It is the principal repository for manuscript records for the county.
The record office is behind the William Salt Library (right), with which it co-operates.
It is run as a joint service with Stoke-on-Trent as the Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Archive Service. The archives include parish registers, business and colliery records, enclosure awards and maps, manorial records, transport records, and electoral registers.