Gwent Archives
Harrow Green planned and carried out the sequential move of 7km of archival material to a new home for Gwent Archives.
Traceability the key to major archive move
The magnificent new facility in Ebbw Vale now provides the ideal environment for users to access a unique collection of documents. With state-of-the-art storage and a modern archive conservation studio, the Gwent Archives collection will be preserved for future generations.
The challenge for Harrow Green was to pack thousands of individual items in strict sequential order for transportation and relocation in exactly the right place in the new storage facility.
Often for moves of this size Harrow Green will provide a managed barcode system using proprietary document management software. In the case of Gwent Archives, Harrow Green worked with the client’s own barcode identification system.
Every item was scanned, along with its original shelf position, and scanned in at the final location in the new premises. Data was output to Excel spreadsheet to create an instant location database.
Gwent Archives is a unique collection of books, paper documents and parchment ranging from the 12th century to the present day. Special procedures were put in place here, as in all archive, library and museums moves, to ensure maximum security and safety for the collection.