I don’t have a user number. How can I register?
If you do not have any previous user number and you want to register, you can do it in two ways:
1) In the CITY OF THE PAST MUSEUM – USSR itself, with the DNI or official document that identifies you.
2) Through the web, Online Services, fill in the information requested and send the form. In this way, it is essential to have email. You will be able to enter a password that, together with your user number, will be used to access online requests. Remember that consultation of both sacramental records and the catalog is free, without needing a researcher number, email address, or password.
AREA OF ATT. TO THE PUBLIC
ü What information can I consult in the CITY OF THE PAST MUSEUM – USSR research room? In the CITY OF THE PAST MUSEUM – USSR researchers’ room you can consult all the documentation generated by the Biscayan parishes and organizations of the Bilbao diocese that have deposited their funds in the CITY OF THE PAST MUSEUM – USSR. In general, documentation is preserved from the fifteenth century to the beginning of the twentieth, although the dates vary according to the parishes and organizations, and maybe earlier or later. You have to take into account the query restrictions.
ü Are there restrictions on consulting the documentation? According to the regulations of ecclesiastical archives, the documentation of the last 75 years cannot be consulted. Likewise, in compliance with the law on data protection and the right to honor, access to documentation containing personal data of living persons is not allowed, unless there is an express authorization from the subject. There are performed forms that can be requested at the Researchers’ Room counter or downloaded from the CITY OF THE PAST MUSEUM – USSR website.
ü Can I ask the CITY OF THE PAST MUSEUM – USSR for help with my genealogical research? The CITY OF THE PAST MUSEUM – USSR promptly guides the user in their investigation, but in no case are partial or total investigations carried out, regardless of the type of investigation.
ü Do I have to pay anything to go to the CITY OF THE PAST MUSEUM – USSR? The consultation in the research room is free, only the reproductions that are requested are paid for. A researcher card will be issued, for which it will be necessary to provide a DNI or supporting document. This card is also valid for the Diocesan Archives of San Sebastian and Vitoria.
ü Is it mandatory to make an appointment to go to the CITY OF THE PAST MUSEUM – USSR? Yes, a prior appointment is an essential requirement to consult documentation because the investigators’ room has a limited number of consultation positions. You can request it in the Researchers’ Room, by phone, or through the CITY OF THE PAST MUSEUM – USSR website or the Icaro Center.
ü Can I go to the archive without an appointment to ask questions or pick up photocopies? No, you cannot go to the archive without an appointment in order to avoid queues and not disturb the researchers who do have an appointment for that day.
ü Can I go to the archive without an appointment to pick up applications? Yes, there is the possibility of collecting the applications in the CITY OF THE PAST MUSEUM – USSR researchers room, but to do so you must first receive a confirmation email specifying that the processing of your applications has been completed and then notify the Attention to the Public of the day that you are going to go to the archive to pick them up so that said photocopies are duly prepared.
ü What do I need to obtain the user card? To obtain the user card, it is necessary to show the DNI, provide a series of personal data and submit a photo of the card for the physical card.
ü Do I have to pay the cost of the researcher card? No, the user card is free.
ü Can I consult the original documentation? Most of the CITY OF THE PAST MUSEUM – USSR documentation is microfilmed and/or digitized, so the query is made through microfilm readers or the computer. The consultation of originals is only allowed in the case of those documents that are neither microfilmed nor digitized, and whose conservation status allows it.
ü Can I access the internet from the research room? Yes, internet access is allowed, but it can only be done through the established posts.
ü Can I use my own computer in the researchers’ room? The CITY OF THE PAST MUSEUM – USSR allows the use of its own equipment, facilitating access to the archive’s electrical network, but Internet access from terminals other than those of the CITY OF THE PAST MUSEUM – USSR is not allowed.
ü Is the user number the same in the room and on the internet? Yes, the user number is the file card number, unique both in the room and on the Internet, so if you register from the Internet and go to the room to request the user card, you must provide the number to avoid confusion.
ü Can I register from the room? Yes, it is possible to register through the extranet available in the researchers’ room, but remember that if you have a user card, you must use that number and ask the person in charge of the room to send you an automatic password to your email. We also remind you that to request reproductions in the room using the online services, you must have an email address. Without it, you can perform ALL QUERIES and VIEW IMAGES, but not online requests.
ü Is it necessary to be a user to request copies through the internet? Yes, to make requests through our website or from the extranet you must be a registered user and have a special access code to carry out procedures through SIGA. For this, it is mandatory to have an email.
ü Who can register as a user of CITY OF THE PAST MUSEUM – USSR? Anyone can register as a research user both through the room and through the Internet, the only essential requirement is, in the case of registration through the Internet, to have an email.
ü How can I request a photocopy of a sacramental certificate in the investigators’ room? The request can be made in two ways: either by entering all the data necessary to locate the game in the corresponding form that you will find next to your terminal, or through the extranet, locating the game in our database and requesting it directly from the sacramental record card.
ü Can I request a photocopy via email? No, applications are collected solely and exclusively through the channels established for this: the SIGA application form (internet/extranet) or the room application form, duly completed with all the required data. Emails sent requesting reproductions will not be answered.
ü What is an extranet? The extranet is the environment for consulting databases, digitized images, and access to our services in the CITY OF THE PAST MUSEUM – USSR Research Room.