The National Archives has set up a number of academic sources advisory panels to try and ascertain what academics using The National Archives would like to see us publish and in what format. Should catalogue enhancement take priority over standalone publications, be they printed or electronic. How important is access to images of documents and how much metadata is needed to make access feasible. Who should pay not only for the creation of new resources but for their sustainability in an electronic world where permanence can only be achieved through continual development ?

Academic advisory panels have now been established for medieval sources; early modern (1500-1800) sources; 19th and 20th century sources and post 1945 sources, each with a representative of the Royal Historical Society. Each panel was asked to indentify one or more record sources for digitisation priorities. Modern scholars argued for Cabinet Minutes and Memoranda in CAB 128 and CAB 129 or sources for Decoloni sation; early moderns for the Elizabethan state papers and the Privy Council registers, whereas medievalists saw the Memoranda Rolls and access to images of plea roll series such as KB 26 as priorities.

Do you have a view ? If so, why not tell us your top five record series for digital access to images and why ?

Please feel free to contact us with your ideas.