Investing in the Past: Upgrading Bangor University Archives

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The Archives and Special Collections at Bangor University, part of the Library & Archives Service, has been an Accredited Archives service since 2016. We are responsible for the care and management of manuscripts and rare printed material acquired by the University since its foundation in 1884.The Archives and Special Collections lies at the heart of academic and knowledge transfer activity in the University, and makes a key contribution to improving both the student experience and engaging with the wider communities that the Archives serves.The purpose of this project is to replace the aging motorised mobile shelving in the main strong room of the Archives and Special Collections on which 74% of our archival collections, unique items which date from the twelfth century to the present day, are currently housed. The project will involve: - boxing and re-boxing of some items which are currently loose and unprotected on the shelves or housed in unsuitable packaging - decanting of 1,523 linear metres of unique manuscript material from the storage area to a temporary storage location while the replacement of the motorised shelving is conducted - dismantling and removal of the current shelving system, which is over fifty-five years old; the removal of asbestos floor tiles and levelling of the floor - fitting new manual mobile shelving - recanting manuscript material to the storage area and the new motorised shelving.The benefits of the project will be far reaching and underpins our mission to ensure the long-term care and preservation of the collections held by the University, to continue to accept and appropriately curate items regularly gifted to the University, and to open up access to these unique sources to researchers within and beyond the University. The project will support a more efficient storage plan for our collections and an increase in the capacity by 30% of the main strong room. The project will allow us to address preservation issues surrounding the archival collection with the purchase of archival boxes and packaging, and provide opportunity to take stock of uncatalogued material that has been randomly scattered throughout the storage area over the last half century. The project will promote research in respect of cataloguing projects through enabling greater access to our currently hidden collections.This project is a feasible and timely solution to many of the concerns that we have surrounding our collection's care, management and accessibility. It will help us achieve the recognition of our archives as one of the finest university archives in Wales and to enhance the support that we currently offer for research, teaching and learning, and working with other partners worldwide.