National Archives - Kew Tips?

Discussion in 'Research Material' started by von Poop, Oct 2, 2008.

  1. PsyWar.Org

    PsyWar.Org Archive monkey

    But if he had RAID it, it would of saved a lot of grief.
     
  2. idler

    idler GeneralList

    No, sorry; that one deserves to crash and burn!
     
  3. PsyWar.Org

    PsyWar.Org Archive monkey

    Sorry you've lost me now, try reformatting your sentence.
     
  4. Buteman

    Buteman 336/102 LAA Regiment (7 Lincolns), RA

  5. Drew5233

    Drew5233 #FuturePilot 1940 Obsessive

    I bet I could do that same file in an hour now :lol:
     
  6. Drew5233

    Drew5233 #FuturePilot 1940 Obsessive

    Ironically I have still haven't backed anything up and I have two brand new hard drives sat on my desk still in their packaging. Oh how I love danger :D
     
  7. Tom OBrien

    Tom OBrien Senior Member

    I've seen a couple of people say that you can download digitised files for free actually at Kew rather than paying £3 to download on line. Has anyone done this? I've been intending to download some September 1944 squadron ORBs but don't want to spend money if it is not necessary.

    All help gratefully received. I got my new reader's ticket very quickly last time I went. Many thanks for the tips.

    Cheers

    Tom
     
  8. papiermache

    papiermache Well-Known Member

    Tom,

    The User Forum on 17th December 2013 ( the typed record, not full minutes, were distributed yesterday at the User Forum meeting at Kew which I attended ) dealt with the topic of downloading of records onsite as follows:

    " LMO ( Lee Oliver, Head of Public Services Development ) then spoke about downloading of records onsite. He said that an investment bid has been submitted for next year to investigate the feasibility of onsite downloading of records. LMO said TNA needs to ensure safeguards are in place which will allow onsite downloading of records, whilst minimising the risk of abuse."

    Please don't ask me to interpret this : I am just the messenger.

    The next meeting is on Thursday 20th February 2014, 17.30 - 18.45. Perhaps somebody will be able to go along and raise the issue again. You get free tea and coffee and the Kew staff are given a bit of a grilling by some very clued-up people. There is a lot of natter about specific file series including WO and AIR, apart from FCO.

    The Head Of Information Management & Practice, Julia Stocken, gave a very quick and interesting account of the records about to be released from various Government Departments, including the MoD. For example, there is to be a WO416 which will be 1939-45 POW index cards " British and Commonwealth Service Personnel" soon.

    Also AIR 81 Casualty Packs 1939 to May 1940 were mentioned, as were Admiralty 1941/42 Casualty Packs. These packs include correspondence with relatives going into the 1950's and 60's and some information may be redacted. RAF operations in 1981 and 1982 were mentioned.

    ADM53 Ships Logs and ADM 358 (?) were also mentioned.

    The good news is that rather than relying on my notes there will be a podcast of the meeting available on the website soon, if not there now.
     
  9. Drew5233

    Drew5233 #FuturePilot 1940 Obsessive

    :lol:
     
  10. Drew5233

    Drew5233 #FuturePilot 1940 Obsessive

    :lol: :lol:
     
  11. Drew5233

    Drew5233 #FuturePilot 1940 Obsessive

    :lol: :lol: :lol:
     
    brithm likes this.
  12. papiermache

    papiermache Well-Known Member

    Announcement on the Kew website last week :


