Local History Centre Service Standards

Walsall Local History Centre will acquire, preserve and make available as wide a range of documents, photographs, oral history tapes and media in other formats as possible to reflect the history of the whole of the geographic area served by Walsall Council

We will open five days a week including Saturday morning and one late night
We will provide space for you to access and study material relevant to your inquiry
All items requested by request slip will be produced within 10 minutes
Photocopying will be done on demand if the condition of the item permits. Very large orders may need to be deferred in agreement with the researcher by staff in the research room.
All photograph orders will be given a specified date for collection not more than 8 weeks from the time of ordering and prepaid orders will be issued with a receipt
We will provide a range of promotional activities
We will provide at least one computer for public use with free access to the internet
We will provide information about our service which is accessible in a variety of formats
At least one exhibition will be prepared each year in a format suitable for display on portable exhibition boards

All archive material accepted as a gift or deposit will fall within the Centre’s ‘Archive Collecting Policy’
All local studies material bought or accepted as a gift will fall within the Centre’s ‘Local Studies Acquisitions policy’
We will accession all new collections and send a final acknowledgement and receipt within 14 days of their receipt
We will make as many of our collections available for research as possible subject to the need for adequate cataloguing and to abide by statutory restrictions on access such as the Data Protection Act.
All deposits will be made by deposit agreement and all oral history recordings by clearance form

Your inquiry will be acknowledged within 5 working days and you will receive a response within 20 working days
Postal or telephone inquiries requiring research will be allocated half an hour of Local History Centre staff time. If we are unable to satisfy any request we will supply a reason or refer you to another library or archive.
We will consult regularly with our users about possible improvements to the service

The Centre will comply with the Historical Manuscripts Commission ‘A Standard for Record Repositories’
The storage area and methods of storing, packaging and displaying items will meet the requirements of British Standard 5454 ‘Recommendations for storage and exhibition of Archive Material’
Conservation work will be carried out according to the provisions of British Standard 4971 and the ECCO Professional Guidelines and Code of Ethics
We will catalogue archive collections to prescribed international cataloguing standards

Observing the research room rules including handling all items which you use with care, particularly unique and rare items, using pencil at all times, not eating or drinking in the research room and asking the staff for guidance if you are unsure about something
Asking the staff if you have difficulty finding what you want
Being considerate of other users
Complying with copyright legislation
Keeping your CARN ticket in a safe place to avoid unauthorized use and reporting any loss immediately
Letting us know if we have made a mistake
Complying with the customer user contract when using the computer
Switching off your mobile phone whilst in the research room

We will handle your request promptly
We will maintain high accessibility and availability of service
We will provide an effective service that meets your needs
We will be fair and courteous regardless of your ethnicity, disability or gender
We will be helpful and strive to go the extra mile to meet and/or exceed your expectations
We will provide all information you require to satisfy your needs
We will ensure that our people are professional, well trained and knowledgeable
We will ensure that your request is owned by the first person you contact
We will fully protect your privacy and information about you will be treated as confidential
We will strive to deliver what you need

Have we done a good job? Then Tell Us! We have a form on which you can make comments, suggest how we can improve services or make a formal complaint. The Tell Us! forms are available in all reception areas. If you prefer, contact us directly and we will send you one. If you have internet access, you can complete the form online at www.walsall.gov.uk/tellus/
You are also welcome to complete our feedback forms which are available in the research room

Our facilities including our toilets are accessible to disabled visitors
We provide a large print version of our leaflet and could arrange translation of the leaflet into other languages to help users
Details of our opening hours, how to contact us and our location are on our website