Annual Accessions to Repositories exercise 

The results of the accessions exercise for the year 2009, conducted annually by Archives Sector Development, are now available on The National Archives website at http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/accessions/. 
Thanks are due to the 235 repositories that made returns, resulting in 3149 records being added to the accessions database.

We have conducted this annual information gathering exercise since 1954 to establish what new material has been deposited with archives, irrespective of whether it has been listed or catalogued. The data from this has been made available online since 1994 and is now the primary means by which we acquire information about archive collecting activity in the UK.

The information collected in the course of the exercise is added to the indexes of the National Register of Archives and also included separately onto an Accessions database on our website. 

The exercise allows us to monitor the transfer of public records and manorial documents and is also used to produce a number of thematic digests which are distributed for publication in over 30 learned journals and newsletters.  Repositories are encouraged to supply details of all their accessions, but we exercise editorial judgment in selecting those that are included in published sources.

In addition to publishing the information in these various formats, the data about acquisitions by repositories is critical to various aspects of our advisory work and the delivery of our statutory functions.  In particular it helps our sales monitoring team ensure that all appropriate repositories are notified of material relevant to their collecting interests.

Highlights from this year’s accessions project include:

*Records of Lower Beeding Stoolball Club held by West Sussex Record Office: Stoolball is thought to be a predecessor of cricket and is over 500 years old. The game originates from Sussex and was recognised as a sport by the Sports Council in 2008. 
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/nra/searches/subjectView.asp?ID=O133959

*Household accounts of the Sleeman family of Steep Holme held by Somerset Heritage Centre (formerly Somerset Record Office). Sleep Holm is an uninhabited island surrounded by 400 foot cliffs in the middle of the Bristol Channel which was used as a defence against invasion from 1860. These accounts appear to provide evidence suggesting habitation of this island between 1906 and 1910 which was previously unknown.
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/nra/searches/subjectView.asp?ID=F11644

*A plan of proposed railway route between Liverpool and Manchester created by George Stephenson, railway engineer and held by Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester.
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/nra/searches/subjectView.asp?ID=P27188

* Papers of Paul Howard Arden, creative director at Saatchi & Saatchi, held by History of Advertising Trust. Arden was behind the memorable Silk Cut and British Airways campaigns of the 1980s.
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/nra/searches/subjectView.asp?ID=P53232

* Records including schedules and scripts for Radio Luxembourg dating from 1923-2002, held by Sheffield University Library. The station was a pioneer of pirate radio and modern commercial radio in the United Kingdom.
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/nra/searches/subjectView.asp?ID=B36252

*Psalter of Kirkstead Abbey, c1300, held by British Library, Manuscript Collections. 
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/nra/searches/subjectView.asp?ID=O62313

This year we welcomed contributions from Liverpool John Moores University and University of East Anglia who have participated in the programme for the first time. 
 
Requests for participation in the 2010 exercise will be sent to contributors towards the end of this calendar year.

If you would like to find out more about the programme please contact the Accessions Editor Sam Velumyl at [log in to unmask]

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