National Archives
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The National Archives now open, offering a limited service

We’re very pleased to announce that we are now able to welcome visitors back into our reading rooms. We are offering a limited service to visitors who need access to our collection of original documents for their research. Visitors are required to book their visit and order their documents in advance.

Our building and services will look very different to regular visitors, as we’ve been busy introducing a number of measures to ensure the safety of our visitors and staff. These include:

  • New booking system to help us manage visitor numbers – all visits have to be pre-booked without exception, with a limit of one visit per week, and all documents ordered in advance
  • New document delivery processes to protect visitors and staff, and to ensure that documents are quarantined appropriately
  • One-way systems and capacity controls in frequently used areas
  • Floor markers and temporary signage to help with social distancing
  • Rigorous cleaning during and at the end of each day
  • Easier access to sinks for hand washing and provision of hand sanitiser.

This short video shows what you can expect when you visit.

We are asking everyone booking a visit to agree to a new coronavirus visitor charter, aimed at encouraging all visitors to do their bit to help us ensure everyone’s safety. We will not permit anyone to enter the building who has not pre-booked, so please do not travel if you have not been able to book as we will not be able to let you in. We are open from Tuesday to Friday, between 10:00 and 14:50.

We will initially be able to provide access to our first floor document reading room only – our other facilities will remain closed, including our map and large document reading room, our reference library, our exhibition spaces, our shop, and our cafés. We will also be unable to provide many of our other usual reading room services, including research advice, record copying and access to our computers.

We will continue to provide free downloads of digital records on our website for the time being, as we are initially only able to re-open for a very limited number of researchers. We will keep this, and all of our opening arrangements, under constant review.

Our full Q&A below provides more detailed information about our opening arrangements.

When are you re-opening and what will be available?

We re-opened our doors on Tuesday 21 July to offer a limited service to visitors who need access to our collection of original documents for their research. Visitors must book an appointment to visit our document reading room to consult up to six documents which they have ordered in advance.

We have worked hard to get the appropriate procedures and staffing levels in place for us to ensure everyone’s safety, in line with government guidance on social distancing. As a result, we are currently unable to open our other on site facilities, including our map and large document reading room, our reference library, our exhibition spaces, our shop, and our restaurant and cafés. We will also be unable to provide many of our other usual reading room services, including research advice, record copying and access to our computers.

Appointments are released on a rolling weekly basis every Monday morning. Daily bookings will be available between Tuesday and Friday, when we will be open between 10:00 and 14:50, and your appointment will last for the whole day. We will not permit anyone to enter the building who has not pre-booked a slot, so please do not travel if you have not been able to book as we will not be able to let you in.

What safety measures are in place?

We’re doing all we can to help everyone feel safe when they’re on site, but we need your help too. We ask that all visitors behave responsibly and respect the measures that we have put in place, including:

  • One-way systems and capacity controls in frequently used areas
  • Floor markers and temporary signage to help with social distancing (two metres)
  • Rigorous cleaning during and at the end of each day, including in washrooms
  • Easier access to sinks for hand washing and provision of hand sanitiser.

We will also ask everyone booking a visit to agree to a new coronavirus visitor charter, aimed at encouraging all visitors to do their bit to help us ensure everyone’s safety.

We will review these arrangements regularly to ensure that they continue to meet government guidance.

We confirm we have complied with the government’s guidance on managing the risk of COVID-19.

Why do I have to book in advance?

We are initially only able to re-open our reading rooms for a very limited number of researchers, which is why we have introduced a booking system to help us manage numbers – we will also be asking visitors to book a maximum of one visit per week initially to help us administer demand fairly.

Visits must be booked at least a week in advance, and will be made available two weeks before the date of the visit, on a rolling weekly basis every Monday morning. Each booking is for one person only on a first come, first served basis – you will not be able to bring anyone with you unless they book a visit themselves. Please be considerate of others when you book – we may cancel your booking if you try to book more than one visit per week.

