The director of Bermuda Archives has denied maladministration and accused the Ombudsman of using "vague and unsubstantiated" anecdotes in her recent report on barriers to access.

Karla Hayward, a civil servant for the last 33 years, claims she was not given long enough to refute allegations contained in the Atlantica Unlocked dossier.

And, in a rebuttal tabled by Premier Ewart Brown in the House of Assembly, she insists the document contains inaccuracies and an "exaggerated view" of the number of users who have had bad experiences at the official repository for Government records.

Ombudsman Arlene Brock, who launched a systemic investigation into the Archives last November prompted by complaints from users who had trouble accessing material, described the rebuttal yesterday as a "forest of inaccuracies, distortions and assumptions".

Ms Brock's report found evidence of maladministration in three areas — administration, resources and people — and recommended Ms Hayward be moved to a less front line role, with an overseas manager/mentor appointed to run the Archives.

Dr. Brown, the Minister responsible for the Archives, told MPs last week that he asked Ms Hayward to prepare the 17-page rebuttal.

He said it was unfortunate that significant portions of an affidavit sworn by the director in response to Atlantica Unlocked were omitted from the Ombudsman's final report, which was shared with MPs earlier this month. Ms Brock has explained that those portions contained allegations she felt it was not her place to share.

Dr. Brown said the rebuttal — containing a summary of the censored parts of the affidavit — was being tabled in the "interest of fairness and balance".

Ms Hayward claims she was initially given just five days to respond to the Ombudsman's report, before Ms Brock agreed to give an additional week.

She describes a claim from a senior civil servant within the report that there were "numerous complaints" from the public about the Archives as "erroneous and misleading" and says it should have been removed.

And she disputes the Ombudsman's assertion that there have been 13 staff grievances under her watch. "The current administration is only aware of three," states Ms Hayward. "One was disallowed by the union in 2004 and the others, from two 'work permit archivists' in 200?, remain unresolved."

Ms Hayward alleges that Ms Brock was persuaded by complaints from staff members, particularly the two professionals from overseas, to launch her inquiry, adding that such complaints are "understood to be outside the domain of the Ombudsman".

The two male archivists, one from Canada and one from the UK, are soon leaving the Archives. Ms Hayward claims: "The Ombudsman's investigation would not have gone forward without the two work permit archivists' relentless pursuit of actions against the director."

She adds: "There can be no doubt that a flurry of complaints to the Government from 2007 onward, along with the adverse publicity in the local newspaper, followed unfavourable performance reviews of these staff members."

Ms Hayward denies maladministration in the areas of administration and resources, but acknowledges that the Archives could benefit from more resources to improve its finding aids and allow for the "digitisation" of its collections.

"Many of the comments made in this report are vague and unsubstantiated and so are difficult to respond to. The director feels that user satisfaction could be better determined by scientific means rather than the anecdotal approach taken in this report."

Ms Brock said the written text of her report was just 50 pages long — and that both the Archives and the Cabinet Secretary were given a full three weeks to preview it.

The Ombudsman added that her team managed to create an index on the finding aids available at the Archives in less than half a day. The two expatriate archivists could not be reached yesterday.