Our Survey Said...

Posted on 23 September 2011 by Jacquie Crosby

While we have been closed the results of the National Survey of Visitors to British Archives have been published. This helps to give us an idea of what people think of our service in Lancashire. 185 people filled in the survey form in February and we were very pleased that 97% of them described our service overall as ‘good or very good’. In 2009 it was 94%. Comments such as: ‘This archive has got better and better over the last 20 years’; ‘It’s a fantastic resource’; ‘Very helpful, friendly staff who took an interest in our research’; are encouraging for us and show that we have got things right a lot of the time.

But we are not complacent. The closed period has given us the opportunity to look at what we can do about the areas where some visitors thought we needed to improve: copying services, noise, lighting, seating and refreshment facilities in particular. At Lancashire Archives we are committed to listening to our users/customers/researchers and hope that you will be pleased with what we have done:

We have new lighting in the searchroom which is energy-efficient but much brighter and lighter than before
We have tried to reduce noise by removing the phones from the searchroom on weekdays and by changing the layout to create a quieter area for people using maps and original archive material
We have replaced the standard chairs with adjustable seating and put power points on each desk
We are looking at how we might provide a same-day copying service for users
We are investigating the purchase of a new hot drinks machine for the refreshment area

We will open again at 9.00am on Monday 24 October and I want every visitor/customer/ user (however you prefer to describe yourself) to enjoy their visit to Lancashire Archives, to feel welcomed and to be supported in their research. I am looking forward to seeing our previous users again next month and to welcoming new people who want to use Lancashire’s archive collections to explore their family history or to find out more about Lancashire’s heritage.