In addition to advising Scottish Ministers on records and information policy, the NAS advises Scottish public authorities about the creation and management of their records, it advises public and private owners about their historical records and it provides a reference service to the public on all aspects of the national archives The property market in Scotland is dependent on the services provided by the NAS to legal searchers, while its historical records are much used in lifelong learning and are a major attraction for genealogists, which helps promote tourism Each year the NAS staff deal with about 12,000 visits to its search rooms and provides visitors with access to around 250,000 records The NAS is an agency of the Scottish Government: the devolved Scottish part of the United Kingdom's central government The NAS has three buildings in Edinburgh