US German Military Studies

[MLW]

New Hours at NARA

Here is good news for researchers:

NARA will restore evening and weekend hours in the archival research rooms in the National Archives at College Park. Effective April 14, 2008, extended hours will be 9 A.M. to 9 P.M. Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, and 9 A.M. to 5 P.M. Saturday. Hours on Monday and Tuesday will continue to be 9 A.M. to 5 P.M.

See you in the microfilm section!

Cheers,
Marc
www.maginotlineatwar.com

[Larry deZeng]

They must have gotten a barrage of complaints from researchers, organizations, congressmen and senators after they went to the curtailed hours schedule last year (or was it October 2006?). So this is good news, indeed!

--Larry

[MJC]

While I agree with Marc that the restoration of later hours is a great benefit, the unspoken subtext is that while a very large number of professional historians and archivists were let go when the hours were curtailed, the new hires that are being added to staff are neither historians nor archivists. They will be staffers with no education or training specific to the job. Much cheaper and the only way the NA could satisfy the Congressional mandate under the imposed budgetary constraint.

This is great for Marc, great for me, and great for anybody else who can be there on site, but of no benefit for anybody else.

Mike

[MLW]

Mike - you are ever the optimist! It is true that the most experienced archivists are approaching retirement or may have even moved up into the hierarchy away from contact with the public. But, what the heck, in today's world, if CNN and Fox can pass for news, then anyone can pass for an archivist!

Seriously, the lack of archivist knowledge or availability at the archives turns many endeavors into an exercise in trial and error with a dash of frustration. Anyone going to NARA is forewarned to plan on spending lots of time - and that is what NARA is going to give us.

Marc