Changes at the National Archives

I think Alan Crosby is being harsh about the National Archives (TNA) supposed bias toward family historians.

All statistics show that family historians comprise by far the biggest group of users of archives. We have appreciated greatly the investment made in our genealogical researches by archives and record offices whether in providing greater access to records by digitization or the huge amount of knowledge and expertise that archivist have.

However, I must point out that much of this digitization has actually been paid for by the customers who use these records in the comfort of their own homes and who subscribe to the relevant sites.

There are now far more people researching at home than who visit archives in person. More documents are delivered online than in the record office. Public/Private finance initiatives and lottery grant funding has brought in huge amounts of money to TNA and other record offices over the last few years and this revenue will continue to be important in these cost cutting times.

The Society of Genealogists has some sympathy with the problems TNA is facing. After all we too have recently had to make redundancies and cut opening hours to suite our financial circumstances.

My greatest fear, however, is that the cost cutting will lose a huge amount of experience and knowledge within a world class institution. And this is going to happen in all record offices around the country if the government carries out its proposals to merge archives into regional centres as cited in its paper the Archives in the 21st Century. Read more about the proposals outlined at the TNA public meeting here.

By all means suggest ways to help TNA make the most of its reduced resources. But you may find that serving their largest group of customers at home make it easier for TNA to provide the resources it needs to serve all its constituent readers.

Else Churchill, Society of Genealogists

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