Booking in advance will also help ensure that we have sufficient time to quarantine documents before and after they have been handled by others. You will be able to order up to six documents when you book your visit, and will be able to suggest a smaller list of alternative documents if any of your first choice are unavailable, for example if they are being used by another visitor or if they are in quarantine if another visitor has seen them within the previous 72 hours. We will let you know before you arrive whether any of the documents that you have ordered are likely to be unavailable for this reason.

We are able to offer a small number of camera stands for use in the reading rooms – these must also be booked in advance.

If you book a visit and are delayed or unable to attend, please contact us as far in advance as possible using the Live Chat service on our website.

Why are you only opening the first floor document reading room?

We have decided to prioritise providing access to original documents that have not been digitised, as we appreciate that many researchers’ studies have been delayed by our closure. Our document reading room is large enough for us to accommodate a certain number of researchers and ensure that distancing measures are in place for both visitors and staff; unfortunately other areas, including our map and large document reading room, present more challenges in keeping people safe, and will therefore remain closed for now.

We may be able to supply some maps and large documents to the document reading room, but will only be able to decide this on a case by case basis. We will let you know before you arrive whether any of the documents that you have ordered will be unavailable for this reason.

Should I wear a face covering or gloves?

We are not asking visitors to wear face coverings, although if you are travelling to us on public transport you must follow the law and wear a face covering. You will of course be welcome to keep your face covering on while in the building, as long as you also continue to follow our other safety measures.

We will not allow gloves to be worn in our reading rooms, unless you are handling photographs, in line with long-standing guidance relating to the preservation of our collection. All visitors will be asked to wash their hands thoroughly before and after their visit to the reading rooms.

Some of our staff (for example, our document services staff and security officers) are likely to be wearing face shields and other protective equipment.

Are you quarantining documents after they’ve been handled?

Yes. All documents will have to be ordered in advance, at the point of pre-booking a reading room visit. Documents will be delivered to you on a trolley (rather than in our normal document lockers), so that we can minimise human contact before it reaches you. When you have finished looking at your documents, we will quarantine them for a period of time before returning them to our repositories.

If another visitor has already seen a document that you have requested within a certain amount of time before your visit, we will be unable to provide you with access to that document – for this reason, we are suggesting that visitors suggest a number of alternative documents that can be supplied if available.

Will I be able to use the lockers?

A limited number of our ground floor lockers will be available for visitors to use, to ensure sufficient distancing in the locker area. These lockers will be thoroughly cleaned at the end of each day. We’ll also be carefully managing how visitors and staff move in and out of this area, so please try to minimise your return visits to your locker as much as possible.

Will I be able to use the toilets and washrooms when I visit?

Yes – although we have limited the availability of the toilets and washrooms to make it easier for us to keep them clean to a high standard, a number of our public toilets will be open, including our accessible toilets.

Will I need a reader’s ticket to visit?

Yes, but we can make arrangements to renew expired readers’ tickets or issue new ones if you do not have a current reader’s ticket.

When you book your visit, you will be asked if you have a current reader’s ticket. If you do, please enter the number when you book. If you do not, there is an option for this on the booking form – on selecting that option you will receive a link within your confirmation email which will allow you to register for your ticket. You will need to register to renew expired tickets as well as apply for a new one. Registration will need to be completed within 24 hours of your booking. You will then need to bring appropriate forms of identification to complete your registration on the day.

Can I leave during the day and return later?

Yes, you will be allowed to leave the building/site to get refreshments, although this will obviously reduce your research time. We’d encourage visitors to bring their own refreshments, where possible.

Will I be able to get a cup of tea/coffee or lunch?

Although we are not serving any food or drink, we will make a number of tables and chairs available for visitors to use in our restaurant, which has been rearranged to allow sufficient distance from other visitors. You will also be able to use the picnic furniture in our gardens, which remain open and accessible to all. Please be mindful of other visitors and staff, and dispose of your rubbish responsibly.

Will I be able to get help with my research?

