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RE: NARA Budget Cuts & Closing Schedule
-----Original Message-----
From: UpFront with the National Genealogical Society
upfront@ngsgenealogy.org
Sent: Tuesday, September 05, 2006 11:25 AM
To: NGS-L@rootsweb.com
Subject: [UpFront: NGS] UpFront with NGS - Special Issue - September 2006
UpFront with NGS
The Online Newsletter of the
National Genealogical Society
Special Issue:
from the Board of the National Genealogical Society
NARA Budget Reduction & Saturday and Evening Closings
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Please read ALL of the following information it is important to ALL family
historians and genealogists. We must make our voices heard on both issues!
Dr. Allen Weinstein, Archivist of the United States, addressed the opening
session of the FGS/NEHGS 2006 Conference in Boston on Thursday, August 31, 2006.
He reiterated his position of open access to records which he spoke about at the
NGS conference in Chicago. He also commented on the budget cut and the reduction
in hours, staff, and preservation that this will automatically cause.
Please contact your representatives in Congress and urge them to restore the
NARA budget cuts. You can easily do this via email for your member of the House
by going to
http://www.house.gov/writerep/
or for both branches of Congress by going to
http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/
and entering just your zipcode .
Following his remarks, Professor Weinstein was presented with a letter by the
Chair of the joint NGS-FGS Records Preservation and Access Committee (RPAC),
addressing concerns about the proposed changes in the hours of operation for the
Research Rooms at the National Archives.
Very few are making their voices heard on this issue. This lack of response
sends a loud signal to the Archives that this is not a serious issue and that
closing the Archives (including regional branches) on evenings and Saturdays is
irrelevant. The RPAC has recommended the following suggestions for the Archives
to consider:
1) To accommodate the needs of those who need access on Saturdays, we propose
that you close one other day per week. This would be at your discretion. Other
archives often close Sunday and Monday.
2) Users who need evening hour access could be accommodated by opening the
archives later in the day, again at your discretion.
If you agree with the recommendations stated above, we are asking your support
by immediately going on-line and adding your “signature” to our petition to
substitute the hours of access and still help the archives to meet their need to
consolidate their hours of operation. Before 8 September 2006, please go to:
http://www.PetitionOnline.com/FGS2006/petition.html (Case sensitive)
If you would like to send your own personal letter, send it prior to 8 September
2006 and address it to:
Regulations Comments Desk (NPOL)
Room 4100, Policy and Planning Staff
National Archives and Records Administration
8601 Adelphi Road
College Park, MD 20740-6001
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