The Hive:  The story behind the move

• Both public branches of the Worcestershire Record Office 

• Worcester City Library and the University of Worcester Library

• Worcestershire Historic Environment and Archaeology Service (WHEAS)

• The Worcestershire Hub

Improved Facilities

Facilities at the Hive will be a great improvement on those at the current Record Office branches, with

• A staffed searchroom for consulting original archives, continuing the current high standard of support,  with improved access to other supporting resources
• A large self-service area for using microform and internet sources as well as the local studies library, into which the book stock from the County Hall Branch, History Centre and WHEAS will be merged.  These resources will be available from 8:30am, when the Hive opens, until it closes at 10pm.
• A conservation room for the repair and preservation of archival documents
• Space for all the county archive collections to be held in one location for the first time, plus space for growth
• Access to the Historic Environment Record and archaeology sources
• A large, combined university and city library
• A café
• Meeting spaces for use by community groups

For the Record Office, the movement of the archive collections from their 4 current locations is a major logistical task and work has to be undertaken to ensure that the move is conducted safely and methodically.  These include:

• Planning the location of collections in the seven new strongrooms
• Packaging of collections that are awaiting cataloguing
• Labelling boxes for placing in the new strongrooms
• Making more catalogues and indexes available online and preparing guidance for using self-service resources (including online and microform resources as well as local studies books) in The Hive.

Timeline

The County Hall Branch will close to the public on 14^th November 2011 in order for this work to take place prior to the start of the removal of the collections in February 2012.  This History Centre will remain open until April.  The timeline for the move is as follows:

Making Enquiries After November 14th

When the County Hall Branch closes in November enquiries will be responded to, although a limited enquiry service will be in place during the months when the collections are moving.

Date	Enquiry service provided
14th Nov 2011-10th Feb 2012	We will continue to respond to enquiries at both branches, according to our Policy Statement on Answering Enquiries.  (31 KB)
11th Feb - 21st April	A limited enquiry service will be delivered from County Hall Branch.  We will be able to: Advise on collections held Advise when collections will be available Respond to general queries about sources and research We will not be able to look up information in documents or send out copies of documents. The History Centre will continue to respond to enquiries according to our Policy Statement on Answering Enquiries and will be open as usual.  A list of sources that can be consulted at the History Centre.
23rd April - 1st June	History Centre will move during this period and a limited enquiry service will be offered.  We will be able to: Advise on collections held Advise when collections will be available Respond to general queries about sources and research We will not be able to look up information in documents or send out copies of documents. County Hall Branch will have moved to the Hive and will respond to enquiries as per our Policy Statement on Answering Enquiries.
6th June – onwards	We will respond to enquiries as per our Policy Statement on Answering Enquiries.

If you require more information, please email the Record Office.