SRUC's Archive holds a great deal of historical material relating to the college and its predecessors dating back to the late 19th century. Our records are an excellent resource for researchers, staff and students of agriculture, horticulture and land sciences. They are also of significant value to family and local historians.
Our main collections include the records of:
- The East of Scotland College of Agriculture (ESCA)
- The North of Scotland College of Agriculture (NOSCA)
- The West of Scotland College of Agriculture (WSAC)
- Barony Agricultural College
- Elmwood Agricultural College
- Oatridge Agricultural College
- Scottish Agricultural Colleges (SAC)
- Scotland's Rural College (SRUC)
We began work on integrating our collections in 2016. This involved a basic listing of the oldest - and potentially most vulnerable- materials, and research into their origins. We continue to carry out work to arrange and catalogue our collections to make them more widely accessible.
The aims of the Archives Service are to identify, preserve and make accessible institutional records of SRUC and its predecessors which document its history, achievements and contribute to its sense of identity.
In future, we hope to develop archival collections which support the teaching and research needs of SRUC, as well as those of the agricultural and scientific community more widely. In addition, we will look to build our collection relating to agriculture and rural life in Scotland throughout history.
We aim to:
- Ensure that SRUC’s archives are stored and managed correctly to guarantee that they are safely preserved.
- Promote and make accessible the records held by SRUC archives. Arrange, describe and create appropriate finding aids to improve accessibility.
- Provide an enquiry service to support researchers, students, staff and the public.
- Enhance research and education by creating new opportunities for building knowledge by developing our understanding of past actions and events.