Researching Accessioned Records

Agency staff researching their agency's unclassified, textual records that have been accessioned into NARA are treated as general researchers. Agency staff generally cannot withdraw records once they have been accessioned by NARA. Please review procedures for U.S. Federal Agencies to access their already-accessioned Textual Records in College Park, Maryland.

Unclassified Research Room Procedures

Agency staff may research their agency's accessioned, unclassified, textual records that are maintained at Archives II in College Park, MD:

• In the Textual Research Room (Room 2000) hours are 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday, except legal holidays. 
• Consultation room hours are 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday, except for legal holidays. 
• Appointments are required. Please email the relevant facility using the contact information on their facility page to request an appointment. 

Provide any information about the records as possible, such as:

• Accession Number
• FRC Transfer Number
• Log File Numbers
• Any other identifiable information
   

Upon arrival at the archives, you must register at the Customer Service desk on the first floor to get a researcher ID. If you plan to make copies you can monetize the card at this time.

If the records that you want to research contain Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) you must schedule your visit in advance with the Research Room by emailing archives2reference@nara.gov.

Please note:

• No food or drinks are allowed in the research room.
• Please see the Summary of Research Rules for more information.

View information to help you plan your visit.

Please note that there are different policies for conducting research with classified records.

Classified Research Room Procedures

Agency staff may research their agency's accessioned, classified, textual records that are maintained at Archives II in College Park, MD in the Classified Research Room.

The Classified Research Room at Archives II (CRR) is located on the sixth floor of the research room complex at the National Archives at College Park, MD, at 8601 Adelphi Road, College Park, MD 20740.

The room is available to properly cleared Agency researchers from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Your clearances must be up to date and in our system. You must ask your agency security officer to send Visitor Access Requests (VARs) via email to visitorrequests@nara.gov in the form of a password-protected scanned or digital memo in Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) or Microsoft Word (.doc) format. Follow up with a second email to visitorrequests@nara.gov containing the memo’s password. The VAR may be sent without password-protecting the memo by using an encrypted file transmission service, such as Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP) or DoD Safe. Your clearance must be at or above the level of the records that you wish to examine.  

Once you have submitted your clearances, schedule your visit with the Classified Research Room (CRR) by emailing NDC_CRR@nara.gov, with the day, dates, and approximate time of your desired appointment. Two business days notice for an appointment is required so that we may have sufficient time to verify your clearances and to pull your records. You will receive an email confirming your appointment.

Requesting Records:

Only classified records are served in the CRR. If you also wish to view unclassified records, you will need to request them in the main Research Room.

Please provide as much information as possible for records that you are requesting, including:

• Record Group
• Entry
• Box Number
• Lot Numbers
• Accession Number
• FRC Transfer Number
• Log File Numbers

If you do not have any of this information we would recommend that you speak with one of the reference archivists in the Main Research room. They can be contacted at archives2reference@nara.gov. 

To enter the research room complex you must have a current Researcher ID card. This may be obtained on the main level in Researcher Registration, room 1000.

Before your visit, please review the information on the researcher information page.

If you wish to make copies, you will need to add funds to your Researcher ID card. You will need to either possess a valid Courier card or Letter that reflects the highest classification of the records you were viewing, to be able to take the copies with you or provide the address of a facility capable of receiving classified material and we will mail the documents to you.

If you wish to courier copied materials, please allow 60 minutes for us to check and wrap the documents for you.  We will need to make a copy of your Courier credentials.

Leave all phones and portable electronic devices/cameras/scanners in the lockers provided downstairs.

Please note that there are different policies for conducting research with unclassified records.