Richard, While I'm not looking to start a firestorm particularly, I'm not sure I agree entirely with your analysis of this change. I agree completely that, if possible, extended hours should be available. But I don't honestly consider a move to normal business hours only as a "serious barrier to public access." If they were shutting down four days a week I'd be with you, but losing evening & weekend hours moves it only to a level of inconvenience to my mind. Most of us conduct business during normal business hours - including corporate, university, and public sector archives. Most repositories I know have specific opening hours, and they don't often include such extended times. I accept the fact that users will now have to take working hours to visit, but I don't see this as paying for access. Raising taxes to pay for the additional open hours would be equivalently asking users (and non-users alike) to pay for access. Users will simply have to choose how they spend their working-hours time, as most of us do. I support your (& SAA's) efforts to come to a compromise, but like in all businesses, choices have to be made. I'd rather they restrict off-peak hours than have to cut something else out of the budget. DS ______________________________________ Daniel Sokolow, Archives Coordinator David Taylor Archives North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System 155 Community Drive Great Neck, NY 11021 mailto:[log in to unmask] A posting from the Archives & Archivists LISTSERV List sponsored by the Society of American Archivists, www.archivists.org. For the terms of participation, please refer to http://www.archivists.org/listservs/arch_listserv_terms.asp. To subscribe or unsubscribe, send e-mail to [log in to unmask] In body of message: SUB ARCHIVES firstname lastname *or*: UNSUB ARCHIVES To post a message, send e-mail to [log in to unmask] Or to do *anything* (and enjoy doing it!), use the web interface at http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/archives.html Problems? Send e-mail to Robert F Schmidt <[log in to unmask]>