Most archives in the country have closed their doors during the corona crisis. Archives are now preparing to re-open, often with restrictions on the number of visitors in the reading room and new seating plans and routes that allow patrons to keep their distance.
I expect all archives to be open again by June 1st. Archives who offer scanning-on-demand will also restart that service (if they haven’t already) though they may have to work through their backlog first and it may take longer because fewer staff may work at the same time.
Records in the archives. Credits: Rob Mieremet, collection Nationaal Archief (CC-BY-SA)
I will continue to work from home for the time being. Using online records and scans that can be ordered, I should be able to undertake most research projects.
About Yvette Hoitink
Most important question: Will the toilets be open, too?!
I assume that any archive that is open to visitors will see to it that those needs can be met too, but it you should ask the archives. I know the swimming pool in our town will keep the toilets closed except for emergencies and asked people to use the toilet at home. Every archive is now drawing up protocols how to keep people safe, and they will be different for different archives (depending on the lay-out, visitor volume, etc.).