National Archives - Kew Tips?

They did restore power quite quickly but too late to get a final document order in. Another mostly wasted day for me.

 

I ordered a Bulk Order (30 documents) and had got through what I needed by 1pm, then had to order as per normal, they really need to increase the number of documents you can order from 3 to 6 in my view. Then at least when I get to 4pm I will possibly have another 2-3 hours of document copying to get through. My next visit is in May on a Thursday so will see how I get on, but checking trains home will have to be careful otherwise I could be stranded in London if there are any delays on the underground!

 

The shortening of document ordering hours has been a big headache for me since its introduction at the start of the year. It is a constant fight to get enough documents especially when production times increase from lunchtime onwards.

Extending opening hours to 9pm would have been very beneficial if document ordering hours was also extended in line with it.

I guess it will give me an opportunity to copy some very large files for myself that I never normally get a chance to copy. But a 17 hour day, including commuting, might be over doing it a tad, I'm not getting any younger

 

Don't knock it too much - it's even worse at the British Library. There's a 10 document limit for the day - no ordering of extras when you're there. It's a bit of a bastard trekking down there for only half a day's productive effort. No camera stands either, so it's hard on the back and there's the constant risk of shaky shots even with stabilisation on. Last time I double-tapped every page as insurance and still finished early afternoon.

 

Last time I was at BL, I was escorted out of the reading room due to a complaint about the mechanical shutter click of my camera.

 

I dream of 17hr days....a day trip is currently around 19hrs for me.

Clearly they are staying open to 9pm to see if anyone uses the bar, it's nothing to do with looking at documents.

 

You'd think they could come up with a better business model than excessive parking charges and cheese and wine parties. Hope no one spills their Pinot Grigio on the Domesday Book.

 

Anyone going to be at Kew this Tuesday? I normally get there at 0830 and was thrilled to see that I wouldn't be being fleeced for £7 to park.

Tom

 

Hi

Has anyone had any luck at the IWM with copying photographs that haven't yet been digitised?

I've found loads that are "media not available" online, but £30 to get a copy of each one seems a tad pricey.

I'd love to seem them for myself and would happily go down to London, but they they don't allow cameras in the areas where you can see them, so I can't take a copy of it for future reference.

Gus

 

Hello Gus,
Last time I visited the IWM photo department they had a photocopier there that you could use. Might be worth asking if they still have this facility.

Think it was 10 or 20 pence you had to put it for each copy. Quality was ok.

Some of the original AFPU photos in the albums that I looked at are small. The admiralty photos that I looked at were all large size.

Regards

Danny

 

Thanks Danny.

Will pop in next time I am in London and see how things go.

Gus

 

Yes, I ordered and received an A3 scan of a photograph that had not be digitised, but the cost is worse than you say.

The breakdown is as follows:

Cost for the image: £20.00
Cost to scan a non-digitised image: £30.00
Delivery cost (via download): £2
Plus VAT at 20%
TOTAL: £62.40

If you order with a credit card registered to an address outside of the UK and the EU (which I did), you don't pay the VAT. They 'enhance' the image after scanning, which basically means tart it up and remove imperfections, which--despite the fact that I could have done it myself--produced a very sharp and very detailed image.

They are able to send you low-quality, small-size samplers, but these are fairly useless unless you know what you are looking for an are just using the sample to check you have the right image. I upload one below to illustrate:



It's a lot of money and I have two such digital images, but I can't seem to get through to them for the third and last one I want. Will make a phone call next week. I can't upload the images here as distributing them online is beyond the scope of the 'personal use' tier at which they were purchased.

 

I've still never been to the BL. I've acquired all of my needs from there by email and post.

 

I'm sure I read that at the IWM they will not allow you to copy complete documents or texts owing to copyright (which it is doubtful they own in many cases).

Is this still the case?

 

Sixty quid for just one copy. Holy crap.

Is there no one out there who can offer a private copying service at IWM in the same way a few here do for Kew.

 

I'll be there Tuesday Tom but not until midday. Table 4.

Lee

 

I'll pop over and say hello. I'm normally somewhere in the 20's by the windows. A bit like when I was at school, I find my copying slowed down by distractions outside, but cannot resist looking!

Tom

 

Cool, I'll be on 4F, the table is in far right corner of reading room by window.

 

Plans to charge for TNA car park further delayed for "operational issues".

Nope not an "inconvenience" in the slightest, the longer the delay in charging us the better - Updated: Changes to car parking at The National Archives’ site in Kew Updated: Changes to car parking at The National Archives’ site in Kew

 

IWM will let you take copies of anything for private research/use but permission is needed if you intend to publish through print, public lecture/talks or online etc. Official documents or other published material - books, pamphlets etc can be quoted from under the "fair dealings" bit of copyright law but not private papers. If you need to quote extensively from printed stuff or use private papers in any proposed work you intend to publish or put online you need copyright owner's permission. For private papers IWM will facilitate this for you and also provide sample request letters for you to use.

I have found IWM to be very useful - yes you do have to book to visit and request material 5 working days ahead but their online catalogue knocks TNA into a cocked hat so it is very easy to identify what you want. The private papers are pure gold that adds so much to the war diaries and other official material from TNA. (And for those of us north of London and train dependent, Lambeth is soooo much easier to get to than Kew).