Digital archive records rise by 1,900% in Jersey

More than 260,000 digital files were given to Jersey Archive to preserve in 2025, marking a 1,900% increased compared to 13,000 the year prior, Jersey Heritage has said.

The charitable trust said it also received 1,700 boxes of physical archives from the government, which reflected the increased shift from paper to digital records.

It said, although the transfers had been "highly successful", its current staffing levels were creating "an increasing backlog in cataloguing and making collections fully searchable".

Jersey Heritage's deputy chief executive Linda Romeril said it took time to preserve the information both physically and digitally.

She said: "The significant success in transfer of physical and digital records puts pressure on our ability to fully catalogue these collections as staff are dealing with the transfer and ingest of thousands of boxes of records and digital files each year.

"We ensure that both physical and digital records are safe in storage and basic descriptions of collections are placed online to facilitate access as an initial step.

"However, it should be noted that with current staff levels, cataloguing backlogs are increasing."

Jersey Archive said more than 450,000 people visited the online catalogue in 2025, received 3,450 written inquiries and had more than 2,500 in-person visits.

The service said more than 40 volunteers contributed more than 3,370 hours to "preservation, indexing and scanning projects".

Clive Jones, from the Records Advisory Panel, said 2026 would present the archive with "new challenges" due to the amendment to the Public Records (Jersey) Law.

The amendments expands on the responsibilities of Jersey Archive, requiring it to properly manage, preserve and transfer records to ensure government accountability and protect Jersey's documentary heritage.

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