Hello everyone
I have recently been hired as a school archivist for the first time and I'm looking for information about if/how school archives charge for enquiries. I know some places request a donation for "substantial enquiries" while others charge a flat rate. If your archive charges or requests a donation, how much do you ask for? If you ask for donations, about what percentage of people actually donate? And what do you consider "substantial" vs "insubstantial" (for lack of a better word)?
Thank you!
Replies
Dear Robin
I have never worked at a school that charges money for archives searches as per previous responses. Research enquiries can take a lot of time so for me managing the enquiries so it works for you is the key. If you are being swamped by enquiries I would recommend setting up an online form asking them to detail their request and include a dot point summary of what you will do and wont do and why [have a link on your website that send the completed form to your email]. This approach seems to put a stop on people sending in a partial enquiry to see what sort of response they get- if positive they tend to pepper you with extra questions that you could have done in one hit. Also by asking what research/sources they had already referred to helps saves your time if you have nothing else to add. By forcing a form to be filled out and submitted it keeps the enquiries under control.
I have received unsolicited donations after a research request but consider the cost of processing a cheque etc and its really not worth it!
Good luck with the new job.
Kind regards
Melissa
Hi everyone,
Thanks to all of you for sharing your perspectives. I didn't have a strong opinion one way or another on whether charging/asking for donations was appropriate for my archive, but mistakenly thought that it was more common than it seems to be.
I will be sure to keep your points in mind when I discuss this with my coworkers at the school.
Hi Robin,
I asked this question of the headmaster when I first started working at this school. My previous organisation, a historical society, charged a small fee for inquiries that took longer than ten minutes to answer or for anything that involved printing.
At my school nothing is charged as it is a service for the community. The Foundation office does lots of fundraising for the archives and it is well taken care of. People and old boys are thrilled to receive photographs and information about either their ancestor or their own year group (as far as reunions go) and I do wonder if that happy feeling is what brings them to make larger donations to the school. The Foundation seems to think it does.
I also don't want to deal with the hassle of handling petty cash nor online payments. A couple of times people have been very grateful and sent a cheque through the mail which I forwarded to the accounts department.
Another reason against accepting payment is that it then changes the dynamics of the relationship. For example as it is now, people are happy for any information I can provide whereas if they are to pay they could make more demands of my time as they feel they have a right to. I hated working in retail and I don't want to start that again! ;-)
On a related topic I digress - Years ago, the 1920's I think it was, the school used to charge parents for tickets to sit in the grandstand at Saturday sporting events. The headmaster stopped it shortly after because he said the number of complaints increased tenfold (the seats were too uncomfortable, their view was blocked, other spectators took up too much space etc) plus they left rubbish behind. Once they stoppped charging the complaints all but stopped and little rubbish was left behind.
Having said all that, this is what works for my organisation. At my previous place charging a small fee worked for them and people often gave more than asked. For example, when people used the photocopier we asked they drop some silver coins into the donation box, and more often than not they dropped gold coins.
best of luck with your new job,
regards,
Kate
Hi Kate
That is a really interesting and good point about how charging for the service changes the dynamic. Thanks for sharing.
Hi Robin,
My school doesn't charge for Archive enquires, but we do charge when former students ask for copies of their own School Reports - items that they have been issued with when they were a student, but for whatever reason no longer have access to - or a statements that they attended at the School. This is often linked to their applications to universities in the USA. This is a flat rate $50 administration fee. These requests are handled by administration staff rather than the archivist, though the records themselves reside in the Archives.
regards
Alison
Hello Robin, and congratulations on your new role. Schools are lovely, special places to work.
We don't currently charge for enquiries, I've thought about it and sometimes wish we did!
If someone ends up receiving a lot of photocopies/printouts from us I might ask for the copying fees eg 10 cents/page.
Occasionally we receive a donation after providing assistance.
As it is most often old scholars asking for photos for reunions say, I usually don't charge them, because my feeling is they are contributing to building the school community by their reunion and are members of the community. It is good for goodwill and relationships, I think.
'Outside' enquiries I'm more strict about.
I tend to play it by ear a bit, depending on the time and resources asked for,
Perhaps you can just see what quantity and types of enquiries you get, and how much time it takes to service them, to help you decide?
I hope this helps a little.
Kind regards, Danielle
dear Robin,
My School doesn't charge at all for enquiries. We see it as a service to the community at large and the School generally. We may however charge if someone requires a large number of photos copied but generally even than if it is for a reunion it is not charged for. I have had similar experiences also where I have requested help from colleagues in Archives elsewhere and they have not charged me either for eg a jpg of a past student that they hold in their collection.
regards
Jenny