Update on status of PANL move to The Rooms

Dr. Priscilla Renouf, Chair of the Board of Directors for The Rooms Corporation, today provided an update on the status of the relocation of the Provincial Archives of Newfoundland and Labrador (PANL) to its new home at The Rooms. Effective May 1, PANL will be closed to the public until the official opening at The Rooms in June 2004.

"Provincial Archives staff are now in the final stages of preparing collections for the move from off-site storage facilities and the Colonial Building to their new permanent home at The Rooms," said Dr. Renouf. "The last records to be moved will be the most frequently requested records, such as the Genealogical Collection, which will remain open until PANL closes at the Colonial Building effective May 1."

To facilitate the move, the following changes in service will occur:

• Records will be closed as they are moved and will be unavailable to clients until the opening of PANL at The Rooms. When a record group is closed, a notice of closing will be posted in the reference room and on the PANL web site.
• One of the first collections to close will be the cartographic collection. Effective immediately, this collection will be unavailable to clients until further notice.
• Effective immediately, PANL will no longer accept requests for search forms for genealogical or nominal census records. This service will resume effective September 1. Requests received during this period will be returned.
• Effective immediately, PANL will no longer accept requests for research in the still and moving images, government records, manuscripts and cartographic collections until the opening of PANL at The Rooms. Requests received during this period will be returned.
• The deadline for photocopy requests of records and true copy requests is March 31. These two services will resume when PANL opens at The Rooms.
• Effective May 1, PANL will no longer accept inquiries received via e-mail, regular mail, telephone and fax until the opening of PANL at The Rooms in June 2004.

The Provincial Archives is committed to preserving Newfoundland and Labrador�s archival records of provincial historical significance, including photographs, maps, architectural plans, electronic records and film footage for its on-site and distance clients from the rest of the province, Canada, the United States and even Europe. Its collection includes some 400,000 photographs, 4,000 films, approximately 50,000 maps and more than four linear kilometres of textual records from government and non-government sources.

Media contact: Tansy Mundon, Communications, (709) 729-0928.

2004 03 04                                       11:50 a.m.