Address: 44 Junction Road, Kirkwall, Orkney, KW15 1AG
Telephone: 01856 873166
Fax: 01856 875260
Website: www.orkneylibrary.org.uk
 

The new Orkney Library & Archive opened in new premises in December 2003. The ground floor houses the main lending library, reference room, children's library and administration block while most of the upper floor is devoted to the Archives and Local History department, including the photographic and sound archives. The Orkney Family History Society are also based there.

The Archives Department stores the following records which may be of use to genealogists:

• IGI (International Genealogical Index) for Scotland. [1988 edition]
• IGI (International Genealogical Index) for Orkney and Shetland. [1992 edition]
• Microfilm copies of Decennial Census Returns for Orkney, 1841-1901
• Printed copies of the Decennial Census Returns for Orkney, 1841-1901
• Manuscript copies of census returns for six Orkney parishes, 1821
• Microfilm copies of Old Parish Registers for Orkney, (baptisms, marriages, and some deaths/burials up to 1854)
• Microfilm copies of the two Orkney weekly newspapers, (The Orcadian, 1854 to present and The Orkney Herald, 1860-1961).

Other records held in the Archives which may be useful in family history research:

*     Some of these records are also held by the National Records of Scotland.
**  Some of these records are also held by the Orkney Family History Society.

Page created by Bill Teschek

• National Records of Scotland - Civil registration records, census returns, pre-1855 Church of Scotland parish registers, wills and testaments, non-conformist church records, kirk session records, legal and court records, estate records, land records, maps and plans etc. See the relevant sections on the Scotland page for more details.
  • The General Register Office for Scotland - see the National Records of Scotland.
  • The Scottish Record Office - see the National Records of Scotland.
  • The National Archives of Scotland - see the National Records of Scotland.
  • The Scottish Register Office - see the National Records of Scotland.
  • General Register House - see the National Records of Scotland.
  • New Register House - see the National Records of Scotland.
  • Order Certificates from the National Records of Scotland.
• ScotlandsPeople One of the largest online sources of original genealogical information. If you are researching UK genealogy, your Scottish ancestry or building your Scottish family tree, there are almost 90 million records to look through. Visit the ScotlandsPeople Centre in central Edinburgh.
• National Library of Scotland - extensive collection of books, manuscripts and maps.
• Browse and download a selection of items from the National Library of Scotland held on the Internet Archive, including Post Office Directories, Army and Navy Lists, Scottish Gazetteers, Ordnance Survey Books of Reference, and many others. 
• ScotlandsPlaces Search across three national databases to access historical resources relating to places throughout Scotland.
• Registers of Scotland deals with modern registration of land and property ownership.
• Scottish Genealogy Society Library - large collection of family history material (records, books, family histories, monumental inscription listings etc.) relating to Scotland.
• The Scottish Record Society (SRS) has long been a valuable resource for genealogists and historians. The list of publications includes indexes to parish registers of baptisms and marriages (the OPRs that are available through ScotlandsPeople), transcripts of rare material such as apprentice and burgess rolls, as well as indispensable reference works. The SRS is now collaborating with TannerRitchie Publishing to digitise many of its titles and make them available for purchase online. The list of titles can also be found on the SRS website.
• The Scottish Screen Archive is Scotland's national moving images collection. It preserves over 100 years of Scottish history on film and video.
• National Register of Archives - survey of records in public and private hands. Find records from The National Archives and over 2,500 archives across the UK.
• SCAN (Scottish Archive Network) Internet access to the written history of Scotland.
• SCRAN (Scottish Cultural Resources Access Network) is a Millennium Project to digitise selected parts of collections throughout Scotland, thus building a fully searchable online resource base.
• Scottish Collections Network (SCONE) (?) provides descriptions of collections of all kinds held in libraries, museums, and archives in Scotland, as well as collections about Scottish topics held elsewhere.
• Search for LDS Family History Centres in Scotland provided by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/The_Parliamentary_Archives_(U.K.)National Collections

Bevan, Amanda, (Ed.). Tracing Your Ancestors in the Public Record Office (6th ed.), The National Archives. [ISBN 1903365341] 
["This is a new, revised edition of the best-selling guide. Now in its sixth edition, Tracing Your Ancestors in the Public Record Office continues to provide comprehensive guidance to all researchers, new or experienced, wishing to trace their forebears among the records of government or courts held at The National Archives. It leads the reader through the census and military service records, wills and lawsuits, court rolls and hearth taxes and all other records where our ancestors may have left their tracks. . . this new revised edition provides information on this and many other releases of records at the National Archives, including army, navy, merchant navy and immigration records. New information about how to access the records via the catalogue is also provided."]

