Hello! My name is Chris Naylor, and I am the Executive for Research Services
at the National Archives and Records Administration.
Research Services staff across the United States provide world class services
to researchers wanting to access the permanent records of federal agencies
and the courts at the National Archives, and preserve archival holdings
for the benefit of future generations.
We make these records available in our research rooms at 14 locations nationwide.
The National Archives also provides free online access to records
in our holdings that have been digitized or were created electronically.
Today we’re going to show you a few examples of
how we respond to researcher inquiries and facilitate onsite research,
featuring our facilities in College Park, Maryland, and Denver, Colorado.
I hope this overview helps you gain a better understanding of how we
provide access to our holdings and encourages you to contact us
with your researcher inquiry. We look forward to hearing from you soon.
[silence]
>> Welcome to the National Archives at College Park.
Also known as Archives 2.
We are one of the fourteen Research Services locations previously referenced.
Archives 2 is home to three archival units for federal records.
The A2 Textual Records Division,
The Electronic Records Division,
and the Special Media Records Division.
Which includes Cartographic, Moving Image and Sound, and Still Picture Holdings.
Today we are pleased to describe a typical research experience
within the textual research room at Archives 2.
To begin, we highly recommend contacting the textual reference branch
well in advance of your visit.
A reference consultant can offer recommendations
on your research strategies and relevant records
and, increasingly, reference consultants can direct researchers to
the National Archives Catalog for digitized content
that can be accessed from anywhere with an internet connection.
Let's take Navy Deck Logs for example.
Navy Deck Logs are among our most requested records.
These important documents provide a chronological account
of notable events occurring in and around a ship.
Some deck logs are available in the National Archives Catalog.
And some must be viewed in our research room here in College Park
because they are not yet digitized and available in the catalog.
The Textual Records Division at the National Archives in College Park
maintains U.S. Navy Deck Logs form World War II and forward.
Navy reference consultants will determine if the logs for the requested ship
and dates are available on line and will provide directions on
how to view that digitized content.
For deck logs not yet in the catalog, Navy reference consultants will
provide information on how to schedule a visit to our research room.
In this case the Navy consultant will respond with information
on how to pull the specific records.
The consultant will also provide information on completing
the researcher orientation on line,
as well as booking an appointment via EventBrite.com
When a researcher arrives at Archives 2
they will first be directed through the security checkpoint
and then to the researcher registration
if they are a first-time researcher.
They will complete the registration process by presenting
a government issued ID, having their photo taken,
and receiving their researcher ID card.
They are now ready to enter the research complex.
Researchers are encouraged to start on the third floor
in Reference Consultation and Library Services.
Here they can speak to a consultant for assistance with their research topic
and with completing pull slips.
Our researcher today will work with a Navy consultant
to identify the specific boxes to pull
and also learn the information required to submit a pull slip.
Pull slips must be signed by a reference consultant before
they are submitted in a textual research room on the second floor.
When the cart of records is ready the researcher's pull information
will be displayed on our digital pull log.
Researchers receive their records at the circulation desk
and take their cart of records to their research table.
When working with the records, researchers should follow the
research room rules they learned in orientation.
Research room staff are available to answer questions
and may offer reminders on how to safely handle records.
Our researcher located the deck logs they requested
and spent a few hours reading about the ship's operations
during that time.
The National Archives is proud to make access happen
for permanently valuable records like the Navy deck logs.
Our holdings consist of millions of cubic feet of records
across Research Services.
[silence]
>> Here at the National Archives at Denver, we are preparing for researchers as well.
We are one of 12 locations outside of the Washington, DC area
that provide access to millions of cubic feet of records
created by U.S. Government field and regional offices.
The records we hold were created by offices located outside the DC Area.
Each year, field units of the National Archives receive thousands of inquiries.
One of those researchers contacted us after finding information
about their research topic in the National Archives Catalog.
Each entry in our catalog lists which National Archives location holds the records
and includes contact information for them.
The researcher sent an email to the general reference email account listed
in the catalog description and asked us what else we had.
They are researching the history of Smokey Bear –
the iconic symbol used by the U.S. Forest Service
in their public service campaign for fire prevention.
Just like College Park, when we receive an inquiry,
a staff member is assigned to locate the records requested,
contact the researcher for more information about their research
and, if necessary, assist the researcher in scheduling an appointment
to research in person.
This researcher was very excited, after consulting with our archivist,
to learn that we held even more about Smokey Bear
in the Records of the U.S. Forest Service’s Rocky Mountain Region
and Lincoln National Forest in New Mexico,
where the first Smokey Bear was found following a fire.
National Archives units work closely together,
and will often let researchers know of the availability of
related materials at other locations.
In this case, the archivist referred the researcher
to the National Archives at Riverside,
whose records of the Cleveland National Forest
include this great image of Smokey with Woodsy Owl.
Following the consultation, the researcher and the archivist
set up an appointment time to view the records in the research room.
Meanwhile, the researcher started the registration process online.
They also completed the researcher orientation,
which is designed to help them prepare by learning about
what to expect during their visit to the National Archives.
But we were preparing, too! In advance of the appointment,
the archivist pulled the records
discussed during the consultation from our stacks.
The National Archives documents each pull on pull slips
to ensure that the records will be accurately refiled.
Once the records are pulled, the archivist will place them on a cart
to ensure an easy move to the research room.
Due to the volume of pulls in field locations,
researchers work directly with staff to request pulls,
it is one of the differences between researching in the field and at Archives 2.
Upon arriving at the National Archives at Denver
we ask researchers to put away items
that are not allowed in the research room.
These are discussed in the researcher orientation,
so this researcher knew they would not be allowed to take coats,
hats or bags into the research room.
We provide lockers for visitors to store their belongings
before entering the research room.
Once belongings were stored, the researcher was ready to research!
The research room is easily accessible from our main entrance.
The researcher checked in with the research room staff.
There are always staff available in the research rooms at the National Archives.
Their job is to assist researchers in getting set up,
answer questions about records handling
and monitor the researcher’s use of our holdings.
When the researcher was all checked in and ready to go,
the archivist brought in the records and greeted the researcher.
The researcher is responsible for checking the records out
by signing the pull slips used to retrieve them from the stacks.
Then the archivist demonstrated basic handling rules for their visit:
Use only one box at a time,
pull out only one folder at a time (marking its original location),
and turn each page, one at a time.
Research room staff is there to answer any questions
that may come up during the researcher’s visit about handling,
or to contact the archivist if the researcher wants to discuss pulling other records.
Now, it is time for the researcher to go to work,
discovering and learning about the history of Smokey Bear
from the Forest Service’s view,
one page at a time.