SIAH document archive

Depositing material relating to Suffolk history in the SIAH document archive.

The Institute seeks to preserve good quality work on Suffolk’s history for posterity by providing the opportunity for it to be posted on this website and making the material available to the wider public. This opportunity is especially suited to local historians producing transcripts of primary sources, and students who have written undergraduate or postgraduate theses on aspects of Suffolk’s history.

What type of material might qualify?

Many active local historians have collected, transcribed, and translated a good deal of primary source material relating to Suffolk’s history, much of it written in Latin and archaic handwriting, and so inaccessible to the wider public. Some have also tabulated information from myriad original sources in an accurate and reliable manner onto spreadsheets, without having made any analytical use of the data. Others have written up an analysis of their work without having sought publication anywhere. There are also a growing number of undergraduate or postgraduate theses on Suffolk history, reflecting the vast growth in the number of people taking such degrees and the growing emphasis on independent research as components of degrees. Posting such material on the Institute’s website makes it available to a wider public.

How do I establish whether my material might qualify for posting on the website?

We express an open invitation to all local historians and students to post their material on Suffolk history our website. Simply email a short (side of A4) summary outlining the nature of your material to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. We will then contact you to discuss the prospect further. The discussion will consider the nature of the material, your confidence in the quality of the work, and the format in which it is currently stored. We would also ensure some basic quality assurance of the translations and transcriptions prior to posting online. We reserve the right to decline to post work on the website. If successful, we would require your work to be submitted in a common format (such as Word, PDF, Excel), and, if appropriate, a copy high resolution copy or scan of the original documents. You must flag and obtain all/any permissions to post the copies of the original documents. In addition to the Institute’s own basic quality assurance process, every post will be subject to some simple self-evaluation. For example, for local historians posting translations or unpublished analysis will self-assess their work as experienced; competent; best effort; or inexperienced. For students posting theses, the degree and classification of the thesis. In agreeing to post the material on the website, you understand that it can be freely accessed and downloaded by others, not just the members of the Institute. The Institute will ask such visitors to this section of the website to make a donation to the Institute to help it defray expenses.

The Suffolk Records Society is also developing an online platform to showcase edited translations and transcriptions of primary sources of especial interest of Suffolk’s historians, although they require professional standards of translation and transcription, and the use of standardised and consistent editorial conventions. Any submissions of work that meet these standards will be referred to the SRS.