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General => The Common Room => Topic started by: Mart 'n' Al on Wednesday 19 July 17 12:07 BST (UK)
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I plan on going, partly out of curiosity, and partly for my research. I'm fortunate to live reasonably close. What can I expect? I am sure there are staff(!), but how will I know how to do what I want to do? I'd be grateful for any advice, and stories of your first visit. I've read their web site. I don't want to waste my time.
Martin
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There are plenty of staff around but sometimes there is a queue!
Check that the records you are interested in are there; some are held off site and need to be booked in advance. For these you will need to get a ticket so check you have all the required ID with you on the day.
Make a list of what you want to see. Loose paper and pencils without erasers in a clear bag.
If you are not taking your own food......go early for lunch.
There are plenty of computers available.
There is a bookshop; useful for giving eyes and brain a break from searching/reading records.
It is a fascinating place to visit; a first visit can be daunting......do your research so that you know what records you want to look at.
Enjoy!
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It's not so bad. Number one tip is to PREPARE for your research. Have specific targets and aims; a random trawl through Kew will waste your time (and theirs) Know what records are available on site.
Research the indices online before you travel - and record the items you want. Ask for the records you need and wait for them to arrive. Use plain paper and pencil to record. You may be able to get copies, or take your own photos - but ask & check.
Be thorough, if you can't find what you want then look again, or check another source. Be prepared to be there ALL DAY. It's a great place and so rewarding if you hit your target.
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Thank you for these and any future replies. I'm treating it mainly as a day out, with no specific goals, except leaning. I will report back in due course, as long as I don't get filed away.
Martin
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From my visits, I would say:
Get there early!
Get your Reader's Ticket first. (Have you applied online?)
Either have a wander around, or ask one of the friendly staff - they have manned Information Desks.
If you find something you want to look at, order it. Then go for a coffee!
Take your time - especially because you can visit reasonably easily.
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I'm treating it mainly as a day out, with no specific goals, except leaning.
I think you will have a more rewarding day if you give yourself at least one specific task to complete, whether or not you manage to do it. That will give your day a focus. There is a limit to what can usefully be learnt by just wandering around and looking.
Check with the staff on the Start Here desk (1st floor) whether there is an introductory tour being offered on that day.
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I agree with Bookbox, wandering around will achieve very little
I go with the intention of getting 3 things done.
If there's spare time after that, you can look up the images of all the familysearch records you've only got transcripts for, and top it off with some free 1939 searches.
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Have you seen http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/about/visit-us/researching-here/
Stan
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Thanks Stan, I've read their web site. I'm sure I will laugh at myself soon, as I am not usually intimidated by anything!
M
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Greenrig has explained what you need to do before leaving for Kew.
............................Number one tip is to PREPARE for your research...................................
The same advice if a research trip to Salt Lake City and its Genealogical Library is planned.
Those who do not prepare will be floundering. Six months to a year preparing would be advisable.
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Barry, thanks. I should have added that I am 30-40 minutes away on a bus, armed with a brand new 60+ Oyster card, which I can use for 10 days before I even reach 60!!, and there is a giant M&S next door as well. I am going to count my first visit as purely educational, but perhaps have a dip into the 1939 records. Who knows, I might be volunteering for helping someone not so close before long!
M
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No advice to give apart from enjoy yourself and good luck
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Enjoy your day. You have the right approach, treating it as your 'orientation visit', and since you don't live too far away, you know you can always go back another day. Unfortunately the tours and 'New to Kew' sessions haven't been run for a few years, but the staff on the Start Here desk will always point you in the right direction.
But Bookbox is right to suggest you set yourself a task, it's a good way of figuring out how the various systems work, and whether you need to look at digitised records or originals (or possibly microfilm, but there is very little of that these days). The research guides are the place to start, and there are more than 200 in the family history category, so there must be a few you like the look of ;). http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/?research-category=family-history
PS New caterers have recently taken over the restaurant and coffee bars, and I can recommend the lemon doughnuts!
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They used to do short Familiarisation Tours, presumably they they still do, if so , it is well worth booking one.
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go on a sunny day, get your lunch at m&s before you go into the grounds, say hello to the birds on the water, mind the poop, have a coffee in the cafe and eat your lunch, browse the book shop, stroll round the gallery/museum next door, drop your stuff into a locker (remember its' number) have a look at the 1939 online, read the family history magazines in the racks, go into the library and have a look at the Kellys and Post Office directories, pick a county of interest and see what else is on the shelves as well as fhs members magzines.
Use the screens in the LDS sections, they have subs to all sorts of sites.
Take a camera and you can take photos.
Remember a paper pad and pencils, you can use your laptop and their wifi.
order your readers ticket for another visit.
Lucky you with your oyster card, mine's still 5 years away unless the mayor moves the goal posts.
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Like you I was apprehensive about my first visit, but my fears were soon allayed!
I wanted to look for specific records so I applied online for a readers ticket and I preebooked the documents online, as advised, all the details are in TNA's Discovery section.
