When visiting the search rooms you must bring your Reader’s Ticket, or identification documents for registration if you’re visiting for the first time.
Permitted items
You may only use a pencil or laptop when taking notes in the Historical Search Room and associated areas.
Permitted items taken into the Historical Search Room must be placed in a clear plastic bag or folder provided inside the lockers or by staff (measuring 29cm x 42cm by 60cm.); clear bags/folders must be returned.
Staff may ask to view the contents of your clear bag upon entry or exit of the Historical search room, for the purposes of document security.
Forbidden items
You are not allowed to bring:
- ink
- pens (including gel pens)
- correction fluid
- scissors
- knives
- scanners
- anything else which, in the opinion of staff, has potential to damage records
Eating and drinking is not permitted.
All bags and outdoor garments, including all jackets, umbrellas and hats, must be deposited in the lockers.
Larger bags and luggage cannot be left in the locker room and alternative arrangements should be made. Items are left in lockers at your own risk. Please do not leave anything of value in the lockers. Lockers will be emptied each night.
Handling documents
NRS provides access to a variety of rare and valuable documents, which require care and attention when being handled. We ask that all visitors to our on-site search rooms take note of the following advice and guidance in order to help us protect our records.
Good practice
Records must be handled with great care. Please follow all advice from staff and ask if you are in any doubt regarding record handling.
Prior to handling any documents, please ensure to clean and dry your hands
Bound material can present problems and you are asked to make use of the aids available. These help to avoid causing strain to bindings.
A variety of different aids can be accessed including book cushions, book 'snakes', and weights. Please ask staff if you require any of these.
For photographic material, please ask a member of staff for nitrile gloves before handling
Do not move documents around the room or remove them from the search room.
You should take care to avoid touching the text of documents; acid-free book marks are provided for your use
Take care not to mark the documents in any way
Take care not to lean on the documents when making notes
When consulting loose bundles or papers, please do not take them out of order.
Protecting our records
You are responsible for the care of any records issued to you until these are returned to the custody of a member of staff and checked. Any incidence of wilful damage or theft of the records will be treated very seriously and escalated to senior management in NRS. This may result in police involvement.
You should draw any evidence of existing damage to records to the attention of staff. If you see anything you are concerned about regarding the handling of documents, please report this to a member of staff.
Any restrictions that have been placed on access to, or use of, particular records must be strictly observed. Staff will inform you of any such restrictions and advise you concerning applications for access.
Vulnerable, rare or fragile items can be transferred onto more resilient and accessible media. In the interests of preservation, therefore, we will ask you to use a surrogate copy of the documents that you request, where one exists (for example a digital image or microfilm), in place of the originals
Requesting access to documents
You can request records stored off-site remotely, using the online document request system, which is part of the NRS online catalogue
Once you have identified an item - those off-site will include, near the top, the direction to ‘click here to place an advance order for this record’ . You will then be prompted to add your details and select a date to view the item.
You do not require a Reader’s Ticket to place requests for off-site items in advance of your visit. However you must obtain one before you are able to view any records.
We require at least three working days’ notice to produce records held off-site.
You can request up to 12 off-site items per day of your visit.
Records stored on-site can only be requested in the search room during your visit
Please note that original maps and plans cannot be requested for production in the Historical Search Room. All visits to the Maps and Plans Search Room must be booked in advance, please see the separate Maps and Plans research guide for more details.
Requesting records during your visit
When you arrive in the Historical Search Room, you will be allocated a seat and staff will retain your Reader’s Ticket.
You can request records stored on site using the electronic ordering system on the computers located in the HIstorical search room. You will need to know your reader’s ticket number, so please make a note of that before you hand it to staff. When you have entered this, please check your name and seat number are correct. Then type the full record reference numbers for each item and submit your request.
Document requests may be made up to 3.30pm each day.
We aim to produce on-site records within 30 minutes of a request being made.
Records must be returned by 4:15pm. A bell will sound to signal the time.
You may request up to six on-site items at a time. No more than three of these items will be issued to you at any one time. In the case of papers which have not yet received individual piece numbers, only one bundle will normally be issued at a time.
To request items held off-site during a visit, either use your own device or one of the search room computers to access the online catalogue and follow the process outlined above. Please note we require at least three working days’ notice to produce records held off-site.
Staff will bring records to your seat in the Historical Search Room.
Please do not remove records from your allocated desk or share with other readers. Records must only be moved by staff.
The catalogues and reference books on the open shelves in the search room areas are self-service. Please ask staff for a document request slip to leave in place of any volume removed, giving your name, seat number, date, and please return the volume as soon as possible.
Returning records
When you are ready to return records, please alert a member of staff and these will be collected from your desk, checked and returned to storage. Staff members may be assisting other readers and will be with you as quickly as possible.
Your reader’s ticket will be returned when all records have been returned and accounted for, or if you leave for a break.
You can arrange for records to be kept out for further consultation for up to 5 days by speaking to staff.
Access for historical research
There is no charge for access to the records for the purposes of historical research; such as genealogy, local history, academic research etc.
Access for legal purposes
We ask that those wanting to access the records for legal purposes speak to staff first.
'Legal purposes’ means that you need to find information, for example, to use to prepare a legal case, or to establish something about a property purchase, or a case involving family law; any situation where you need the information to prove or defend a right or claim.
There are statutory fees for the production of certain records, and you may not be able to see privately-deposited records (usually referenced GD but other codes may be used) without the owners’ permission.
If you need copies for a legal purpose, you may need to have these ‘certified’ or ‘extracted’.
For all these reasons, we ask that you let staff know if you are accessing records for a legal purpose so we can best help you identify what you need.
Restrictions on access
It may be necessary periodically to withdraw material from public use for reasons such as stocktaking, conservation, display or copying. NRS also reserves the right to withdraw any document in poor or fragile condition.
Depending on our agreement with the owners, you may be required to sign a Restricted Access form before viewing records within certain collections. You will be informed of this where such conditions apply.
Requesting and Using Copies of Our Records
We are currently unable to offer printing facilities and will update when this changes.
You may be permitted to carry out self-service photography, provided that there are no restrictions and certain conditions are met. You must speak with staff first to check whether a collection may be photographed.
Where NRS supplies copies, readers must undertake that any copies delivered by NRS by any method and in any format will not be broadcast, retransmitted or copied (other than to enable a single copy on paper to be printed from a digital image supplied by NRS) without first getting written permission from NRS and/or from the owner of the original item as applicable.
Staff will advise where permission is required in order for copies to be supplied.
Some collections have publication restrictions placed on them. Staff will advise you about applying for permission to publish information from such collections and about the form of acknowledgement to be made.
Records may be unsuitable for copying on grounds of physical condition or format. Staff will advise you if this is the case.
If you hope to publish information from a collection where there are no special restrictions, you may still need permission. Contact NRS staff for advice.
NRS reserves the right to charge a fee for any use of information or images taken from records in its care which is beyond the purpose of private study, e.g. publication or broadcast.
Checking copyright is your responsibility. NRS staff are unable to provide legal advice on copyright. We administer a blanket rule of no self-service photography of any published works, including library books, to prevent any infringement.
