Research Redux

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If you’re planning a research trip to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), you might need to adjust your itinerary. Shortened research room hours took effect Oct. 2, 2006, at NARA’s Washington, DC, and College Park, Md., locations. Hours had already been reduced at NARA’s regional facilities.

Budget constraints forced NARA to cut hours during its least busy times: evenings and Saturdays (according to its usage survey). Now, the research room is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. In response to public feedback, NARA will host extended hours once a month on a Thursday and Friday from 9 a.m. to 8:45 p.m., and the following Saturday from 8:45 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. Watch NARA’s Web site <archives.gov/research> for upcoming dates of extended hours.

During a required 45-day public comment period about the changes, NARA received 530 comments and two petitions, including an electronic one “signed” by 11,000-plus genealogists.

From the February 2007 issue of Family Tree Magazine.

Libraries and Archives