[We are grateful to Mitch Fraas for forwarding this letter from David Ferriero, Archivist of the United States. DRE]
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| National Archives, 1939 (LC) |
Dear Researchers:
It seems like so long ago since we last saw you in our research rooms.
We miss
seeing you and helping you with your research.
The National Archives is committed to the health and safety of our staff,
volunteers and the public. With the closure of our facilities, we have adjusted our
operations to balance the need to conduct our mission-critical work while also
adhering to safety guidelines from the federal government. National Archives staff
has continued to serve the public by responding to as many inquiries as possible
while working remotely.
Many of our services are available online:
• The National Archives Catalog contains archival descriptions of our holdings
and is the online portal to our digital records.
• National Archives staff is responding to reference questions or requests for
records sent to inquire@nara.gov and to specific units’ email addresses.
• Researchers can ask—or answer—research questions on History Hub, a
crowdsourced history research platform sponsored by the National
Archives. Researchers can also search History Hub to see if a question
has already been asked and answered.
• Members of the public can explore our online resources by visiting
http://www.archives.gov and viewing our online exhibits.
• Teachers and parents can use our educational resources.
• Everyone can help the whole community by volunteering in our Citizen
Archivist Missions.
• The National Archives’ Presidential Libraries and Museums web site
includes online education resources, virtual programs and exhibits, and
information on conducting remote research at the 14 Libraries.
We have also been using this time to undertake projects that will have long-term
benefits for public access.
2
National Archives staff has been working remotely to create and update finding
aid data to enhance your research. Since March 16, we have added 234,139
archival descriptions and 6,477,642 digitized pages to the National Archives
Catalog. Staff has also been tagging and transcribing records in the Catalog.
Transcribing records, especially hand-written documents, makes these records
easier to find.
Since March, the number of available tags and transcriptions in the
Catalog has tripled.
The Catalog now provides over 115 million digital copies of our holdings and we
continue to add more every day. Sign up for our Catalog Newsletter to find out
about new additions to the Catalog and projects that you can do with us. Check
out our popular Record Group Explorer, a finding aid that provides visualizations
of the data in our Catalog and provides simple paths into the records.
The work we are currently doing better positions us to make access happen while
at the same time helping to keep you and our staff safe. Nevertheless, we
understand that our remote services are not a substitute for being physically in
the research room. We know you are anxious to return, and we are too.
At this point, we
cannot tell
you when that
will be possible.
We are working
diligently on our
plans for the
gradual
reopening of our
facilities across
the country, in
consultation
with our
colleagues at
the Library of
Congress and
the Smithsonian.
The reopening
plans will be
based on
guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Office of
Personnel Management, and the Office of Management and Budget, as well as
information from subject matter experts from within and outside of the federal
government. The reopening of each research room will occur based on our
assessment of local conditions against a set of established criteria.
We
are also looking at how we can promote the safety, health, and
well-being of
our staff, volunteers, and the public when we do reopen our facilities
for research.
This will mean changes to promote social distancing, changes to cleaning
procedures for shared spaces and equipment, and some process changes. We
will
communicate with you about these changes as we get closer to reopening.
After
we reopen, we will provide opportunities for you to engage with us as we
work to
improve the researcher experience while also keeping everyone safe.
Thank you for your patience as we carry out our mission during this
unprecedented time. We send our best wishes for your good health and
wellbeing, and we look forward to the day when we can welcome you back
to our
facilities.
Sincerely,
David S. Ferriero
