Visitor Information & Contact Details

Before you visit the Archives, you can find out what we have that might be useful to your research on our Online Catalogue or using our Guides and Indexes. If you see something you want to look at, note its reference number, title and covering dates and contact us to make an appointment.

If you haven't found anything on our Catalogue (it is a work in progress) or if you're not sure what we have that could help your research, please contact us with your query via email or telephone.

Preparing for your visit

It helps if you do the following:

• Bring as many of your notes with you as you can!
• Think about what you're aiming for in your research - what do you want to find? Try and focus on one person / research interest at a time before moving on to the next.
• If you are looking at a large date range, try and narrow it down - this saves you having to look through multiple volumes with the same information (and reduces unnecessary handling of the collections).
• Bring some notepaper, a pencil and a rubber - pens cannot be used in the searchroom.
• You can bring your own digital camera to take copies - there will be a small charge for using your camera - details of our charges are available via our Table of Fees or on request.
• You can bring your laptop / tablet / iPad.

We will get any items you have requested in advance out ready for you on the day of your visit, but you can ask for more materials on the day. 

In the searchroom

When you make an appointment to visit, you will be asked to comply with our Searchroom Guidelines: 

Failure to do so may result in you being refused access to the searchroom. Access restrictions are in place for records containing personal data covered by the Data Protection Act: see the How to Access our records page for more information. 

If you would like to take photographs of collection items during your visit, you will need to fill out a copyright form and pay a self service copy fee. 

Some records may only give you a small amount of information, or even what may look to be incorrect information.  This is because the archives we hold were (on the whole) created for administrative purposes, and would have served an administrative function when they were being used.  Records created annually, for example, only show information from a particular time of the year and not any changes which happened throughout the year. 

Above all, we want you to get the most out of your visit! Staff are always available to answer any questions you might have both before and during your visit. If you are unsure of what you are looking at, please ask, we will be happy to help!

If you are planning on staying for a whole day, please note that neither office has facilities for you to eat your own lunch on site. Both sites have a number of cafes nearby. 

The office at Old Aberdeen is on the ground floor but there is a small lip at the door of the building, which some wheelchair users may require assistance navigating. Please note that there is no accessible toilet on site.

The office in the Town House is on the third floor so we may need to make alternative access arrangements, particularly for larger wheelchairs that may not fit in the lift, in a more accessible part of the building. Please contact us and we can make arrangements. 

Parking

A car park is available at Old Aberdeen House, although it can get busy. A number of city centre car parks are available close to the Town House branch. Disabled parking is available on site: please let us know in advance to access this car parking.