• The National Archives (TNA) in Kew brings together the Public Records Office (PRO) and the Historical Manuscripts Commission, and is the principal repository for English and Welsh records. ( Note: most Scottish records are held in the National Archives of Scotland in Edinburgh, and Northern Ireland Records are held by The Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) .)
• Now that the Access to Archives (A2A) project is no more, TNA's  Discovery catalogue covers holdings in many regional archives as well as the National Archives themselves - see their  Find an Archive page. (To search all these other archives use the "Held By" option in the catalogue's Advanced Searchfacility.)
•  
  • Copies of the National Archives' Research Guidesare now available online, as is their very useful catalogue.
  • Research Guides to Online Collectionsat the National Archives.
  • The National Archives' Looking for a Person?resource listing - "Each guide tells you where you can find, access and understand the relevant records".
  • Their Manorial Documents Registeridentifies the location of manorial documents.
  • Your Archives- "The National Archives' online community of records users", a wiki that archive users could contribute to - now closed.
  • The National Archives publishes a useful free enewslettergiving a "monthly round-up of news, blogs, offers and events ".
  • They also have a YouTube channel of videos providing tips on using the Discovery catalogue, visiting, etc.
• Quick animated guidesto using the National Archives.
• The British Library'scollections may be regarded as the world's finest; the range and effectiveness of the services it provides on the basis of these collections are without rival. Their web pages give access to their comprehensive online cataloguesincluding the British Library Public Catalogue, as well as providing full details of the library's services and facilities.
• The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints offers a wide range of genealogical resources at its Family History Centers around the world.  For contact details,  click here and search for the centre nearest you.

Listings and Guides

• The National Archives' "gateway to archival resources, projects and initiatives in the UK and abroad" has been transferred to the UNESCO Archives Portal (archived copy).
• JISC's  Library Hub Discover provides a means of  searching resources in UK and Irish academic, national & specialist libraries - as of Jan 2020, it held  "42,377,775 records created from 106,728,673 records contributed by 144 institutions".
• The Archives Hubis a service run by MIMAS at Manchester Computing which provides free access to descriptions of archives held in the UK's universities and colleges. The descriptions can be searched in a number of ways and will form one part of the emerging UK National Archives Network.
• LDS Family History Centres.
• Culture 24, "Latest news, exhibition reviews, links, listings and education resources from thousands of UK museums, galleries, archives and libraries, all in one place".
• Details of 1600 Museums, Galleries and Historic Housesprovided by Britains Finest.
• UK250's listing of  UK museum websites (archived copy)
• Details of Maritime and Naval Museumsin Britain and Ireland provided by Dr Martin H. Evans and Dr Janet West. A Location Mapis also available.
• The British & Irish Archaeological Bibliography- "The biab online database contains datasets covering publications from AD 1695 to the present day on archaeology and the historic environment, historic buildings, maritime and industrial archaeology, environmental history, and the conservation of material culture" - nearly 200,000 references, as of June 2007.
• Community Archives- set up on behalf of the National Council on Archives "to show the variety and quantity of community archives in the UK."
• UK Parliamentary Archives - FamilySearch guide.section.

Specialist Collections

• Society of Genealogists
• Institute of Heraldic and Genealogical Studies,
• The Methodist Archives and Research Centreis part of the John Rylands University Library of Manchester.
• The Huguenot Libraryis located at University College, London
• The Royal Archives - subscription access via Find My Past.
• The The British Postal Musem and Archive(formerly Post Office Archives and Records Services) holds the records of the British Post Office from the 17th century to the present day.
• Institute for Historical Research
• India Office(archived copy): Family History Research.
• The British Empire and Commonwealth Museum.
• The Women's Library- "housing the most extensive collection of women's history in the UK".
• The National Gas Archive- "The NGA holds up to two kilometres of records covering the history and development of the UK gas industry. The records date from about 1812 to the present day and include many of the administrative, financial, legal, technical, property and personnel records of the industry."
• The National Army Museum.

Miscellaneous

• Association of Independent Libraries- details of member institutions and publications.