Not posting this on professional twitter because it’s made me so so angry and upset. Archivists all over the country are just doing the absolute best they can to keep everyone - staff and users - safe.

There’s quarantine, reduced staffing (esp conservation ability); the need to CAREFULLY sanitise spaces (we can’t just wang antibac everywhere); ventilation, social distancing needs, demand management so everyone gets a bit of everything...

And you know what? No archive is rolling in staff or cash. Local authorities have been cut to the bone, unis are balancing internal teaching needs and high offsite demand. It’s so hard. So, sorry. We’re doing our best. We really are. And we can’t get it right for everyone.

To be accused of fascism, of hiding history, of just being lazy and rubbish etc just hurts. It does. And worse is this notion of ‘serious history’. Family and local historians matter. They are researchers just like you. They are learning and finding too.

Plus we’re in a damn pandemic, people. Please, please be understanding. Archival pros are doing the best we can.

Genuinely, I get it. There are book deadlines and PhD deadlines and funded research deadlines and they all totally count. We know. That’s why we reopened as quick as we could because it matters to us. We’re not just suppliers, we’re partners and we are on that journey with you.

We know what we’re offering isn’t what it was. We know it’s not what you’re used to, and some of it will stay, too. You may be the only researcher on site, but there are thousands of others sending in emails and requests for digitised content.

But please, bear with us. We’ll do what we absolutely can. We’re not here to get in your way. But - our staff are our greatest resource and we have to make sure they’re safe. And we can’t do anything that puts the archives in danger.

So, the x document limit? How much space do you think an archive has to hold documents before and after you see them? We can’t just wipe them down. It’s all safety judgements. Please remember that.