----- Original Message -----
From: "Janet Baker" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, June 04, 2009 10:45 AM
Subject: food & drink in record office searchroom
> Dear People,
> Re the above, does anybody know where it actually says this is not
> allowed.
> The closest I've come is the National Preservation Office "Good Handling
> Principles & Practice For Library & Archive Materials" booklet where it
> says " No drinking, eating or smoking should be allowed in collection
> areas
> at all".
Isn't it up to individual offices (or their controlling authorities) to
devise their own searchroom rules? Hence one might find occasional minor
variations - although most of them are likely to say much the same thing,
most of the time.
I'd have thought that the response from most offices would be "food drink,
and smoking is not allowed, because it says so in our searchroom rules" (by
which our visitors are expected to abide).
Even if some might euphemistically want to call them "guidelines", it comes
to the same thing - or at least it ought to.
The presence of food and drink is an unnecessary risk when documents are in
use. Any spillages are not always immediately noticed. Smoking is likely to
be objectionable to other users (quite apart from any current legal
prohibitions relating to public places).
Aidan Jones.
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