Annual Report 2003-2004 - National Archives of Scotland

Perhaps surprisingly, despite the reduction in the level of productions, there was an 11% rise in
the number of photocopies ordered. This was undoubtedly due to the introduction of the new fees
and charges structure, where the inspection fee now includes the cost of copies of a deed,
irrespective of its length. The new charges have been widely welcomed by our regular users as
they are very much simpler to understand and administer than the previous version.
First Minister Jack McConnell reading one of the
letters of James VI that were exhibited at
Edinburgh Castle in The Universal King: James
VI and the Union of the Crowns.
Photograph courtesy of Historic Scotland.
The number of written enquiries received from the public and solicitors rose by 78% from 471 to
841 but it is not clear why this should be. There was a similar rise in letters about adoptions and in
the actual number of adoptees calling to access relevant adoption papers in the court records. We
believe the rise in requests by adoptees to see their adoption records is linked to people being
better informed, via television programmes and the Internet, and more aware of their entitlement
to see them.
The quarterly meetings with representatives of the legal search firms continued to provide a very
useful platform for the exchange of information. They also provide us with direct feedback on
ideas and changes from one of our heaviest user groups and were instrumental in shaping the
new fees and charges structure in its simplified format.
2003-04 2002-03 1993-94
Photocopies (pages) 913,343 820,281 862,177
Total 36,007 2003-04 35,989 2002-03 43,185 1993-94 40,783
Productions 131,985 144,610 145,237
EXHIBITIONS AND PUBLICATIONS
To mark the 400th anniversary of the Union of the Crowns in 1603, NAS mounted an exhibition
entitled The Universal King: James VI and the Union of the Crowns in partnership with Historic
Scotland. The display, which was set up in the Royal Apartments at Edinburgh Castle, ran from
1 October to 30 November 2003, and was seen by over 107,000 visitors. Research for the
exhibition was carried out by Alison Lindsay and the display was designed by Studioarc. As well
as documents from NAS holdings, the exhibition used coins from the National Museums of
Scotland, printed works from the National Library of Scotland and a manuscript letter loaned from
The National Archives to tell the story of James VI’s life in Scotland, and his return visit in 1617.
The exhibition was opened by the First Minister, the Rt Hon. Jack McConnell MSP and
HRH Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh visited it on 27 October. A free leaflet was produced to
accompany the exhibition. A web version of the exhibition was launched on 1 September to form
the NAS contribution to Archives Awareness Month 2003.
The exhibition to mark the 250th anniversary of the Appin Murder, which had been transferred in
early March from General Register House to the West Highland Museum in Fort William, ended on
5 June 2003. A Gaelic version of the Appin Murder leaflet was produced.
NAS staff compiled a new edition of the popular guide Tracing Your Scottish Ancestors, which was
published by Mercat Press in December 2003. The new edition includes a chapter on family
history on the internet and an updated chapter on researching in the General Register Office for
Scotland. Major changes were also made to several chapters detailing sources in NAS to update
those now covered by the electronic catalogue, particularly those dealing with wills and legal
records.
Two editions of the NAS Newsletter and Education News were published during the year. The
autumn edition merged the two publications. Updated versions of the information leaflets on the
plans collection and the National Register of Archives for Scotland were produced during the year.
22
23