Archives Service Newsletter No.83 Spring/Summer 2010

In this issue:

Archive Courses

Find out more about the Archives - join us for one of our popular courses| later this year! We cover such diverse topics as genealogy, tracing records of a property, military history, records of crime & punishment, law & order, the archives of the overseers and Poor Law Unions, how archives are preserved and stored, and how to interpret handwriting on old documents.

Weighty Issues

Dr Deborah Oxley & Dr David Meredith of  All Souls College and History Faculty, University of Oxford, explain how they used the archives here to further their research into health in the 19th and early 20th Centuries|

East of England Archivists meet at Bedford

Beds and Luton Archives & Records Service recently hosted a meeting of Society of Archivists members from the East Of England region|.

Survey Results

The main reason we store, catalogue, conserve and index these records is of course so people can use them and access them, either by visiting our public searchroom or by contacting us from all over the world and commissioning copies or research! We like to make sure we are doing well and, in addition to our consistent attainment of Charter Mark standards for quality of customer service over the last 15 years , we also take part in national surveys and organise our own. In June 2009 we took part in a visitor survey| organised by the Public Services Quality Group and surveyed the first 200 of our visitors that month (a small percentage of the 3,500+ annual visitors to the Archives Service searchroom). The full results from were received from PSQG in Jan 2010.

Some highlights include the following percentages of ‘Very Good' ratings: Customer care 91% ; Quality of advice given by staff 86%; Document delivery 88%; Service Overall 79%; Copy Services 65%; Advance Information 62%; Quality of finding aids 54%; Microfilm & fiche viewing facilities 55%; Website 50%. The survey also showed that the service attracts visitors to the local area. Three quarters of visitors spent longer than 3 hours in the searchroom. Over 60% our visitors used local shops and services and chose to eat out locally. Whilst most - 59% - visited the area for a day,  a considerable number - 37% - stayed in the area for up to a week. Two thirds of visitors had looked at the website prior to their visit, and the number of 'first time' visitors rose from 36% in 2008 to 45% in 2009. The primary purpose for most visitors to the archive was leisure/recreational, but more visitors - 44% - were here for functional/business purposes than in 2008 (33%).

How did visitors feel they benefited from using the Service? The following percentages strongly agreed or agreed that BLARS: provides an opportunity for learning 98%; helps preserve our culture and heritage 100%; strengthens family/community identity  90%; supports business and administrative activity 62.5%; supports our rights as citizens 67% .

In addition to visitors to the searchroom, we also deal annually with c.2,500+ enquiries from ‘remote’ users—23.5% of enquiries came from people in Bedfordshire, 51% from people elsewhere in the UK and over a quarter - 25.5% -  from overseas. During winter 2008—Spring 2009 we conducted a survey| of those who contacted us by e-mail, to which we had 216 responses. Again the results were very positive, with over 96% rating the enquiry service as excellent or good.

This newsletter is edited by Susan Edwards| who welcomes ideas and material for future issues. Published by Bedfordshire & Luton Archives and Records Service, Riverside Building, Borough Hall, Bedford, MK42 9AP. Tel: (01234) 228833; fax: (01234) 228854 |