    Appointment of Chief Executive and Keeper

    06 May 2014
    Catherine Lee, Director General of Law and Access to Justice in the Ministry of Justice, has today announced that Jeff James has been appointed to the position of Chief Executive and Keeper, The National Archives. The appointment is the result of an open, external recruitment process, managed by the Ministry of Justice and overseen by the Civil Service Commission.
    Jeff has considerable senior management experience in the public, private and charity sectors at Board level. He is currently the Deputy Chief Executive at the Chartered Institute for Housing, where he is responsible for leading on strategy development, operational excellence, business performance and change management. Prior to this Jeff was Director of Operations and Services at The National Archives for nearly six years. In this time he was responsible for leading the development and delivery of public services; overseeing The National Archives' estates and assets; managing customer relations and maintaining service excellence.
    On accepting the role, Jeff James said: 'I already have first hand knowledge of what a fantastic organisation The National Archives is, and I'm very much looking forward to taking up the role of Chief Executive and Keeper in July. It's a great privilege to accept this position and I am joining at a time when there are both challenges and opportunities ahead, but I know that with such a resilient and innovative organisation and dedicated staff this is also a very exciting time to take the helm at The National Archives.'
    Jeff will take up post on 29 July. In the interim Clem Brohier, Director of Finance and Corporate Services at The National Archives, will continue as Acting Chief Executive. Catherine has extended her thanks to Clem for the energy, skill and commitment Clem has shown in the role over the transitional period.
     
  13. Drew5233

    Drew5233 #FuturePilot 1940 Obsessive

    Anyone become a 'Friend of the National Archives'. Apparently you are allowed to stay behind and continue to copy files at the managers discretion. He said he'd be happy to let me stay until 11pm, yes that's 23.00hrs! :lol:
     
    Shiny 9th, brithm and papiermache like this.
  14. dww

    dww Junior Member

    Hi All

    I have found, via the Kew catalogue, 2 war diaries (from the Italy campaign) that I would like to view. However, theses files are closed for another 29 years. Does anyone know the reasons why theses files may be closed ? and whether there is a mechanism to ask for the decision to keep the files closed to be reviewed ?

    Many thanks


    DWW
     
  15. Drew5233

    Drew5233 #FuturePilot 1940 Obsessive

    Ignore it, They are open to the public. You can either go there in person or get someone to copy them for you like me for a small fee :D
     
    brithm likes this.
  16. AndyBaldEagle

    AndyBaldEagle Very Senior Member

    If they are still closed, then I think you can make an FOIA request to see them, but don't quote me!
    Regards
    Andy
     
  17. AndyBaldEagle

    AndyBaldEagle Very Senior Member

    Have you got that in writing? If so I am going to join!!! :D
    but does the coffee bar stay open that late too.....
     
  18. dww

    dww Junior Member

    I also asked the question of the National Archives. Their response is below.

    Thank you for your enquiry.
    The description under access conditions is a little misleading. The files were closed for 29 years after they ceased to be active files within the War Office /Ministry of Defence - but they are open and available now. When the references are keyed into our catalogue you will notice that the description next to the green 'order now' button indicates that both records are available to order and view. This means that the files will be produced in our reading rooms. If you have specific dates in mind and do not wish to visit us at this time, you can request copies of the relevant entries directly via our Record Copying Department.


    I hope this may be of use to others

    DWW.
     
  19. PsyWar.Org

    PsyWar.Org Archive monkey

    A week or so back Kew disabled the ability to download digital documents to your own device for free on site.

    Rumour has it this will be reinstated at some point but will require a log-on and there will be some sort of daily limit on number if downloads.

    A recent survey Kew did of readers asked what you thought the limit should be. The multichoice answers were something in the region of 10 to 25 files per day. I don't remember the exact figures but that's obviously the ballpark they're going to be working to, unless they took note of my scribbled reply that it should be well over 100 downloads per day.
     
    brithm likes this.
  20. PsyWar.Org

    PsyWar.Org Archive monkey

    Kew are currently redesigning Discovery and a beta version can be accessed here: http://beta.discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/

    They seem open to feedback about it, at least one suggestion I made they said is being added to their 'list of future enhancements'.

    The best thing about the redesign is they've scrapped that annoying scrolling within scrolling page when browsing by reference.

    Lee
     
    brithm, Aixman and Drew5233 like this.

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