Documents requested from NARA - December Update - November 2021 Update

[RogerB]

This post is for those VAM collectors awaiting US Mint archival information.

Recent increases in COIVD-19 infection rates have generated additional conversations with NARA regarding access to material for research. It is presently expected that NARA facilities will remain closed to the public until the 2nd quarter of 2021.

RWB

November 2021 update.

NARA in College Park, MD is operating very slowly based on individual appointments, tightly limited occupancy, and single-day use. None of the copy or photo stands are open. Work that is not finished during one day is refiled and you have to request another appointment, repeating all of the boxes or volumes wanted.

Most of the documents members requested require use of the photo stands and lights. I don't have any idea when these will be available....it could be months or another year.

[PacificWR]

What a bum deal.

[RogerB]

See further update, above.

[PacificWR]

Somehow this does not surprise me. Hopefully...one of these days.

[pup_picker]

i've prob asked before. can you use a camera phone?

[RogerB]

Yes. At College Park they have small phone stands you can borrow (free). (Phone calls are not permitted.)

Any kind of camera is OK, but you cannot use flash. Any supplemental lighting has to be approved in advance. You can also bring in a copy stand or tripod. Any small camera accessories have to fit in a 10x10 plastic food bag.

[RogerB]

After several months of waiting, I got an appointment for Nov 19 and was able to scan about 400 documents between 9am and 4pm. I have another appointment for the 30th where I hope to complete scanning the same box. This is really slow compared to using a camera.

For comparison, using my Nikon camera when I photograph fair-copy journals I can easily do 500 pages per hour or about 3,000 pages per day.

Flat documents from file boxes (similar to some of the research materials members have requested) take about 2 hours for 400 pages including editing to omit extraneous (small Assay Office) documents.

[PacificWR]

After several months of waiting, I got an appointment for Nov 19 and was able to scan about 400 documents between 9am and 4pm. I have another appointment for the 30th where I hope to complete scanning the same box. This is really slow compared to using a camera.

For comparison, using my Nikon camera when I photograph fair-copy journals I can easily do 500 pages per hour or about 3,000 pages per day.

Flat documents from file boxes (similar to some of the research materials members have requested) take about 2 hours for 400 pages including editing to omit extraneous (small Assay Office) documents.

This is great news Roger. It is a start.

[RogerB]

I have to use a camera for the material's you are looking for - they vary in size too much to work well on a scanner.(I have a 12x17 flatbed scanner, but many of the original documents are larger and NARA does not allow scanning of anything larger than the scanner's face plate.)

[PacificWR]

I have to use a camera for the material's you are looking for - they vary in size too much to work well on a scanner.(I have a 12x17 flatbed scanner, but many of the original documents are larger and NARA does not allow scanning of anything larger than the scanner's face plate.)

Baby steps, but it is finally progress.

[RogerB]

The final impact is that I can get about 2 days per month, with each day being less than one-half normal productivity. Expenses and total time remain the same, so the cost per page is more than double.