Surveys over the years show that genealogists are the largest client group for Library and Archives Canada. Many I connect with are not happy with the service provided. You don't learn that from LAC wanting to portray the organization in the best light.
What could be done better? Here are three things.
1. Improve on slow response or lack of response. That applies to the website and response to requests for documents.
Website response can be extraordinarily slow. It's frustrating when you're up against a deadline for preparing a presentation, demonstrating a search live during a presentation or helping someone. Slow response isn't the case all the time but more so at the LAC site than at others.
For Access to Information requests, which cost $5 "a response is required within 30 calendar days of the date the request was received." These days we just receive a notice that they're backlogged. Then you wait weeks. Requests through the regular request for documents can take a year and more. What action is LAC management taking to meet legal obligations and provide timely responses to ordinary requests?
The last time I did receive a response it came on a CD, a format that is no longer supported by newer computers.
2. Improve access to online materials. LAC did a great job in digitizing a range of materials, notably Great War service files, something management has been dining out on for years. The pace is now much slower as much less effort is being applied to digitization.
I read in Chris Paton's blog that the National Library of Scotland has a new agreement to extend access to licensed digital collections free for everyone in Scotland. The library edition of FindmyPast is newly available giving access to many of the site's UK holdings, as well as its digitized newspapers, at no cost for residents of Scotland. The NLS has existing licensed digital collections - access to the 19th-century newspaper collection, The Times, The Scotsman Digital Archive 1817-1950, JSTOR, the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, SCRAN, Who's Who & Who Was Who, the UK Parliamentary Papers site, and much more.
When will LAC offer a similar Canadian-focussed service? It would be a way to compensate for the ongoing lack of newspaper digitization at LAC. For instance, with its existing relationship with Ancestry why not negotiate national online access to the Canadian newspapers at newspapers.com which is an Ancestry service?
3. Provide access as a FamilySearch affiliate library. Those of us able to use the facilities at 395 Wellington wonder why it is not an affiliate library already which would give broader FamilySearch access. Again there is an existing relationship and many libraries, including all branches of the Toronto Public Library, have such a relationship for visitors to branches. As a national institution that should be possible notwithstanding any passé objections.
Are there other things Library and Archives Canada could do, particularly things peer organizations already do, to better serve its largest client group? Post a comment below.
3 comments:
God knows LAC has to improve. Waiting for weeks for a document identified easily. Awful. Cheers, BT
If I had to pick one, it is the slow response time of the server - indeed "slow" can frequently be an understatement of description. I don't see any feasible excuse for this and it is an extremely embarrassing representation of the value Canada places on its archival collections. When I provide educational genealogy or provide links in projects, especially to Census, I always default to LAC despite the slowness, but have to admit that in the interests of time, I can skip over to Ancestry. The collection of Loyalist and WWI files is spectacular but again, can be soooo slooow. The overall appearance of the collections and website suggests another era and while the content is more important than the style, it is again an embarrassing symbol of value placed. Look at New Zealand and Australia - their archives websites have continued to develop and add content. Of course, adding new content would be wonderful but let's focus on enhancing the website and the existing content. I raised server concern 3 years ago, and again with the LAC site in Halifax - obviously they are very aware of this problem but nothing happens. I fear that the once popular "parcel out to 3rd parties" mentality may still be predominant, even if past its "sell by date". Thanks for another opportunity to grumble.
I have been very frustrated with the time it takes to receive documents. My last request for WW2 service files was received by LAC on January 8th 2019. I was notified that they were working on August 2018 requests and it was estimated I should receive the documents within 6 months - approximately July 2019. Did not happen. Now with the pandemic situation I have been waiting for over 2 years.
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