NARA open?

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Lupo Solitario
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NARA open?

#1

Post by Lupo Solitario » 21 Apr 2021, 17:12

Do you have any idea about when it will be possible purchase NARA materials again?

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Re: NARA open?

#2

Post by OpanaPointer » 21 Apr 2021, 17:53

Come visit our sites:
hyperwarHyperwar
World War II Resources

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tzt4
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Re: NARA open?

#3

Post by tzt4 » 21 Apr 2021, 18:05

No, everyone has to watch their status page about their specific locations in the US.

NARA College Park’s page still says closed:

https://www.archives.gov/college-park

Also, on this general page:
https://www.archives.gov/coronavirus

1/2 way down is a section called “Agency Memoranda for Employees”. If you expand the [ + ], the memos about certain buildings opening or closing are listed here. A new memo every 1-2 weeks. This will be an indirect indication since this is just about letting the employees return, not the public, including contractor-for-hire researchers.

Unfortunately the state of Maryland seems to be slower than average in getting enough people vaccinated and virus infection cases down so they can meet the reopening guidelines.

Tom

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Re: NARA open?

#4

Post by smetanin albert » 22 Apr 2021, 07:12

Good news from NARA:

"Separately, NARA has allowed some federal employees to return to work full-time in NARA and this is seen as a major step towards reopening."
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Lupo Solitario
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Re: NARA open?

#5

Post by Lupo Solitario » 23 Apr 2021, 17:26

is it possibile order material on line?

steve248
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Re: NARA open?

#6

Post by steve248 » 29 Jun 2021, 09:39

US National Archives, College Park, still closed to researchers.

UK National Archives, Kew, open to researchers.
Free download of digitized files has closed - back to paying for them.
But if you personally visit UK NA Kew you can download digitized files for free.

dterrier
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Re: NARA open?

#7

Post by dterrier » 09 Jul 2021, 09:01

NARA is open

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hucks216
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Re: NARA open?

#8

Post by hucks216 » 09 Jul 2021, 11:14

steve248 wrote:
29 Jun 2021, 09:39

UK National Archives, Kew, open to researchers.
Free download of digitized files has closed - back to paying for them.
But if you personally visit UK NA Kew you can download digitized files for free.
Free downloads via the Kew website are still ongoing and still limited to 100 files in a 30 day period. I have just downloaded a couple of files to check.

tzt4
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Re: NARA open?

#9

Post by tzt4 » 09 Jul 2021, 12:50

Not College Park which holds most WW2 records. “ NARA is not currently accepting public researcher requests for access to the facility during this initial pilot. ”
https://www.archives.gov/college-park

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Re: NARA open?

#10

Post by MLW » 09 Jul 2021, 17:19

Do not expect NARA II in College Park to re-open and have reasonable access for public researcher any time soon. The re-opening process will be slow, methodical, and will significantly limit access to records and available spaces for researchers.

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askropp
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Re: NARA open?

#11

Post by askropp » 04 Sep 2021, 23:48

It is totally understandable that NARA is currently not open to the public, but I don't understand why they suspended digitalizing records again so soon after restarting this important work. I would assume that the staff is vaccinated and they should even be able to work on their computers or in the magazines without direct contact to their co-workers. I have a cousin who is a Beamter in a German Landeshauptarchiv, and they have been doing just that since the beginning of the CoVid-19 pandemic. :(
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Re: NARA open?

#12

Post by MLW » 25 Sep 2021, 23:59

The reason NARA closed for a second time is that a least one employee contracted COVID while working in the archives building. The digitization program is run by a contractor. If there are no government employees on site to oversee the contractor, then the contractor cannot enter the building. My guess is that soon the digitization program will have been suspended for two years. That means to restart the program an new contract may be required, new people hired and trained, and so on.

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Re: NARA open?

#13

Post by smetanin albert » 07 Mar 2022, 17:43

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askropp
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Re: NARA open?

#14

Post by askropp » 24 Aug 2022, 11:53

My NARA order is on "Servicing" status since July 2021. Is there anybody who has received orders since then? I would like to make sure that the order has not been lost / forgotten in the system during Covid. If the queue is really that long, I wonder how they will ever make good the delay. If they are really digitalizing records so fast, maybe the documents will be available online before the order has been completed.
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Re: NARA open?

#15

Post by Mori » 24 Aug 2022, 14:14

I know of orders made in March 2020 - that is, 2 weeks before shutdown - which were served in June 2022, two months ago.

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