It seemed, on the face of it, a fairly innocuous story: Ombudsman Arlene Brock announced earlier this month that she had launched an investigation into the accessibility of material at Bermuda Archives and would report her findings at a later date.

But news of the inquiry sparked a clamour of responses when The Royal Gazette began digging into claims of “arbitrary barriers” being put up to stop people accessing information.

Scholars, researchers, genealogists and others whose work depends on their ability to access historical records were vociferous in detailing their experiences at the official repository for Government records, where it appears all has not been well for some time.

A few people had positive feedback to give — but they were the exception.

The rest seemed relieved to finally have a reason to speak publicly, if mostly anonymously, about the problems they’d encountered in the basement of the Government Administration Building; problems some warn could have serious ramifications for historical research and cultural endeavours in this country.

“I have a lot to say, very much in the negative,” one person e-mailed. “I of course have to work with them so need for my name to be confidential.”

The source later accused Archives director Karla Hayward of “preventing cultural works from being completed or even started”.

“I don’t think I will undertake another historical project,” they said.

Another source contacted by this newspaper thanked us for taking an interest in a story that “has for so long gone untouched”.

They wrote: “The Ombudsman is to be commended for taking up this cause, although we must understand that her mandate is only over administrative matters.”

The problems, claimed the overseas academic, went much deeper than that and included ongoing issues between Ms Hayward and her team, leading to high staff turnover and low morale, which in turn affected the service provided to the public.

Bermuda Archives, according to sources, has been a place to avoid for years; a place where the simplest request for information can be stonewalled, depending on which day of the week you ask.

Local photographer Mark Emmerson went on the record to say: “Dealing with the Archives became so difficult I refused to enter their doors.”

He told us his efforts to access old photographs were regularly thwarted by Ms Hayward.

He said: “Since it is almost impossible to fire a civil servant and it is too frustrating to deal with cover-ups and inertia, especially when everyone you know has a horror story about Ms Hayward and the Archives, I decided I would try and outlive Ms Hayward and be alive to see better days again.”

Archaeologist Timothy Trussell, from Millersville University in Pennsylvania, also felt Ms Hayward was too possessive of material and even reluctant to tell her own staff where items were kept.

“The history of Bermuda is exceptionally important, not just to Bermuda but throughout the Atlantic world,” he said. “It’s a tremendous shame that this extraordinary history of Bermuda is not as fully open and accessible as it should be. This should not be someone’s private fiefdom.”

The experience we heard repeated again and again was that people — both locals and foreigners — had stopped using the Archives as a resource because it was too difficult to get the material they needed.

And it wasn’t only historians or researchers with voluminous requests who claimed they’d hit a brick wall or experienced an unnecessary delay.

Members of the public wanting to access old ariel photographs of the Island for tax purposes relating to docks have had to wait for the pictures to be sent to New York by mail, reproduced and sent back, rather than digitally copied.

So many people on the Island — including those in other Government departments, authors, students, publishers, those in the art and museum worlds, journalists and people simply wanting to trace their family tree or learn more about local history — have reason to visit the Archives.

But frustrated users told us that inadequate cataloguing, a lack of digital resources and no public search facility made it frustratingly impossible to know exactly what was held there.

Most national archives have websites containing searchable information on their collections — but no such Internet page exists for Bermuda.

Complainants also felt the fees for using images for commercial purposes — $100 per images for locals and $150 for non-locals — were prohibitive, especially when their work was unlikely to turn a profit.

As one source said of such projects: “There are very few people who are doing stuff on Bermudian culture and history. It doesn’t make people money, but it keeps the culture alive. Putting up these roadblocks is completely unnecessary.”

The Archives director told this newspaper she would “dearly love” to respond to the allegations but was not able to say anything.

Archives user Claudine Wilson leapt to her defence in an e-mail following stories in The Royal Gazette earlier this month.

“I am shocked and dismayed at the vitriolic attitude being directed at Ms Karla Hayward,” she e-mailed. “I have found Ms Hayward helpful, well informed, available, willing to give advice for source material.

“I am surprised that Ms Hayward is being put under a stressful condition — as a Government employee she is not able to reply and ‘tell her side of the story’.”

Marina Slayton, wife of US Consul General Gregory Slayton, also spoke of her satisfaction with the assistance she received in compiling a book on Bermuda’s 400th anniversary.

“Bermuda Archives director Karla Hayward was just so generous with her time,” Mrs. Slayton said.

Clearly not all users have suffered problems at the Archives — but some have and several have lodged grievances.

A couple of the five complaints received by the Ombudsman prior to her launching her inquiry were made as far back as April this year.

A source told this newspaper this week they understood she had now been “overwhelmed” with responses.

And complaints made by academics to Cabinet Secretary Marc Telemaque certainly go back to at least last summer, according to documents seen by this newspaper which show that he was looking into their concerns.

Sources say civil service chiefs knew about staff unhappiness, as did the Bermuda Public Services Union, and external gripes with the service far earlier than last July.

“There is a file an inch-and-a-half thick of complaints,” said one.

Overseas academics told of their concerns that professional archivists brought here from abroad to catalogue the collection are being under-utilised by Ms Hayward.

A former visiting professor at Bermuda College wrote: “Given that the Archives is vital for Bermuda’s history, given that its records touch on the story of marginalised groups like slaves and women, anything that makes it harder for people to consult those records or reluctant to donate further material (as has been the case in latter years) is particularly unfortunate.”

Another academic wrote of the “very, very serious problems at the Bermuda Archives, problems that have damaged the preservation of Bermuda’s wonderful heritage and have, probably more importantly, damaged the lives of employees who have worked there”.

One local source told us: “It was the same under the UBP. It’s not a sexy issue. Nobody cares. The politicians don’t care. It’s sort of languished.”

The source added: “There is the question of access but it’s also her (Ms Hayward’s) management of staff.”

A dismal picture has emerged of the Archives — but what is not clear is why the situation appears never to have been properly addressed.

Premier Ewart Brown, whose remit includes the Archives, did not respond to a request for comment. Cabinet Secretary Marc Telemaque said: “Public comment on internal matters such as these is rare.

“I would only suggest that you not accept the version of those who say ‘nothing has been done’ and instead accept that they a) may not be happy with what was done or b) may not know what was done.”

What is clear is that many here and abroad would agree with Dr. Trussell, who said: “The history of Bermuda deserves a lot better than this.”