Registration for 2023 Distance Enquiry Services Survey now open

The ARA National Surveys Group is pleased to announce that Registration for the 2023 Distance Enquiry Services Survey is now open!

Taking part is an excellent way to obtain feedback from those accessing services remotely.  Respondents tell us the reasons for their visit, their views on the services given and also information about themselves.  It’s valuable for services, to aid future planning, and also for the sector to generate a national profile of archive users, to help determine future planning and priorities and to advocate on behalf of the sector.

The survey will run from 9th October 2023 to 17th December 2023.  Services can take part for the entire length of the survey period, or for a length of time of their choosing.  In order to achieve the best results, the minimum survey should run is 4 weeks, and the last date for registration is 31st October.

There are some changes to the way the survey is run this year, which should make the process much easier. There is now a flat fee to take part, rather than additional payments for the number of branches and dependent on the number of surveys, hopefully streamlining the payment process.   The cost of taking part this year is £165 per archive service.

The survey will be run on Microsoft Forms, which has a number of benefits for services and those completing the survey including the use of immersive readers; a user-friendly interface for computer, tablet and smartphone; an option to switch the survey to Welsh and the ability for services to review response data whilst the survey is live.

This year we’re also working with a different company, Shaffer and Co Ltd, who will be delivering the survey with ARA and writing the subsequent reports.

To register to take part in the survey please contact surveyregistrations@archives.org.uk, and if a purchase order number is required on your invoice please include this in your email.   You will be sent an invoice and you will be registered for the survey upon receipt of payment.   Please note that upon registration your contact details will be sent to Shaffer and Co Ltd, who will send you your survey link and guidance.

If you would like to find out more about the survey, or have any questions, prior to registering please contact the Surveys group at arasurveysgroup@archives.org.uk.