Online Records & Other Sources of Information

Guides to our Records

Our Catalogues and Indexes page has guides, indexes and transcriptions for several major collections. We also have Leaflets providing guidance on different types of research, including family history, building sources and poor relief. 

Our Online Catalogue includes descriptions of all our catalogued material and is another useful place to search the records we hold. Catalogue pages don't link to the documents themselves, but give you a reference and other information which may be enough for you to tell whether the document is what you're looking for. If not, or you're not sure, please get in touch. Not everything that we hold is catalogued, and sometimes collections that you might expect to be here are held by other repositories.

Unlike a library catalogue, there are also entries for the collection and series that the records belong in (also referred to as the fonds and sub-fonds), as well as the entry for the record itself. This technical arrangement shows where each unique document belongs in the overall collection and although this can be confusing at first, it can be a very useful tool.

Our online catalogue doesn't include information on which of our Archive sites hold individual records, but if you find something you'd like to view or have us research or copy for you, please get in touch.

Digitised Records

Some of our records have been digitised and are available online.

• You can view burials records for Aberdeen City at Deceased Online. This online pay per view service is free to search but there is a charge to view the documents.  There is no charge to use the database at either of our search rooms.
• All the pre-1975 parliamentary and municipal electoral registers are now available to search and view on Ancestry (£). 
• The first eight surviving volumes of the UNESCO-recognised Aberdeen Burgh Registers have been digitised by the National Records of Scotland and are available on Scotland's Places. The years 1529 to 1531 are searchable at the Burgh Records Project database. 
• You can look through our History Pin page and take a virtual journey around Union Street shops and beyond...

Records and Resources for Schools

• Maps: school locations are on our School Records page, and you can find our map of WW2 air raids on our World War Two Incidents page. Our Burial Records page shows the burial grounds for which we hold records. 
• Hard Vrocht Grun resource exploring the impact of WW1 on the North East
• Paper Treasures resource packs for Primary Schools
• Witches and Witchcraft in Aberdeen

Links and Resources