I signed the petition. The petition seems to be legit. Willie ----- Original Message ----- From: "joe patterson" <jpatter@comcast.net> To: <BP2000-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sunday, September 03, 2006 10:23 PM Subject: [BP2000] NARA Operating hours > Seems that NARA operating hours are going to be limited. > > If you would like to sign the electronic petition [link below] it may > help to get some alternate hours included. > > Pass this along to any genealogy groups, if you think they would be > interested in supporting.... > > JOE list admin > > The following message was distributed to those attending last week's > Federation of Genealogical Societies conference in Boston. > > For those not familiar with the issue, budget cuts at the National > Archives has prompted them to propose eliminating all evening and > Saturday hours. Obviously, this would greatly affect all researchers, > including those from out-of-town. > > *** > > Dear Conference Attendee: > > We were honored to have Dr. Allen Weinstein, Archivist of the United > States > attend the FGS/NEHGS 2006 Conference in Boston and to address us in the > Opening Session on Thursday, August 31, 2006. Following his remarks, he > was > presented with a letter by the Chair of the Records Preservation and > Access > Committee (RPAC) addressing concerns about the proposed changes in the > hours of operation for the Research Rooms at the National Archives. > > It has come to our attention that very few of our constituencies are > making > their voices heard on this issue. This lack of response sends a loud > signal > to the Archives that this is not a serious issue and that closing the > Archives on evenings and Saturdays is irrelevant. The RPAC has recommended > the following suggestions for the Archives to consider: > > 1) To accommodate the needs of those who need access on Saturdays, we > propose that you close one other day per week. This would be at your > discretion. Other archives often close Sunday and Monday. > 2) Users who need evening hour access could be accommodated by opening > the archives later in the day, again at your discretion. > > If you agree with the recommendations stated above, we are asking your > support by immediately going on-line and adding your "signature" to our > petition to substitute the hours of access and still help the archives to > meet their need to consolidate their hours of operation. Before 8 > September 2006, please go to: > > http://www.PetitionOnline.com/FGS2006/petition.html (Case sensitive) > > If you would like to send your own personal letter, send it prior to 8 > September 2006 and address it to: > > Regulations Comments Desk (NPOL) > Room 4100, Policy and Planning Staff > National Archives and Records Administration > 8601 Adelphi Road > College Park, MD 20740-6001 > > > > ==== BP2000 Mailing List ==== > Recommend a cousin ! Send name and email to: > Mike Allen, Executive Director <naturalsoft@ameritech.net> > Ray Beaty, founder, BP2000 <beatynyc@msn.com> > >