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General => The Common Room => Topic started by: ghallen on Thursday 12 January 23 17:10 GMT (UK)
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I am slowly working my way up to being able to try and visit a local archive (I'm agoraphobic but trying to find ways to get myself out of the house).
I was wondering if anyone would be able to tell me what to expect please? I need to know what I should be doing when I get there.
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Have you an archive in mind as someone that has visited may be able to give you advice on that particular one.
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I am assuming that you wish to visit your local Archive :-\ I think that your best start to this wonderful adventure is to look at their website, which will give you a lot of information on the records that they hold and also some idea of what is expected of visitors. Then perhaps draw up a list of what you want to look at. Most archive staff are helpful and knowledgeable, and I am sure they will be willing to point you in the right direction.
Enjoy! ;D ;D
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I was looking at visiting this one https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/a/A13532041
I have had a look at the records and have a few in mind but I'm worried I'll do something wrong
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I've always found the staff at the National Archives to be very helpful and they will always point you in the right direction. Enjoy!
Oops, I haven't visited Cumbria, but I'm sure the staff will be just as helpful. :-[
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You'll need a Readers Card - an Archives Card.
See: https://www.cumbria.gov.uk/archives/archivecentres/archivescards.asp
Details about Barrow: https://www.cumbria.gov.uk/archives/archivecentres/balsc.asp
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I can tell you what it is like from my own experience. Albeit things are a bit different now from pre-covid times.
The archives I go to is in a museum. We now have to wait at the outer door of the archives as an archives staff member now has to escort visitors in and out of the 'searchroom'.
Once in the archives room each visitor is given a locker to store their things; coat, bag etc. Pens are not allowed but you can use a pencil, and your own notepad/paper. I usually keep my Kindle with me too.
Each person has their own table and their own microfilm reader if this has been requested in advance. On the table is the items which have been pre-ordered before the visit. If you don't know how to use the microfilm reader the staff will show you how. Let the staff know if you are a first time visitor and they will no doubt guide you regarding where to find things.
I generally find that once people are settled into their own research a kind of excited hush descends and you almost feel oblivious to everyone else as you lose yourself in the past. I find that time seems to go very fast when you are in an archives so prioritise what you want to see.
I felt a little daunted about visiting the first time I went but I needn't have been as it not hard to pick things up and the staff are helpful.
I think if you wanted, you could let the staff know about your agoraphobia and discuss things which might make the visit better for you. Such as might it feel better for you to sit nearer to the door, etc?
I hope one day soon you will feel able to go. It is a very exciting and wonderful experience; do try to take the opportunity to go when you feel ready.
I wish you every success with this. :)
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Become familiar with the Archive website, they are vastly different from searching using the likes of Ancestry so familiarity is a key.
Make a list in your Notebook of what you want to find, do use the Archive database to help compile your list, if you have the references all the better.
See if they have any In Person Tutorials planned and book into one of them.
Now the scary part, if there is a Family History Society in your town join them. They will have special access to the Archives. I have been into ours, on a behind the scenes tour.
When you go to the Archive take ID:- photo driving license, Passport, utility bills, bank statement, Council Tax. Take all these and get a reader ticket, do note that Photo ID is probably a Must Have)
You will find that you cannot take bags into the Archive, just a notebook and pencils (pens are not allowed in my local County Archive) and tablet or laptop. If you want to take a photo if it is allowed there will probably be a fee.
Good luck
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I have visited numerous archives and in the main I found them very helpful, my first one was in Chancery Lane near Holborn
If you are concerned either email them or ring them and explain your problems and I am sure they will help you, yes, first visits can be overwhelming as you don't know where to look next but you soon will, don't worry
LM
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The best piece of advice I can give you is WEAR YOUR SUNFLOWER LANYARD and on arrival, draw attention to it - explain to a staff memeber what your hidden disability is, what issues it might cause you and any special consideration you would appreciate. They are likely to be only too willing to assist in any way they can.
Other things to expect:
* some archives have special little cushions or mats that you place on the table, and they expect you to rest all delicate and fragile documents on these. Bear in mind that the documents they are allowing you to access may be very old, and all are irreplaceable. The archivists are keenly aware that every time they are handled they suffer a little more damage. This damage is incremental and irreversible; but they are charged with trying to make sure that the documents remain available for future generations of researchers in 100, 200, 300 years time. Any rules and regulations are to try to ensure that this is possible, so please do your best to comply.
* old books, particularly leather bound volumes, can be stiff and difficult to keep open at the pages you are consulting. They often have strings of weighted beads which you can lay on the ends of the pages to hold the book open at the right page. Make it your practice ALWAYS to use them.
* it can be difficult to keep your place in a manuscript volume consisting of lists of names etc. and it is very tempting to run your finger along or down the page. Resist this temptation. A large sheet of paper (coloured if you like) can be laid over the page as a mask, and gradually pulled down as you read. This does far less damage than finger oils.
* in some archives that I have visisted, large blocks of the records you are likely to want to access (such as parish records) were microfilmed in the 1970s and 80s, and rather than provide you with the volume you will be expected to view it on a microfiche reader. Using these is quite an art, and you may take a while to get the hang of it.
* most archives have some volumes that are on open shelves that you can just go and pull out for yourself, and others that you have to request by filling in a request slip and they will go and fetch it for you. Do not feel diffdent about making requests and "creating work for them" ... this is the work that they are paid for, and they are happy to do it for you. Make sure you check the arrangements first though, and find out how many you can request at once, how many volumes you can have in your possession at one time, and how and where to return volumes once you have finished with them. Perhaps ask them to show you how to fill in a slip (they'll be happy to do this), and also ask whether they expect you to return open-access volumes to them for re-shelving, or to re-shelve them yourself (again, practice differs from archive to archive)
* Finally, remember that you are dealing with people who are experts in reading old documents. It is their area of expertise, their passion, and like most people they love sharing their knowledge and learning. If you are having difficulty reading an old manuscript entry, don't hesitate to ask them to have a look and see what they make of it. That shows them that you value them as something other than glorified librarians (not that there's anything wrong with being a librarian ... it's a highly skilled job in itself ... but you see what I mean).
I think it's absolutely marvellous that you're biting this particular bullet, and wish you the very best.
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Many thanks to you all for your fantastic advice
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Lots of excellent advice on here. I would second what has already been remarked on: that time seems to fly by, so don’t expect to get too much done in one visit. I find in my local record office that the time from beginning searching for a document in a catalogue or card index to getting an item delivered to the search room can be pretty lengthy. The other thing I find is that I pretty quickly begin to feel a bit “punch drunk”. On the positive side, it is an amazing feeling to handle a parish register which an ancestor has written in 400 years ago (though this was some years ago, and since FindMyPast now has the images online I don’t think I’d get hold of the original). Plenty of things though are still not digitised, estate maps and tithe maps, for example, and can still be handled.
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Good luck - you will be so happy that you took this step; I would just pop a final little bit of advice in. If you ring the archive ask them which day / time is busiest so that you can avoid it.... I find mornings are quieter than afternoons at both our local archives and the staff have more time to help although they are happy to help at anytime.
Nesta