I also posted that I was visiting and if anyone wanted any lookups I'd be happy to do so. Folks not from Uk are not able to get there and I was able to oblige. It made the day interesting too!
My daughter came with me and she thoroughly enjoyed her visit too.
There is also the area right at the back with books to look through.
Have a great day
Caroline
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I plan on going, partly out of curiosity, and partly for my research. I'm fortunate to live reasonably close. What can I expect? I am sure there are staff(!), but how will I know how to do what I want to do? I'd be grateful for any advice, and stories of your first visit. I've read their web site. I don't want to waste my time.
Martin
As you live close to Kew then the commonly given advice, prepare for your research; have specific targets and aims, will most possibly work well for you.
However for those who live far from Kew and for the more experienced researcher the scatter-gun approach more often than not reaps rewards.
The scatter gun method entails scanning the catalogue and ordering any record with the name you are researching. When the relevant film or document arrives print the entry or photograph it and move on to the next, you will have all the time in the world to read it when you get home. Use whatever media is available, print, photocopy, photograph, usb stick etc. to take a copy of the record and move on to the next.
I explained this technique to a friend of mine a number of years ago when I visited Kew with her (she had been lecturing in Family History for about 10 years at the time and a great believer in the specific research technique). She decided to give “my” way a try and needless to say when she was browsing through her trawl on the long train journey home the benefits soon became clear. An ancestor that she had been looking for without any luck was in her haul along with his brother (both in London) and not Yorkshire where family legend had them remaining. These were just two of the brick walls destroyed by the scatter-gun.
Specific research has a time and place as do the more unconventional forms of research.
For the distant researcher it often pays dividends to glean as many records as possible in the time available (just make sure you source each record).
Cheers
Guy
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What a great tip Guy, have to say I would never have thought of doing that but will definitely employ your suggestion next time I visit.
Thank you for some good advice.
Caroline
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You are lucky that you can visit Kew whenever you like (within reason!) so you can work out for yourself the approach that suits you best. There's a lot to be said for making a lot of copies and reviewing them later, but there are quite a few cases where you need to order up a contemporary index or calendar volume first before you know what document to order - most records aren't name indexed in Discovery. You will probably manage to order the wrong document once or twice - which is fine, everyone does it sometimes, even if they don't admit it ;D - it's all part of the learning process, and it's still worth looking at the 'wrong' document, you might find something interesting in it anyway. I've made a few useful discoveries that way! And document orders only take about 45 minutes to arrive, so you can get the right document fairly quickly, and you'll have learnt something in the process.
If you want to make copies, using your own camera or smartphone is the best way to copy original documents, and you can email copies of digitised records to yourself (a bit fiddly, but it can be done), but you can't use a memory stick. Getting a printout is pretty much the only way to take a copy from microfilm, but the prints are cheap and there is very little microfilm any more so you may never need to use it anyway.
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I signed up for the newsletter from TNA and today they told me "We are delighted to announce that we're throwing open our doors on 16 September to participate in Open House London". I will be an old hand by then. Thanks again to you all. I'm going next week!
Martin
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Open House is a great day out as you may get to see 'behind the scenes' as well as front of house, well you do at Westminster.
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This will all be so helpful, and not just for me, also for future first-timers.
Am I right in thinking that they only way to get an electronic version of a document is to photograph the screen?
Martin
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No! You can send an email of the image to your own email address ;D
I think you have to use the TNA fixed camera computers for that. Outside the reading room, but opposite where you pick up documents you have ordered
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So, how did it go?
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Not sure if you've been yet, but to anyone wanting advice about the first visit -
register for Reader's Ticket online and pre-order documents. Spend time looking on the website to see what is available.
I have found (as examples of what is there)
details of my gt x 3 uncle's trial for murder (found innocent on the grounds of insanity)
enlistment, service and pension records for various gt uncles in the Metropolitan Police
a very complicated court case from the Court of Chancery involving ex's family from 18th century
Not all documents are available when you want. So I recommend using the computers to search censuses etc or browsing the library - I found a book there showing the floor plans for the house one of my gt grandfathers worked in. It also has electoral registers, street directories etc arranged by county.
The first time (as with anything) can be daunting, but it's amazing how soon you become an old hand!
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The event I was tying in with my first visit was cancelled so I haven't been yet. Then I was away in France (Pere Lachaise cemetery and US Normandy cemetery). I will be going next week. Experiences to follow...
Martin
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Well I finally plucked up the courage to go to the National Archives at Kew, after months of hesitation, deliberation and nervousness. I don't know what all my fuss was about. It was very simple. I arrived there, talked to a nice lady at the 'start here' desk who told me just to go through to one of the terminals and I sat there for the afternoon. I did find it useful that I heard read on their website about the Discovery program for helping you find what you are looking for. I will be returning before very long. Thank you for all your earlier comments.
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Glad you had an enjoyable experience Marty!
There is nothing to worry about once you get there and see how it all works and folk are very helpful.
Hope you found what you were looking for and when you go next time your trip will be even more enjoyable.
Caroline