Historic Scotland)      
·	NTS Quinquennial Surveys.
·	Records of sites and demolished structures of all periods

A2.4 Photography
·	Extensive coverage of architectural and archaeological subjects throughout Scotland.
·	RAF oblique and vertical collections 1939-1958
·	Ordnance Survey photography
·	Commercial aerial photography, including NAS

A2.5 Deposited collections
RCAHMS is recognised by the National Archives of Scotland as a location for the deposit of records under Charge and Superintendence. RCAHMS has, in turn, undertaken Charge and Superintendence agreements with local archives. Important deposited collections include:
·	Edinburgh City Architects 
·	George Heriot's Trust 
·	Northern Lighthouse Board 
·	Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland 
·	Scottish Gas Board 
·	Society of Antiquaries of Scotland

A3. Further reference
National Monuments Record of Scotland Jubilee: A Guide to the Collections, HMSO, 1991.
RCAHMS Annual Reviews 1991 – date.
International Confederation of Architectural Museums Charter (www.icam-web.org/e/charter.htm)
Historical Manuscripts Commission Code of Practice (www.nmc.gov.uk/pubs/collect.htm)
Historic Scotland, Publication and Archiving of Archaeological Projects, 1996, Edinburgh: Historic Scotland.