Soon after the Manitoba government released its plan yesterday for the third phase of reopening the province, increasing group size limits, the Archives of Manitoba announced it has resumed some onsite public services.
The Archives of Manitoba said it is complying with public health order directives, including social distancing and cleaning requirements and guidelines provided to museums, galleries, and libraries.
The provincial archives posted the following information on its website.
Access to the Archives Research Room will be by appointment only:
- Researchers wishing to view records at the Archives should contact us by email ArchivesResearchRoom@gov.mb.ca or call 204-945-3971.
- Archives staff will contact you to discuss your research and the records you would like to view.
- If you know the records you want to view, provide the details in your email.
- Once you have determined which records you would like to view, an appointment time will be booked.
- Research Room appointments will be Monday to Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. to 3:45 p.m.
At this time, several services and resources will not be available, including:
- Copy services
- Access to machines and equipment (public computers, microfilm readers/scanners, copy stand)
- Access to reference materials (card catalogues, paper finding aids, etc.)
Tours, onsite exhibits, and the microfilm loan and purchase program are suspended until further notice.
Other provinces
All other provincial archives, with the exception of Newfoundland and Quebec, have said they will remain closed “until further notice.”
The Rooms in St. John’s, where Newfoundland’s provincial archives are held will reopen June 29, but they haven’t indicated which services will be available.
Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec announced in May it planned a gradual reopening of its ten centres across the province during the next few weeks. At the beginning of June, staff at all of its centres were handling research requests by email and phone.
The Provincial Archives of Saskatchewan is also handling inquiries by email and phone.
The BC Archives continues to say it won’t open its reference room until 2021, despite the request from historical organizations to do so sooner.
