Original 1914 Carnival costume design. Would you like to see it full size? • Getting Started. • How to work with rare books and archival documents. • Photocopying Policy • Photography Policy • How to cite our holdings.       Special Collections is open to all researchers working on specific research projects. For persons who are not conducting research but would like to view original documents, we hold regular displays in our gallery and through online exhibits.

...to make the rare documents and books in our care available to researchers like yourself.

Therefore, making your visit to Special Collections as comfortable and productive as possible is our first priority.

We work hard to make sure you can use the rare materials in our care in an atmosphere that is welcoming and understanding of your needs. Please help us by sharing your suggestions for improving our services and by following the guidelines below.

Why do we need use guidelines?

This means that if they are lost, they are lost forever. There are no backups; we can't order replacement copies because none exist. Therefore, all archives and special collections departments need special guidelines to help ensure the survival of the irreplaceable items with which they are entrusted.

Please understand, however, that our regulations are not intended to hinder anyone's use of our holdings. Instead, we hope our guidelines will help us preserve these rare materials for use by everyone.

Getting Started

• Please sign our daily patron register each day upon first entering the reading room.

• Leave a photo-identification at our reference desk. Do not forget to retrieve your identification when you leave. We are not responsible for identification left in our department.

• To view books or documents, simply complete a request slip and present it to our Reading Room Supervisor. We will bring your items to you and give you a brief demonstration on how properly to handle our materials.

• You may use our holdings only in our reading room. Nothing may be checked out or removed from the room.

• Leave book bags, briefcases, large purses, heavy coats, umbrellas, etc., on the shelves at the front of the reading room under the card catalog. You may take to your desk only pencils (please, no pens), blank sheets of paper, note cards, or writing tablets, which must be submitted for examination upon leaving. We are not responsible for personal belongings left in our reading room.

• The Reading Room Supervisor will give fifteen minutes notice before closing. We will neither retrieve nor photocopy documents after that time.

How to work with Special Collections materials

• Please sit facing the front of the room. If two persons are sharing a desk, both should sit on the same side and face the front.
  
  

• When practical, please provide Special Collections with two courtesy copies of publications or products made possible by research in our holdings.

  Please make sure that the reading room supervisor has an unobstructed view of your desk. Do not place boxes or other items on your desk so that they block the supervisor's view of your work.
  
  
• Please observe a "one box, one folder" rule. That is, have only one box at a time open on your table and only one file folder out of that box.
  
  
• Keep documents flat on the table. When reading documents, leave them flat on the table, in their file folders, and in the order in which you found them. Do not hold documents while reading them, remove them from their file folders, or change the order of documents within the file folders. Please be particularly careful not to lean on, write on, or place any objects, such as writing paper or note cards, on top of the documents.

Photocopying Policy

All photocopying damages documents two ways: chemically and physically.

1. Chemically, because the heat and light produced by the photocopy machine act as chemical catalysts to increase the rate of the paper's deterioration.
   
   
2. Physically, through the extra handling of the document required to make the copy.

Both of these are significant preservation concerns. Because of this, photocopying special collections materials is never routine, but should instead be reserved for special situations.

Photography Policy

• Special Collections also provides photographic services in various formats, including prints, negatives, slides, and transparencies.

• Special photographic services, such as selenium or brown toned archival prints, image enhancement, or rush orders, are available for an extra fee.

• Turnaround is usually a week to two weeks, depending on the schedule of our photographer. If your order is placed before Tuesday, it will often be available by the Wednesday of the following week.

• Photography orders are payable in advance. A price list is available.

• Receipt of photographs does not convey copyright. It is the researcher's responsibility to insure compliance with all relevant copyright laws.

Other Guidelines

• When practical, please provide Special Collections with two courtesy copies of publications or products made possible by research in our holdings.

Special Collections is a division of
Howard-Tilton Memorial Library