NAAIRS and South African research

Continuing on the topic of NAAIRS, note that the original documents cannot be viewed online. NAAIRS is an index for identifying and locating archival material. If your searches turn up relevant references, and you live at a distance from the repository holding the required file, you’ll need local assistance. Archives staff cannot undertake in-depth research, though may carry out specific searches e.g. a Death Notice. Hiring a professional researcher to access the file for you and either transcribe or take digital photos (where allowed) to be sent to you by email is often the best option.

Regrettably, the Western Cape Archives and Record Service, previously known as Cape Archives, in 2007 banned the use of cameras and other imaging devices. Instead, their own reprographic service is offered. Digital copies can be supplied through this service but are available only as prints, not in e-format. Despite a strong wave of protest in the SA genealogical community, so far the controversial ruling has not been rescinded, though there has been a blurring of the edges in that certain professional researchers now have a mandate to use their own digital cameras in the Reading Room.

Contact details of SA professional researchers in each province are available on the NARS site at www.national.archives.gov.za/

South African family history research

Where you live influences your approach to family history. If, like me, you’re descended from British stock but your home is in one of the previous colonial outposts of the Empire, local records can take you only part of the way back to the ancestral past. In this case, research will need to encompass UK records. Similarly, if you live in the UK but have ancestors who emigrated to the colonies – or who simply disappear from British records after the 1881 Census, for example – digging into colonial records will be essential. With a computer and access to internet much can be achieved.

The South African National Archives and Record Service launched the NAAIRS index in 2001, resulting in an explosion of interest in South African ancestry research. NAAIRS (National Automated Archival Information Retrieval System) is the gateway to South African archival data and can be accessed (free) from the NARS (National Archives and Record Service) website at www.national.archives.gov.za/

The automation of archival retrieval began as far back as 1974 and is an on-going project with over 250 000 computer records added annually. Despite this achievement, not all archivalia are yet reflected online – perhaps less than half the holdings. When you think of NAAIRS compare it with the ears of the hippo.

Read the Beginners Guide to South African Research: see tab next to the Home tab on these blog pages. It includes 'Hiring a Researcher in South Africa'.