We will of course do all we can to help you with practical advice during your visit, but we will not be able to offer any research advice in person in the reading rooms. The computers in the reading rooms will not be available, although we will continue to provide free wifi for visitors. Our email and Live Chat enquiry services will remain available on our website, and we would recommend that you use them to plan your research before you visit. We are currently unable to respond to phone enquiries.

Will the car park be open?

Yes, our car park will be available and free of charge to visitors who have pre-booked their reading room visit. We’d encourage all visitors to follow government guidance and avoid public transport as far as possible, preferably walking or cycling to The National Archives.

If you have to use public transport to reach us, please check the government guidance for the latest advice and updates on using the tube, bus and train network safely.

Will arrangements for disabled visitors change?

We have worked hard to ensure that our safety measures and new arrangements do not discriminate against any of our visitors. If you need someone to accompany when you visit, they will also have to book a visit. If you have any other special requirements, please let us know when you make your booking.

Will digital records still be free to download from your website when you re-open?

Yes, we will continue to provide free downloads of our digital collection for the time being, as we are initially only able to reopen our reading rooms for a very limited number of researchers. We will continue to review this regularly.

Will I be able to use the computers in the reading rooms?

Our computers, used by many visitors to access digitised collections on our website and those of our partners, will not be available when we re-open due to the challenges of keeping them clean and safe for everyone. You will however be able to use your own device to connect to our free wifi.

Will I be able to order documents held off site (at Deepstore)?

No, we will initially only be able to provide access to documents held in our repositories on site – we will continue to review this arrangement though.

When will record copying/other suspended services resume?

We are currently unable to resume our paid search and record copying services (with the exception of certified HO 334 naturalisation certificates), but will continue to review the situation as more of our staff return to the building.

Other services, including online reader’s ticket requests, paid search, library book reservations and our online shop, remain suspended.

When will events/education visits/behind the scenes tours etc. resume on site?

We’ve suspended all of our on site events, including school visits and tours, until further notice, but we’ll continue to review the situation and plan to restart them when we are confident that we can deliver them safely.

In the meantime we are providing a wide variety of education and learning resources free of charge on our website, along with a full online events programme. Our social media channels offer behind the scenes glimpses of our collection, including a curator-led tour of last year’s Cold War exhibition.

Why are you collecting information about my visit?

We will keep a secure temporary record of your visit for 21 days, after which it will be destroyed – during this time your information may be shared with the NHS test and trace service if necessary, for example if a visitor on the same day as you tests positive. We are doing this to help reduce the risk of a local outbreak of coronavirus and in line with government guidance, as we want to do everything we can to protect our staff, visitors and the wider community.

Can I still submit a Freedom of Information (FOI) request?

We have continued to accept FOI requests, but – depending on the nature of the enquiry – our response may be delayed, as staff access to the collection is currently limited.

To ensure that we have the appropriate procedures in place for us to follow government guidelines on social distancing for our staff (as well as visitors), access to the physical records to carry out this work will continue to be restricted, and on site staffing levels for our FOI Centre will be at approximately 25% of our previous capability.  Since our closure in mid-March, the FOI Centre has developed revised ways of working remotely, to ensure that FOI requests are progressed as quickly as possible.

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has published a statement about how coronavirus is impacting the FOI process, which you may find useful.

If you would still like to submit a request, please use our corporate FOI enquiry form. If your enquiry relates to a document in our collection, please ensure that you include the catalogue reference(s).

How long will it be before I can see a newly opened record, or order a copy of it?

In line with government guidance, there are currently restrictions on the number of visitors that can visit The National Archives site at any one time in order to view records in person.

Once the record is open on Discovery, you can book a visit to view the record, which you will have to order when you book.

Newly released material will only be available to view in our reading room, as our record copying service remains suspended until further notice.

Can I get a digital copy of the information released through my FOI request?

Not at this time; we are still working out ways to increase access to our collections. At this time with restrictions on staff numbers we are not yet able to offer all of our previous services.

Channel website: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/

Original article link: https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/about/news/coronavirus-update/

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