TGS


Increased reading room capacity, services and opening hours

We are pleased to confirm that we are making some changes to benefit visitors to our reading rooms, in response to visitor feedback and in line with changes to government coronavirus restrictions.

Effective immediately:

We are doubling the number of bulk document orders available each day (two consecutive day visits, for visitors wishing to research between 20 and 40 documents from the same catalogue series)

From Tuesday 18 May:

We are extending our reading room opening hours, giving visitors more time to research documents. The opening hours will be 09:30 to 15:30 We are re-opening our café from Tuesdays to Fridays, offering food and drink to visitors who have booked their visit in advance We are increasing the number of visits that visitors can book in a rolling four-week period (up to three visits of any type, standard or bulk)

We will keep all of our arrangements under regular review, in line with changes to government coronavirus restrictions.

Booking a visit

Our reading rooms are now open to pre-booked visitors. You must book a visit to view our documents.

All visitors must continue to book their visit and order their documents in advance. This helps us to maintain the safety measures that remain in place to help us follow government guidelines, including document quarantine and social distancing.

Our booking service offers four weeks’ availability on a rolling basis, with new dates added daily.

Our reading room services

Our reading room services include:

Over 100 reading room places per day, five days a week (Tuesday to Saturday, 09:30-15:30). 12 documents per day limit, plus three reserve documents in case of unavailability, or between 20 and 40 documents from the same catalogue series if booking a bulk document order visit. Visits of two consecutive days will be available for visitors wishing to research bulk document orders (between 20 and 40 documents from the same catalogue series). Supplementary research resources, including finding aids, microfilm/fiche and library materials, available to pre-order (currently excludes National Register of Archives lists). Staffed enquiry desks and access to computers for visitors using the reading rooms. Limited opening of our shop (12:00-15:30) for visitors using the reading rooms. Status of our other public services

The status of our other public services is as follows:

Our record copying service is now open for orders. We open online for new orders at 09:00 every weekday (excluding bank holidays), and close when we reach our capacity for the day. Current demand for record copying services is exceptionally high, and we are working hard to ensure we maintain a high standard of service while accommodating as many orders as possible. Our paid search service is also open. Access to digital records on our website remains free of charge, as our reading room services are limited. Our exhibition spaces remain closed, with exhibition content available online. Our events programme remains online, with a full range of talks, webinars and family activities. Our education programme remains online. Our Freedom of Information (FOI) service is operational, but – depending on the nature of the enquiry – our response may be delayed as access to the collection remains limited, due to the safety measures in place.

The post Increased reading room capacity, services and opening hours appeared first on The National Archives.

http://livelb.nationalarchives.gov.uk/about/news/coronavirus-update/

seen at 18:49, 12 May in News – The National Archives.
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