Stanford University Libraries & Academic Information Resources: Buckminster Fuller Biography

The R. Buckminster Fuller Papers are designated and cataloged as Collection M1090 in the Department of Special Collections and University Archives, Green Library. Materials must be paged 1-2 business days in advance. Paged materials will be delivered to the Special Collections Reading Room (Room 200, second floor of the Bing Wing of Green Library) where they can be viewed during open hours.

For more information on the Department of Special Collections, including location, opening hours, services, access, and policies, please click here.

You can use Socrates to search for general works by or about R. Buckminster Fuller.
In Socrates, you can type in "M1090" to search for the Fuller Collection directly.

Finding Aids
For more detailed records that identify, describe, and list the contents of the R. Buckminster Fuller Archive down to the folder level, two electronic finding aids are available. Click on the links below to access the finding aids.

Once you have located the boxes that you wish to consult, write down the box number and series number and you can page the items online (see below) or in person at the Special Collections Reading Room front desk. For more information on finding aids within the Department of Special Collections and University Archives, please click here.

Online Paging
Materials from the R. Buckminster Fuller Collection can be requested directly from the bibliographic record found in Stanford's online public access catalog Socrates. First, enter the term M1090 in the Socrates search window, and click on Search Everything. Your search should bring up five records. Click on the red button marked Details next to the item that says Papers ca. 1920-1983. At this point, you will need to wait several minutes (depending on the speed of your connection) to allow the next page to load fully. Be patient.

Eventually, a long list of Series Numbers and Box Numbers will appear. Click on the links to the right of the boxes you wish to request to page the boxes you have identified. (Click on with SuNET ID if you are a Stanford Patron, or without SuNET ID for everybody else.) This will allow you to fill out an online paging request for the box(es) that you wish to order. A separate online paging slip must be filled out for each box, and no more than 5 boxes per day may be paged. For more information on online paging, please visit our Public Services page.

Patrons must request items at least one full business day before planned use. Material paged before 10 am will arrive at the Special Collections Reading Room the following business day. Material paged after 10 am will arrive on the second business day following the request. Material does not circulate and may be consulted only in the Special Collections Reading Room. (Room 200, second floor of the Bing Wing of Green Library). Only five boxes can be paged per day. Please note that the Special Collections Reading Room is open from 10am-5pm Monday through Friday excluding University Holidays. We are closed on weekends.

Media materials (video and audio tapes, etc.) require at least two weeks advance notice to use in order to allow staff time to have use copies made from the original items. A significant portion of the media collection, however, can be accessed online and free of charge at the library's Collections.stanford.edu website.

Publication Rights and Permissions
Property rights reside with Stanford University Libraries. Literary rights reside with the creators of the documents or their heirs. In the case where the photographer or creator of the document is known, then the copyright usually resides with the named individual or their employer, and that individual or entity should be contacted directly.

The rights to many of the images and documents in the Fuller Collection, particularly those created by R. Buckminster Fuller, reside with the Estate of R. Buckminster Fuller. The contact information for the Estate is: info@buckminsterfuller.net

Please note that since property rights reside with Stanford University Libraries, it is entirely possible when publishing materials from the Fuller Collection that two permissions will be required; one from the copyright holder, and one from the lending institution (presumably, Stanford.)

For more information about the Fuller Archive, please email Reference Services in the Department of Special Collections.