Archives in UK and Ireland invited to join new reader card scheme

Archives services in UK and Ireland can now apply for a proposed new web-based archive reader tickets scheme.

Administered by the Archives and Records Association (ARA), the scheme is open to all archive services, big and small, including local authority, university, business and private.

In a statement posted on its website, ARA says the new Archives Card offers many benefits for archives, ‘including features to help you meet the requirements of Archive Service Accreditation’.

One card for all services

Meanwhile, users ‘will need only one card to access all participating archive services and will be able to register online whenever and wherever they want’. Users will follow a simple web link on an archive service’s website to fill in the online registration form and upload a photograph of themselves.

If any users have no access to the internet, archive staff can enter the information directly into the database for them and take a photo there and then using a webcam.

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Participating archives will pay a one-off joining fee and an annual fee that includes the cost of the cards. Find more details here.