Changes to our public searchroom
Following our participation in the ARA Customer Survey, we have listened to what you have said about changes you would appreciate to our archives and local studies services.
From Tuesday 31 January, all our customer appointments will be based out of one single searchroom.
This will allow us to make 2 significant improvements to the service we offer the public, based on your feedback.
Our searchroom will remain open over lunch
You said: 'Can the searchroom remain open over lunch?'
We did: We have rearranged our service to remain open over the lunch period on each of our open days, allowing customer to spend longer with us per appointment.
Access to extra documents on the day of your visit
You said: 'Would it be possible to request further documents on the day of my visit, in addition to what I have ordered in advance?'
We did: Our new arrangements will allow us to offer on-the-day productions of up to 3 items per day, per customer. This means that customers can expand the scope of their research and explore new avenues of enquiry without having to book a new appointment.
Other feedback
The survey also found that:
- 93% of respondents rated the Archives either 8, 9 or 10 out of 10 overall
- 90% rated the availability of staff a 10/10
- 94% rated the attitude of our staff a 10/10
- 93% rated the quality of our staff’s advice a 10/10
As a service we would like to thank all those who took part in this survey, helping us to improve the service we offer to the community.
We also promise to continue to listen to what you have to say about us, and to remain committed to continual improvements to our archives and local studies services.
View some quotes from responses to our survey:
"I've spent a lot of time in UK archives. Even though this is a small facility this is one of the friendliest and most helpful archives I've visited."
"I've been a few times now, and it has always been a good experience."
"Very helpful staff. A comfortable place to do research. "